


An Andromeda Tale: The Making of a Pathfinder and a King

by satashii



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: AU, Alternative Perspective, Background Reyes Vidal, Endgame Scott/Reyes, Kian Dagher/Ryota Nakamoto, M/M, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character pairings, Original Character(s), Origins of the Collective, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Reyes Vidal/OC, Reyes needs more background in ME:A, ReyesWhump, becoming the charlatan, character injury, excessive telenovela abuse, not compliant with the books, original character death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2020-05-19 18:53:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 45
Words: 465,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19362481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satashii/pseuds/satashii
Summary: Scott Ryder never saw his life going this way, not that anyone ever asked him his opinion.  Now he's pathfinder with too many people depending on his young shoulders and trying to figure out what he actually wants for himself. Reyes Vidal, man of mystery, former pilot and now sometimes smuggler. Who knows where he came from or his motivations but he's come to Andromeda to change his destiny. What neither Scott nor Reyes could have predicted is what their lives would be once they came to Andromeda.Not strictly timeline or ME:A compliant as there are deviations from both as it fits the story. Rating likely to increase as story progresses.





	1. Prologue

_From the journal of S Ryder, 2185 CE December 3rd (2 days prior to launch of Ark Hyperion)_

_No one asked me what I wanted to do in life or if I wanted to do this. My life’s path has mostly been decided by forces outside of my control, first my career path into the systems alliance as a marine, then my career determination of spec ops as a biotic and on to N School for training. No where for me to go but obtain the same designation as my father or else be seen as a failure. No one asked me if I liked my life in the marines—had I been asked I’d made do with what my options were and felt at times that someday I’d be happy with life as a marine and exploring the galaxy one boring posting at a time. Sure, my last posting made it clear I was going to go nowhere once the arrest happened. When you’re the only son of a famous N7 Operative, well, options may seem open but they really aren’t. My twin sister, Sara, somehow got herself out of the situation I found myself in. I love Sara, but somedays I hate the fact that she got out. Then again, getting out isn’t what she seems to have wanted in the first place._

  
_My father, Alec Ryder—yeah the disgraced N7 who has been in the press and got arrested for illegal AI research—has pulled off the ultimate guilt trip. Sara didn’t require any guilt, she’s joined of her own accord. I’m to report to processing tomorrow 0730 for the Andromeda Initiative and I’m going into cryo tomorrow evening. Dear old Dad is playing God with my life and has made it clear the only option left for me is Andromeda._

  
_Since I’ve lost the few friends that I can talk about anything with after signing the non-disclosure agreements this afternoon, I’ve decided to follow the suggestions of an old captain—when you can’t talk about it with anyone without destroying your security clearance, try processing through writing and then destroy the evidence or encrypt the hell out of it. I’m going to try writing down my feelings and covering it with enough encryption that Dad can’t get into—I’ve learned a lot more tech skills than the last time Dad decided I couldn’t have my own thoughts as a teenager. Hopefully he’ll finally have learned to let me have my own thoughts and space. And if no one ever reads this? Well then it’s just for me._

  
_I’ll admit in the short time I’ve had to think about this, I’m worried what we’ll find when we get to Andromeda. Then again, something is coming—something bad. The rumors that Commander Shepard isn’t dead and that something bad is happening with the Collectors—I’m not sure how much I trust of what I’ve heard and not heard. The rumors around the outpost weren’t reassuring before I left but something has the vets spooked. I suppose running away to Andromeda might be less risky if the rumors are true. But why do I feel like I’m running away from my duty then? I don’t know how to process everything lately. I suppose I’ll just have to be a professional and take my role that Dad’s handing me. Maybe I’ll figure things out on the way._

  
_I did see Sara before she went to final checks today—one last meal together in the Milky Way. She told me that she was looking forward to a grand adventure as a family. She’s so optimistic about Andromeda—it’s hard to be concerned when she’s so happy. We’ve never done something as a family that’s ended well from my perspective. Maybe this time it’ll actually happen. I haven’t really been around or available for Sara since Mom died. I regret not doing what Mom’d want but I thought maybe I could make my own choices and be a real, true adult for once. Mom would be happy I’m going—I just wish that I could have had the option to say no—or to say yes. I don’t know if I’d be here if it was my choice. I’m ending things here for today, hopefully I’ll have time to write before the deep frozen sleep of 600 years._

  
***

  
2185 CE December 4th  
Infirmary, Ark Hyperion, Milky Way  
Scott Ryder, Recon Specialist, Pathfinder Team  
Status: Finding out if tomophobia is a real thing

_“Every great moment in our history began with a dream. Each bold leap forward was achieved by those willing to do anything to attain it. We are all of us leaving behind families, homes—the very birthplace of our species. Some for discovery, to see the unknown—others for a new start… but today, whatever our reasons… we take the first steps toward a new future for humanity. Today, we begin to make our dreams a reality.”_ Scott supposed that his father really could pull off magnetic charisma with speeches like that as he watched the pre-recorded orientation packet that he had to complete while the Asari doctor completed his medical history intake. Intake for the initiative was just another day in the life of a marine. Hurry up and wait with a side of boring paperwork. Technically, Scott was a late entry into the program—everyone else had completed intake over a week ago for the Hyperion which was the third ark to leave—but considering he hadn’t officially joined the initiative until three days ago his belatedness could probably be excused. More than 85% of all Hyperion inhabitants had already entered cryo including Sara. All that was left was the skeleton launch crew, medical for final checks, and his father and him. Dad had personally escorted him to medical before running off to do something on the bridge after being paged by the Captain. Dad had been his usual strong silent type with a side of parental aloofness when he’d met him at the security checkpoint. They’d exchanged minimal greetings before Scott had been escorted directly to medical without a tour of the ark because “you’re 15 minutes late” despite having been at security half an hour early.

  
_“In the year 2185 CE, humanity lives in a golden era of interstellar travel. Our discovery of ancient alien ruins on Mars propelled our understanding of science and technology ahead by thousands of years. While many now enjoy the newfound freedom and challenges of exploration in the Milky Way, others look to even more distant stars._  
 _For the hundred thousand adventurers embarking on this one-way voyage, the future beings in Andromeda.”_ Scott finished the intro vid and an icon popped up for him to acknowledge receiving the overall Andromeda Initiative mission statement and program goals which were then copied to his new Andromeda inbox. Hitting the acknowledge, he was then taken through multiple screens that verified his identity, education and training credentials. As well as his military records—which just stopped two months ago. Funny that, Scott thought, I wonder why my discharge paperwork isn’t here but my N3 paperwork is as well as the promotion paperwork he’d begun to fill out to make captain—which he hadn’t obtained yet. Then again, with him leaving for the Initiative it wasn’t like a military discharge for conditions unspecified was really necessary.

  
“If you’re done with the verification paperwork I have a consent for you to sign before proceeding,” the Asari said as she handed him a data pad. “This is for all Pathfinder team members in the chain of command. It’s the standard consent for surgery to get your implant in place. Risks are minimized as you are the last one to receive an implant and we have yet to have a significant side effect from the surgery. Dr. Carlyle will be the primary surgeon with myself assisting. Do you have any questions?”

  
“Implant? What implant?” Great, another surprise that he should already know about.

  
“The implant for the assistant AI that all Pathfinders will have. As you are assigned to the Pathfinder team you will be in the chain of succession, albeit you’re a ways down the chain. SAM—the AI—will be minimally active for you unless something dire happens but will be able to assist you with Pathfinder team missions.” The doctor was looking at him with a slightly raised eyebrow and a slightly exasperated look. “This is mandatory for all Pathfinder team members.”

  
Scowling in annoyance. Scott wondered if he could get out of the implant—probably not as the mandatory part sounded non-negotiable. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his father’s work. Dad’s work was the most advanced out there and the last time he’d been around to hear Dad and his research team having a meeting they had advanced their work on implants to be near flawless in their non-human test subjects. Key words being non-human. But advance notice that he was going to have his Dad’s designs in his head would have been appreciated. Then again, when had Dad ever informed him in advance when it wouldn’t change the outcome or his ultimate decision? Reading the consent, the form appeared to be standard medicalese with the name of the procedure “SAM Neural Implant Placement for Pathfinder Team Members” at the top of the form. Under possible risks it listed infection, pain, seizures, coma and death. So much for minimal risk. Taking the offered stylus, he signed his name and acknowledge that a security camera recording had been taken of his signing the consent. Handing the datapad back to the Asari doctor, he gave her a weak smile. “When’s surgery doc?”

  
“When was your last oral intake?”

  
“Last night other than a glass of water this morning.” He’d been too anxious to eat breakfast early this morning and had read the orientation packet about Cryo that strongly suggested not eating for an extended time prior to entering cryo.

  
“We can proceed immediately then. The procedure does require an anesthetic be given. Your records indicate you’ve had anesthetics before without difficulty?” Yeah and hadn’t that been fun to have his broken leg reset from the multiple pieces it had been in.

  
“Never had a problem.” He tried to give her a reassuring smile but he knew it was fairly strained looking at this point. He hated medical procedures.

  
The Asari (who’s name he really should make an effort to try and remember) turned and led him to a procedure room in the back of the med bay. She paused prior to entering a defined field that was the sterile portion of the room. Dr. Harry Carlyle was already in surgical attire and was working on some delicate looking instruments. He nodded to acknowledge them and went back to his prep work, focusing deeply.

  
“You’ll need to remove your shirt so we can work unimpeded,” the Asari said. Scott unbuttoned his over shirt and pulled off the undershirt before neatly placing them on a small table to the side of the entryway. “good, now please lay down on your back on the surgical table. “ The Asari had already placed a mask on and was pulling on a surgical gown. “Medbay calibration please start,” she said as Scott settled on the surgical table.  
A gold wave of light moved up and down Scott and several mechanical arms moved up and out of the bed to fold around him. Moving his head slightly, the Asari then directed him to hold still as several of the arms extended clamps that then secured themselves claustrophobically around his head to hold him in place. A sharp pinch in his elbow and Scott felt things go fuzzy and then black.

  
***

  
The next thing Scott remembered was a headache—he’d never had one this bad before—even after the paddle party at the end of his last mission. Holding his head, he noticed a small area of hair had been shaved behind his left ear and a raised scar approximately 4 cm long was now there where he’d had none before as he ran his fingers over the pucker of healing skin that was tender to the touch. Not opening his eyes, as he sat up he tried not to cry as his body felt like it was in zero g and his stomach had just taken a dive down somewhere south of his feet. Another pinch was felt in the side of his neck and his headache subsided minimally. His bladder also protested mightily.

  
“Sorry about that,” The Asari doctor said in a low voice. “Waking up with the implant until the swelling subsides is going to give you a headache. Luckily we just need to get you over to your Cryo tube and when you wake up again you’ll be all healed up.”

  
Opening his eyes to stare incredulously at the doc, Scott just managed not to vomit. “How long did surgery take?”

  
“About four hours to attach SAMs leads to your neural cortex and another hour getting into the right spot and out of it. Most of the healing and integration into your nervous system will really happen while you’re in cryo. Which is lucky since it can cause headaches until it’s fully integrated and SAM can help with neurotransmitter regulation.” She gave him an encouraging smile and helped him stand. His legs felt like they were initially going to give out before his muscles contracted and held firm but the room still swayed like a raft in rough seas. Walking over to the door he snagged his undershirt and would have put it on if he felt he could have let go of the Asari’s arm to do so.

  
“You might as well just change into your cryo suit. There should be one to fit you in the washroom. Suit up and I’ll give you the premeds for cryosleep.”

  
Taking the doc’s advice, he stumbled to the washroom and changed into a modified flight suit with the Andromeda Initiative’s logo on it that fit surprisingly well from the shelf of sized garments built into the wall. Using the facilities and washing his face in the sink. He took one look at himself in the mirror. There was new swelling around the left jaw and eye from surgery that was fairly minimal looking. His insomnia had been bad as of late and there was minimal redness to his eyes that a brief episode of anesthetic induced sleep had failed to improve. He should have shaved and trimmed his hair into regulation this morning before coming—too late now. Sighing, he straightened the jumpsuit and ran wet fingers through his hair to make it lay flat.

  
Exiting the washroom, in his absence a new cryo pod had been loaded into the end of the bay. Dr. Carlyle was now there with the Asari, inputing data into the pod.

  
“Scott—when you’re ready we’ll get you all set,” said Harry. Harry Carlyle had been one of his mother’s research group and had been an accomplished flight surgeon in the Alliance before retiring after his 20 to do primarily research with his mother’s research group. When his Mom had died, Scott had seen Harry at the funeral. Harry had always been close to both of his parents. He was quite possibly the only friend of his father’s that Scott himself actually liked too.

  
“What should I expect? I thought I had more stuff they’d want me to sign/do before going into cryo today.”  
“There’s only a few more people to load into cryo and with your implant headache there’s no reason to make you suffer a few hours longer to do meet and greets with the big wigs. You can meet them in Andromeda once everything is settled. We just needed to wake you up from surgery to make sure you were doing okay before going into cryo. Your father should be going into cryo in a few hours himself. “ Harry gave him a kind smile. “Once we give you the premeds, you’ll feel sleepy and have time to get in a comfortable position in the pod. It doesn’t really matter what position you get in as long as you’re comfortable. The pod will move you into a protected state when you nod off and then we’ll get you loaded into the cryo bay which will initiate the actual cryo state. All you’ll feel is like you’re falling into a deep sleep.”

  
“And waking up?”

  
“You’ll feel a bit cold and stiff but that fades pretty quickly once you’re up and moving. And you’ll be in a completely different galaxy.” Harry gave him a clap to his shoulder, then helped Scott lay on the cryo bed. “Here you go, nice and easy,” Harry said as he pushed an injector to Scott’s jugular. “You’ll be asleep in 5….4……3…..2…. “ and Scott was out as the bed’s shield hummed and snapped into place. Time for a deep sleep… and maybe some dreams of Andromeda.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One:

 

_633 years and six months later on the Nexus…_

2818 CE July 2nd

Reyes Vidal, Shuttle Pilot, callsign Anubis

Status: Increasingly concerned about Initiative short and long term viability

 

Things were not going as they were supposed to.It’d been six months since the engineering and transportation crews had been awakened to find that the planned arrival in Heleus had not gone to plan, followed by more awakenings than were reasonable given the situation.There had been a major blow dealt to the Initiative when the Nexus had crashed into the Scourge—Jien Garson along with several other high ranking administrators had all perished in the accident. Thecurrent administration had made the questionable decision to awaken more people than they maybe should have given the resources that were available with the hydroponics farms significantly damaged from the collision that had halted the Nexus—or perhaps the awakenings were not part of the administrations plan if rumors were true about the unauthorized awakenings. Decisions coming from the top were slow in coming and of questionable value.Tensions were running high between the security and administration teams and everyone else as supplies continued to run low or go missing. Hoarding was starting to be reported and two humans had been punished severely by security last week for hiding rations. 

Reyes had been one of the first pilots awakened to run exploration teams to and from different planets and had a first person view of how bleak things were on that front. He’d been the pilot of one of the eight expeditions to explore worlds to see if they were habitable—the one he’d been sent to was a barren wasteland without a breathable atmosphere. Two days ago, there had been a meeting from administration suggesting that people needed to start volunteering to be put back in cryosleep or there would be mandatory re-entrants. No one had volunteered and the atmosphere on the Nexus had been on a knife’s edge since. Supplies were going to run out within two months at current usage rates and selective rationing and meal skipping had been in enforcement for the last two shipboard weeks.Sloane’s security forces had been harassing the scientists who were themselves barely restrained as Corvannis and his cohorts had been spreading malcontent and disagreement with the admins among the other personnel. 

Repetitive threats from the “professional” security staff run by Sloane Kelly had encouraged him to keep his head down and out of the trouble that was brewing as a valuable pilot with a military background—it wasn’t hard to read the tea leaves that there was a power struggle going on way over his head. The scientist team he’d just picked up from Eos had a defeated air around them and were quiet on the transport despite attempts from the administrative analyst to engage them in idle conversation. Not all the team had left—there were three scientists who insisted on staying no matter what the analyst had said.Leaving the three scientists behind had left a bad taste in his mouth—he wondered if he was leaving them to die on the planet. The last attempt from the analyst to get them to leave—that he’d overheard—had been a threat that no further help would be coming and that staying was a death sentence from either the environment or the hostile alien raiders. That threat had finally gotten the scientists and engineers to mostly pack it in.Every one of them as they boarded the shuttle had refused to make eye contact with Reyes and his co-pilot Kenax.

He wasn’t supposed to have heard what the analyst said. He wasn’t supposed to have heard a lot of things lately. Scuttlebutt had it that the administration was going to employ the Krogan as mercenaries if things got worse.Reyes had never had a problem with a Krogan and didn’t want to find out how painful a disagreement with one could become.His limited interactions with Kesh aside, he’d rather not get attention that way. Entering the course corrections for the Nexus, he took a deep breath before making eye contact with Kenax. For a Turian, Kenax was a solid pilot who definitely had an eye for staying just on this side of trouble with a penchant for discussing the merits of different types of sniper rifles. It seemed that Turian stereotypes were stereotypes for a reason.

Kenax tapped on Reyes wrist as he finished the course correction.“Be careful when we get back,” was all he said while making a significant glance back in the hold where the analyst was trying to get the most senior scientist to engage with him in discussing favorite types of cheese loudly.Like there was any cheese to be had left on the Nexus to dream about eating.

“I plan to stay out of things,” was all Reyes murmured back. 

“Before we left there was talk of a meeting to discuss things without admin present—I’d stay away if I was us,” Kenax turned his gaze back to the flight display.“Us pilots need to stay out of the gunfight when it starts. There’ll be enough of a mess to pick up afterwards.”

“I thought all Turians were genetically inclined to trouble and gunfights…”

Kenax’s mandibles flared in the turian version of a smile, stretching the three vertical black lines of his colony marks on the right side of his face. “Us Turians like odds in our favor and keep our friends at our backs.Kaetus—Sloane’s pet—has been implying something is going to happen and soon.”

“I’m glad it’s you referring to him as her pet and not me,” Reyes said with a mischievous and flirtatious look. “I’m going to stay out of things.I plan on helping out the engineering teams with the hydroponics repairs when we get back since the life support repairs are mostly done.It’s not like there’s any shortage of repairs that a part-time mechanic can’t help with.”

Not taking the bait, Kenax flared his mandibles into an even bigger approximate smile. “Yes your tendency to get completely covered in grease and oil while repairing all things mechanical should keep you out of trouble.It’s a good thing I’m not your type. But stay out of the levels below Operations for the next few days.”

Exchanging knowing looks. Reyes focused back on the nav panel as they made multiple small jumps to navigate around the odd dark energy tendrils that ensnared Heleus back to the Nexus.Reyes trusted that Kenax’s connections as a Turian were probably a lot more accurate than the reluctant forced camaraderie that existed between the three human pilots that he shared quarters with—he generally spent more time with Kenax than with them as they were hot racking until more resources could be found. Neither Reyes or Kenax spoke further.They worked well as a team despite never having met prior to their arrival in Heleus and being assigned to be co-pilots. When they reached the limits of Nexus flight control, Reyes hailed the flight deck and got assigned a landing bay which they then guided their shuttle into with a minimum of fuss and effort.

As they unstrapped from the pilot cradle, Kenax gave Reyes one more significant look before darting his eyes to the human analyst in the back who was now escorting the scientists out the airlock and into the bay.“Stay out of trouble my friend. There are dark clouds on the horizon.”

Feeling a forbidding chill that caused a shiver to run down his back, Reyes nodded and clasped hands with Kenax in farewell.“And you stay out of it as well my friend.”Pausing at the end of the air lock, Reyes watched as his passengers all exited the bay under the close watch of the analyst and several security guards. There was a general lack of people in the area that was unusual. Something was up.Kenax glanced back briefly wondering why Reyes had paused but then turned back and followed the guards out of the bay.Turning back into the shuttle, Reyes grabbed his old flight jacket from home that he had stowed in his pilot’s chair compartment.It was his Uncle’s old leather jacket that was frayed at the cuffs but that he swore still smelled of the home he’d left behind for Andromeda despite the six hundred odd years—one of his few personal possessions that had taken up almost a quarter of his limited extra weight allowance as a lowly pilot. Putting the jacket over his flight suit, he grabbed his small flight pack and hit the latch to close the shuttle air lock and initiated shutdown and sleep mode. As the shuttle settled into an electronic version of sleep, he hurried away towards hydroponics instead of stopping at his quarters like he normally would upon returning to Nexus.Something told him to keep his limited personal possessions on him for now and to stay out of the more populated areas where people liked to gather and discuss the ongoings of the administration.

***

Reyes was busy repairing a stretch of piping that controlled nutrient flows when the lights suddenly all went out including the emergency lights. Swearing as the wrench he had been using to tighten the joint slipped and hit his knuckles, he listened carefully for noise.The large room was eerily silent—even the air exchange had stopped pushing air through. The engineers he had agreed to help out had left an hour earlier as it was the end of their shift, they’d been looking forward to a hot meal and sleep. He’d been working for several hours straight and he’d planned on finishing this section up and then finding a corner to grab a nap in rather than going back to his assigned quarters as he’d have to go close to Operations which Kenax had advised him to avoid. Multiple muffled loud sounds occurred as well as something that sounded like a small explosion. It was hard to tell where the sounds were coming from as deep into the plumbing as he was. Hitting his omnitool to use the low glow from the screen as a light source.The battery was too low to actually use the flashlight option as he hadn’t had a chance to charge it yet and had used it to do some spot welding work earlier. Untwisting himself from the pipes he’d been tangled in to work with, he managed to get himself back into the service corridor between the hanging plant bed panels, brushing the hanging lights that were off to the side.Soft leaves of barely sprouted plants brushed his cheek as he maneuvered in the tight space.

Several more banging noises made their way to his ears, pausing to try to locate which way the noise was coming from, Reyes felt several shudders go through the hanging panels which were suspended from the ceiling but not tight enough to not transmit vibrations from the ship.What was going on?The lights briefly flickered on but did not stay lit.

Stumbling several times and trying not to damage any of the young plants, he finally managed to get out of the vaguely damp and warm plant nursery area and into the large, cooler and dry prep room that had multiple large tables with various parts for the plant panels scattered on them. Checking his omnitool, there was a notice from communications that stated that all interpersonal direct communications were currently offline and all personnel should shelter in place.Trying the manual light switch, no light appeared. Another large shudder shook the room. Reyes decided he needed to get towards the main hallway that ran through hydroponics and see if anyone else was around or if there was light/coms there.Grabbing his pack that he’d stowed in the prep room earlier, Reyes began navigating the maze of prep tables.

Making it to the hallway with less stumbling, the emergency lighting in the hall was on which bathed everything in a ruby glow. Another communication notice pinged his omnitool reminding all personnel to shelter in place. Yeah right. He wasn’t staying put here if something had hit the ship or if the hostile aliens had found them. Leaving hydroponics, he entered the corridor that ran between hydroponics, the docking bay, stairs to the tech labs, and the tram.Entering the hallway, he saw three humans, a turian wearing a security uniform, and a salarian scientist all standing in the hallway at the bend by the base of the stairs. The humans looked anxious, the Turian stood with his arms crossed and if Reyes’ was reading it right, an annoyed look as he watched the humans shift uncomfortably.The Salarian paced back and forth in a ten step loop muttering to himself.

“What’s going on?” Reyes asked.

The whole group turned to look at him.A woman with dark hair and eyes approached Reyes quickly, her uniform identifying her division as engineering but she wasn’t someone Reyes recognized.“Power is out to this whole section, emergency lighting and services only. The tram is shut down and the secondary air locks to the docking bay are sealed shut so you can’t go that way.The stairs have the locks in place to separate the floors as well.We haven’t checked all the access hatches yet due to the concerns for hull integrity in this section.The only message that keeps repeating through the omnitool is that we should shelter in place.”

Giving his most winsome smile, which was slightly more strained than usual, Reyes joined the group.“I was in hydroponics.The electricity is all out in there.”

The Turian, whose uniform identified him as security but was unarmed, spoke next. “Those fools have probably started a riot.Those scientists have been stirring up trouble all week.”

“I was told to avoid operations if I wanted to stay out of trouble...” Reyes offered.

Nodding sharply, the Turian’s mandibles fluttered in agitation. “Standard operating procedure is to shut down the sections and isolate if there’s turmoil or an invasion.We’re stuck here until there’s an all clear called.”

The Salarian interjected, “Most probable event is gathering of the opposition has gotten on the bad side of security.Estimate probability that security has shut down at 84.523%.Probability of alien attack estimated at 11.239%…”

Turning to face the Salarian who had stopped pacing and now was standing by his left shoulder, “I’m Reyes Vidal—I’m a pilot and sometimes mechanic. Anyone know how long we can go without the air exchange systems working?”

“Vestus Caldonis.I work security but I’m starting to think that I need a career change—you’re Kenax’s copilot right?,” the Turian offered with a turian version of a smirk.

“Vladimir Brecka.I’m a liaison between admin and the cryo staff,” said one of the humans, the only male, with a thick Russian accent who was wearing off duty clothes.“I also am not in a hurry to find out what kind of disagreement leads to lockdown.”

The female with the engineer insignia was the next to speak.“Maiko Fraser. I’m a materials engineer for the tech labs. The air exchange systems should kick back in in sections so it doesn’t fully isolate after about four hours. Unless someone destroyed the control center in which case we’re all fucked unless someone reroutes all the controls through the tech labs so we can do a hard reset.”

With a loud screech, the overhead speaker system came to life and the group fell silent, turning their attention to the announcement.“Members of the Andromeda Initiative, I am Calix Corvannis one of the life support Engineers and a member of a concerned group of our citizens.It has come to my attention that the administration has been lying to us and withholding information that I feel all of us must be aware of.Recently the administration has been encouraging us to go back into cryostasis—but they have not told us everything.The eight shuttle missions returned weeks ago and the situation is bleak. Our promised golden worlds do not appear to be suitable for colonization or even brief habitation. All eight missions have now returned without evidence of a viable place to grow food and maintain a ground base. I call upon you my fellow citizens to resist the tyranny of this administration.I call upon you to” and the system cut off with an abrupt loud explosion noise and gunfire.

Alarmed looks were shared by the group. It seemed the trouble Kenax had mentioned was here. All their omnitools then pinged with a message:

_Calix Corvannis has been declared to be a security risk.All persons attempting to aid or abet him or his supporters will be dealt with harshly.Remain sheltering in place.Security will be clearing areas one by one. If you are in imminent danger of loss of life support, please directly message security line three—anyone not in imminent danger who uses this line for lesser situations will also be dealt with harshly._

Vestus grumbled under his breath, his mandibles flaring to display frustration and annoyance. “Those idiots are going to bring the entire station down if they’re using explosives.The outer bulkheads still haven’t been repaired around operations.” 

“I am Caebol Alzik, biochemist and geneticist.Call me Alzik. This is most unproductive of Corvannis if the goal is sharing of information,” the Salarian spoke in a hurried fashion. “We must all work together or nothing will be accomplished,” Alzik paused for a moment and his face took on a grim appearance. “Or we’ll all die here.”

At Alzik’s last words, the other female who hadn’t spoken up let out a soft sob. Maiko had turned to her and had an arm slung around her shoulders.Reyes couldn’t hear what Maiko was saying to the other woman but she appeared to be trying to not cry.Reyes looked around the small group and realized there was nothing any of them could do but wait.

***

Four long hours later, the regular lighting once again lit up the hallway the group was in—all of them except Alzik who continued to pace in circles—had taken to sitting propped up against the wall in a close huddle to keep warm.Reyes had managed to charge his omnitool from hot-wiring into an access panel and it was almost fully charged once again. It seemed the emergency lighting only had been an override rather than a power failure. No mucking around in the only easily accessible access panel by either Reyes or Maiko had been able to turn on all the lights or open the doors. The other woman, whose name was Julia Fraser—Maiko’s younger sister—had not been able to contribute much as she was an assistant quartermaster for the tech labs.The airflow through the vents had cycled on and off in thirty minute increments but the air had progressively been much cooler than it should have been which had lowered the temperature in the hallway 5°C to a mildly uncomfortable 10°C. Reyes had reluctantly allowed Maiko and her sister to trade off wearing his coat as they were wearing clothing more suited to the labs which were kept at much warmer temperatures than the rest of the ship. He’d found a longer sleeved shirt to put on from his bag that he’d forgotten was in there.None of them got up off the floor despite the lights being back on.

The airlock door from the trams opened five minutes later to admit a group of six security members in riot gear and with assault rifles that immediately pointed at the group.Reyes and his companions immediately raised their hands in the air in surrender.

Vestus spoke as he recognized the team, “No need for guns guys. We’re friendlies.”

“Vestus? This has been where you got stuck? Command has been looking for the stragglers” Said the human security guard in the lead who relaxed his hold somewhat on his rifle.

“Well if I’d known there was going to be a party today I would have hung around the water cooler and been ready.”Vestus had sprung to his feet in a move that Reyes was faintly envious of the effortlessness of the movement. The rest of the security squad relaxed minutely.

A slightly older man with a few silver colored hairs at his temples with captain bars on his armor stepped around to the front, his rifle held in a relaxed cradle by his arms. “Everyone on their feet.I need to scan your IDs and then we’re going to escort you to safe quarters after you’ve been verified.You’ll have a chance to grab a meal before you’re settled.” 

Wordlessly, Reyes and the rest of the group got to their feet, dropping their hands.He didn’t really like the feel of what was going on but so far the security team had been cautious but not overtly hostile. Having Vestus here had helped. Giving Maiko a hand up, Reyes grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. The security team spread out and two members split off and set off for hydroponics at a fast, silent walk with their guns back up into ready position. “No one should be back there.I was the last one working this late in the plant nursery,” Reyes offered to the captain.

The captain nodded, “We’re responsible for verifying that.If Vestus vouches for you I have no issues with any of you but one can’t be too careful after today.”

Maiko, who’d not left Reyes side after he helped her up, said, “What did happen?”

The security team seemed to get tense with Maiko’s question but it was answered by the captain in a mild tone. “There was a gathering between administration and some of the science staff that got out of hand and several shots were fired.There will be, at some point, a memo about administration’s decisions about that discussion and the official position on what happened.I’d rather not spread gossip at this point but I can tell you that so far there has been no fatalities but there were several serious injuries to my knowledge.Director Tann and Assistant Directors Addison and Kesh are all still guiding the security response teams.”

“You mean Director Kelly isn’t?” Vestus asked.

The captain’s face froze.“ Sloane Kelly is no longer with the security forces and is now considered an active security threat.”

***

The group was very subdued after they received the news. Reyes found himself at loose ends. Unable to really do anything of use, he shuffled along with the rest of the group as security escorted them to the trams. As security was using the smaller version of the trams for maintenance workers, the group had to be split into two trips, each group escorted by an equal number of security guards—Vestus evidently wasn’t considered one of them since he’d not been on duty when the activation call went out. There was minimal chatter amongst the group.Reyes ended up being in the second group that was escorted through the trams along with Vestus and Alzik.

Getting off the tram in the main section of the Nexus, Reyes was surprised by the number of security officers wandering around the tram station. Also, there were a large number of krogan, all of which were armed with shotguns and assault rifles.There were even varren on leashes like dogs with some of the patrolling teams. It seemed the Nexus had gone from peaceful, albeit somewhat under stress, exploration vessel to paranoid military state in a matter of hours.

Vestus, who had at first attempted to make conversation with the other security staff before giving up as he wasn’t given any further information, stood next to Reyes and had the Turian version of scowl on his face. “They’ve awakened the krogan. This isn’t good.”

Surprised that Vestus seemed to be talking to him, Reyes looked around and made note that at least half the security force seemed to be made out of krogans.Unhappy looking krogans to be specific.Reyes had briefly met Nakmor Kesh, the Krogan superintendent for the Nexus through his work assisting with the engineers and repairing the hydroponics lab.He’d been impressed with her as she seemed, for a krogan at least, to be level headed.“I thought that they were keeping a minimum number of krogan’s awake until we had more room for everyone to run around in.”

“They were,” Alzik chimed in softly from the other side of Reyes.Their security detail had paused to briefly check in with a human in security forces uniform who held a data pad and were giving their charges names as recovered. Reyes still hadn’t gotten his ID back from the security guards and it looked like he wouldn’t be getting it back anytime soon.

“Tann must have made the deal with Nakmor Morda. There were rumors that if things got out of control they were going to wake the krogan and use them as a mercenary force.” Vestus definitely sounded like an upset turian to Reyes.

“Why would they need the krogans?” Reyes asked, as they were still being ignored by their guards who now seemed to just be trading gossip with the check in officer. No one was in a rush as no other trams had arrived to push them forward as of yet and they—Reyes, Vestus, and Alzik—hadn’t been making any trouble.

“Kelly had her supporters in the security forces. If she’s out then there’s going to be a certain percentage of the security staff that you won’t want helping run things if you’re not one of her people.The original security recruitment heavily leaned on Kelly’s military contacts and, well at least for me, on Kaetus’ contacts.”

“You were recruited by Kaetus?” Reyes asked, surprised.

“By a friend of a friend of Kaetus’. I needed a new challenge and the Initiative was it.I’m probably being included in the less-than-trustworthy part of the security forces. Especially since I wasn’t at muster. Likely the only reason I haven’t been questioned is that I wasn’t anywhere near the riots.”

“Do you support Kelly?” Alzik asked, seemingly unbothered in typical Salarian fashion.

“She is an ok CO but I’ve had better,” Vestus replied.

“Hey! Time to stop cooling your heels,” the senior security guard, as noted by his uniform, was done talking with the officer. “Time to get you to your quarters.”

Conversation interrupted, Reyes and the others were escorted towards where Reyes had been bunking with his fellow pilots first.The guards continued to be professional and were unable to be coaxed into further discussion. When they arrived at the living quarters pod that Reyes had been assigned to, the door required the security officers to unlock it using their biometrics. As Reyes entered, his ID was handed back to him. To everyone’s surprise, Vestus and Alzik were also ordered into the pod. A fourth security guard materialized from nowhere with a crate full of rations which was handed to Vestus.

“Vestus, you and the Salarian have been reassigned to these quarters temporarily until things get more settled. It’s easiest to keep you all together as you were found together.”The sole, somewhat friendly guard who’d been talkative at the beginning of their encounter seemed apologetic as they ushered Vestus and Alzik into their new quarters.

“How long is lockdown going to last?” Vestus asked.

“Until everyone is accounted for. it’s going to be a while,” was all the guard would say.

The door closed behind the guards with a quiet hiss. Reyes eyed his new temporary roommates. The pod was the typical layout for living quarters. Two bunk rooms on either end of a communal kitchen/dining area with a lavatory next to one bunk room and a wash room on the other. Each bunk room had six beds stacked in groups of three along each wall with a very narrow aisle in between. The doors to both bunk rooms were closed, only one of which had the indicator light on indicating someone was sleeping. Reyes had been hot bunking with approximately 18 other humans, sharing bed space that was first come first serve as no one’s sleep schedule and rec time had matched up completely. Reyes hadn’t really crashed here in a standard week and purposefully had left nothing in the shared communal space. Several foot lockers were stowed in one corner of the communal space that belonged to his absent roommates.

“My home is your home,” Reyes told Vestus and Alzik as he walked to the long kitchen island/seating area and put his pack on the counter. He was so tired. It had been hours since he’d previously planed on getting a few hours of sleep in a cozy corner of the hydroponics lab where there was some fragrant peppermint and wintergreen growing. The spice section of the lab was definitely his favorite as they were fast growing and already had the air perfumed with their scents.

Vestus gently set the crate of provisions down next to Reyes’ pack. “Home sweet home...that’s the correct Terran phrase right?”

“Correct,” Alzik spoke. For a Salarian he sure was quiet compared to all other Salarian Reyes had previously encountered.

The door to the in use bunk room opened and there was Kenax stepping into the common area, casually as could be despite the fact that Reyes had never seen him step foot in the human pods before. “Kenax?” Vestus spoke. “What’re you doing here?”

“Looking for Reyes,” Kenax answered. “I knew he’d end up getting too close to trouble without me to watch over him.”

“Hey!” Reyes protested.“I stay out of trouble on my own and if I were to get in trouble I am more than capable of getting myself out of it.”

The Turians shared a look that was speaking, Kenax’s was extra fond. Vestus approached Kenax and clasped forearms with him in a warrior’s greeting common amongst turians who were close friends. “I see why you’re fond of this human Kenax.He’s feisty all right.”

“What have you told him?” Reyes asked Kenax with a suspicious glare.“Do all Turians gossip like abuelas?”

“I told him nothing that wasn’t true.” Kenax replied with a Turian smirk, his mandibles flaring wide. “And I happen to know you actually miss your abuela.”

Faking a scoff in good humor, Reyes leaned against the kitchen island. “You Turians are just as bad.”

 

***

2819 CE March15th

Scott Ryder, Recon Specialist, Pathfinder Team

Ark Hyperion, Eriksson System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Status: unthawing slowly

 

First impression: it’s cold.

Second Impression: it’s fucking cold.

Scott woke up with a whole body shiver. One minute he was out and the next moment he was awake staring at a frosted glass window above his head. And he was cold, so cold his teeth hurt and if his toes were still attached was questionable given how tingly they felt. Unsure where he was, he tried to reach out and touch the window but his arms moved sluggishly. He became aware he was laying on his back but he was so tired. Despite his best efforts he felt his eyes close and he fell back into a deep sleep.

When he next awoke, he recognized the infirmary beds from his surgery.Dr. T’Perro—that was her name! He remembered now!—which he gathered from her name which was stitched into her uniform. She urged Scott to be calm and to sit up carefully, helping to support Scott as he managed to slump forward and curl over his knees at the edge of the infirmary bed. A rush of nausea increased his misery. So much for feeling a bit cold. Noveria would be an improvement from the descriptions he’d heard.

“Take it easy,” the Asari told him.

Unable to help himself, he snarked back, “I’ve been taking it easy for 600 years.” Scott couldn’t decide if it would be better to stick his hands in his armpits to wake them up or if he’d just fall forward flat on his face if he did that.

“Verify name, specialty and team please,” Dr. T’Perro asked him gently, unfazed by hisattitude.

“Ryder, Scott. Recon specialist for pathfinder team,” Scott answered while slowly opening his eyes that he hadn’t realized he closed. The good news was the room was no longer spinning, the bad news was he still felt like an icicle.

Two technicians that overheard him looked over. One asked him if he was the one responsible for finding them a new home while the other one requested he make sure it was a nice tropical beach vacation planet—he’d definitely take the beach right now to warm up.His nausea improved slightly and he gave a small smile to the two techs and Dr. T’Perro.“I’ll see what we can do for that request.”

Seeing that Scott now had his eyes open, Dr. T’Perro crouched down to eye level with him.She made him run through several tests, checking his neurological exam and eyesight before handing him a small cup of coffee.Scanning him with her omnitool, she seemed satisfied when it chirped back at her.Sharing a small smile with Scott, she remarked, “They make it sound so easy, don’t they?”

Nodding, Scott finished his coffee. “It’s what we trained for.Even if it isn’t, we’ll be ready.”Well, most everyone else had been through Initiative-specific training.As a late comer to the program, Scott had been able to read the operations manual and field strategy guide his father had put together instead of joining the rest of the team for actual team training sessions.Evidently he’d been excused based on his military commitments and experience. Dad’s planning had been thorough.

Standing and relaxing now that her exam was finished, Dr. T’Perro nodded. “I hope so.”

“You know something?” Scott asked, getting the feeling she knew something he didn’t.

“Okay, everything checks out. Word came down the Pathfinder wants the entire team all mission ready within the hour.”Dr. T’Perro ignored his question.

Curious, Scott noted with a raised eyebrow, it’s not like they didn’t have enough supplies or had met up with the Nexus yet according to the anticipated operative time plan. “Why the rush?”

Fiddling with her omnitool, Dr. T’Perro absently stated, “He didn’t say. But something’s up.”She continued to scroll through a readout on her omnitool and moved to his other side, revealing a black male sitting on the next bed who smiled and waved at Scott despite the doctor trying to do his neuro check. Distracted, Scott waved back and turned back to his doctor as she said, “Okay, everything checks out. Just one more thing before I send you on your way. We need to to test your implant. SAM are you monitoring? SAM are you online?”

The stand next to his infirmary bed had a hologram appear with a voice seeming to come from nowhere but echoed oddly in Scott’s head as if he heard it twice. “Yes Dr. T’Perro. Good morning Ryder. Are you feeling well?” Said the hologram.Not at all slightly creepy thought Scott as he fought his startle reflex.

“My implant?I just need a second to get my bearings. What’s this with my implant? Something wrong? I thought it was a passive monitor.” Scott felt maybe he should have asked more questions before signing that consent form 600 years ago. What had he allowed to be put in his head?

Dr. T’Perro quickly tried to minimize his worries. “A routine check.After being in stasis we want to make sure the connection’s still live.”

The hologram chimed in next. “As the team’s mission computer, your well being is my primary concern.”Now wasn’t that comforting. He was used to having a CO that was monitoring everything and critiquing his performance. Now he’d allowed them to put the monitor directly in his brain. Thanks Dad, he thought with irony.

Dr. T’Perro continued as if the hologram hadn’t interrupted. “Assuming the implants work as advertised. SAM sees what you see—in theory. We won’t know for sure until we get you into the field.”She then brightened despite Scott being sure that the expression on his face being less than enthusiastic. “How are you feeling otherwise?”

Wryly, Scott, tried to contain his sarcasm and mostly succeeded. “Still thawing.I’m ready to get to it.”

SAM again interjected. “Readings confirmed. I detect an increased level of adrenaline in your system.The neural implant is functioning appropriately.”

Gesturing with his empty cup, Scott deflected. “Caffeine always did make me jumpy.”It wouldn’t do to let anyone on to how he really felt about ending up in Andromeda with one of his dad’s science experiments in his brain. Dr. T’Perro gestured to the waste bin and he easily tossed the disposable cup into the bin with one toss.

Standing, he noted some stiffness in his joints but he supposed that should be considered not unexpected for being in cryo for 600 plus years. Dr. T’Perro informed him while pointing to another stasis pod that hadn’t yet been opened in one corner of the infirmary. “You’re all done. Let’s get you on your way—though you may wanna hang around while we revive your sister. It always helps to see a familiar fa—“

She was interrupted by a loud and distant rumble that shook the entire infirmary. The lights flickered before going to emergency lighting.

Stabilizing himself by widening his stance, Scott reached out to give the Doctor a hand as she almost fell over. “I don’t like the sound of that.”The entire infirmary shook with what felt like the ark had hit something. Everything not bolted to the floor—stasis pods and medical equipment included—shook and crashed around them. Scott pulled the Doctor out of the way of a stasis pod which would have crashed into the wall if the artificial gravity hadn’t suddenly stopped working. Everyone in the infirmary was floating now, Dr. T’Perro had a panicked look on her face.

“What’s happening?” She gasped, breathing hard.

“Just hang on!” Scott told her, grabbing her other arm so she couldn’t float away as they were stuck almost in the center of the room without any inertia to move toward anything other than straight up towards the ceiling. She had a panicked look on her face which made Scott wonder if the zero G training requirement may have been waived for some Initiative members.

The overhead speaker cracked to life. “Engineering report!” Came the sharp command from what Scott assumed was the bridge.

“Gravity in cryo bay is offline.” Because of course it made most sense to have the infirmary next to the cryo bay given the primary initial function of the ark.

Cora Harper’s voice was the next speaker—someone Scott recognized from his prior life. Cora was one of his Dad’s former military acolytes. From his limited interaction with her she seemed frighteningly competent.What was she doing here? “I’m almost inside! Hold on!” Cora shouted through the comms.

Scott watched as Cora swam through the air like the experienced space traveler she was and adjusted her course to make it to the standard maintenance panel that was in all large rooms that contained the resets. She opened the panel with minimal effort and flipped several switches to off, paused for a brief moment and then turned them back on. Gravity reasserted itself with a vengeance, all the other people and floating objects in the bay immediately fell to the floor.Multiple groans were heard from around the room as people landed awkwardly.Scott landed hard as he tried to stabilize the doctor from landing even harder.

Landing lightly on her feet, Cora surveyed those around her and helped several people to their feet by the time that Scott had regained his and helped Dr. T’Perro to hers. “Everyone okay?” Cora asked loudly as she flicked her angularly cut icy blond hair out of her eyes where it had fallen when the gravity had reset.

Dr. T’Perro was definitely shaken and did not loosen her grip from Scott. “I think so,” she offered to Cora.

“What happened?” Scott asked Cora.

Giving him a look up and down, Cora tipped her head to Scott in recognition.Yep, still the frighteningly competent soldier he remembered from the Milky Way. “We’re not sure. Sensors are scrambled. But good to see you’re up. Feels like centuries since we last spoke.”

Scott was going to reply but his father’s disembodied voice came over the comms. “This is the Pathfinder. Mission teams continue preparation. Cora, Ryders, report to bridge immediately.” Yeah Dad sounded unhappy—so much for hoping for a good first team outing.

Cora turned immediately to leave, “You heard him. Let’s get—“

Whatever Cora was going to say next was interrupted by one of the technicians working on one of the stasis pods who sounded extremely worried. “Uh, we have a problem over here.” There was a pause and then the man continued, “It’s Sara Ryder.”

Scott’s heart leapt into his throat making it difficult to swallow. Oh god, Sara. Cora and Dr. T’Perro both rushed to the stasis pod and the technician. Scott followed them at a slower pace, feeling as if he was moving in slow motion as he heard Cora ask what was wrong and the Doctor telling her that she didn’t know and needed to run diagnostics. Scott stood near the top of the pod, unwilling to ask the questions that most worried him—was Sara hurt? Dead? The possibilities rushed through his thoughts as Dr. T’Perro ran her diagnostic program and tapped on the access panel.So many things could go wrong in cryostasis—Scott was well aware of the research into problems due to his parent’s research interests. Cora asked the most important question that Scott could not seem to vocalize. “Is she okay?”

The Doctor continued to work but answered partly. “It looks like some sort of power surge.I’m running a diagnostic now and I will know more in a moment or two.”

The Technician hadn’t moved either but told Cora, “Give it a second for the processor to sync.”

Dr. T’Perro asked the Technician if the seals had broken. The Technician replied that the seals were intact and that the physical integrity of the pod wasn’t the problem.Cora and Scott listened to them talk for several minutes before Cora became impatient. “Well?” She asked.

“The power cycle is green, no structural damage,” the Technician answered her—stating again the answers to questions the Doctor had already asked making both Cora and Scott frown. Scott crossed his arms across his chest, physically holding himself as he waited for more information on his twin.

“The pod is intact. All connections are checking out,” the Doctor informed them, looking at the Technician with a puzzled look on her face.

“It’s just bad timing then. An interruption in the respiratory cycle maybe?” The Technician queried. Both the Doctor and Technician continued to poke at the exposed display panel.

Scott shifted closer to the Doctor making her look at him. “Scott….” She said when she noticed him.

“Is my sister okay?” He finally asked, unable to look away from the Doctor.

Standing, the Doctor again reached out to him and placed a hand on his forearm in a comforting move. “Sara’s fine. Her vitals are strong but the revival procedure was interrupted.”

Scott struggled to contain the quiver he felt in his throat. “What’s the prognosis? I don’t like the sound of what you two are saying.”

Lexi squeezed his arm in comfort. “Don’t worry. It just means the process could take a bit longer than usual. SAM?”

The hologram which had sat patiently despite all the disarray around it replied in the same artificial, nonemotional voice. “My connection to Sara’s implant was suspended.However, her pulse, respiration, and brain activity are all normal.”

The Asari gave a small smile at this information. “To be on the safe side, we’ll need to keep her in a low-level coma for a while then let her body regain consciousness naturally. She’ll be fine Scott.”

Nodding at the positive comment. Scott cleared his throat. “Glad to hear it.”

Cora, who had been patiently waiting while Scott and Lexi discussed Sara, interrupted. “Thanks Lexi. Keep us updated. Ryder, I’ll wait for you at the door whenever you’re ready to go.”

The technician who had continued to work on the pod monitor while Lexi spoke with Scott also then spoke up while pointing to the pod. “How do you want to handle this doctor?”

Lexi turned so she was facing the technician and not Scott. “Keep her in the pod for now. Round the clock monitoring. We don’t know if she’s in true stasis anymore so we may need to intervene.”

“Right. So parts of the body could be waking up…” the technician muttered and continued to work on the screen.

“But others aren’t. We can’t be sure just yet…” Lexi moved away from Scott and turned all her attention back to the stasis pod, forgetting about Scott as her mind worked on the problem at hand. The technician asked about nutrition and Lexi instructed him to run an intravenous line into the pod and to start the standard nutrient package. Scott listened to them talk and tried not to be further spooked when Dr. T’Perro additionally told the tech to add boosters to avoid cardiopulmonary arrest. This all didn’t sound good to him with his limited standard field medicine skills. The doctor seemed to realize that he was still standing there and gave him a compassionate look. “Don’t worry Ryder. We’ll take good care of her. She’ll make it.”

Turning away was hard but Scott managed it. There was nothing he could do here other than worry. He’d better let the doctor work.The black man who had waved to him waved at him again with enthusiasm, not seeming to realize what had been happening with the stasis pod. Walking past the man, Scott was unable to not hear the man’s conversation with his doctor as he walked past on his way to meet up with Cora who was leaning against the doorway with a practiced air of nonchalance as she looked at her nails, giving Scott time to ask his questions regarding his twin. “Did the world just turn upside down, or am I still dreaming?” The man asked the room as Scott walked past.

Harry Carlyle, Scott’s old physician and his Dad’s friend was looking at the man in exasperation. “It left a nasty bump on your head. Hold still and let me take a look.”

The man tried to hold still but unfortunately could not prevent a wince when Harry poked at the lump on his forehead. “First five minutes in Andromeda and we’re already crashing the car….”

Scott heard Dr. Carlyle, who Scott knew had a rather wicked sense of humor, seemed to find the man humorous as he asked, “You thought it’d be easy?”

Almost out of hearing range, Scott couldn’t help but grimace as he heard the man’s jovial reply—No but I figured any scars could wait ’til we land.God, this was an auspicious start.

Another two men who he vaguely remembered from the dossiers he had read on his new teammates were sitting on the beds closest to the door—Fischer and Kirkland maybe?Scott couldn’t remember their full names. As Scott walked up to Cora he could just hear them comment that something big would have to happen to overload the generators to cause a gravity loss. Turning to look at them, Cora grabbed him by the elbow as her patience had run out.

“You ready? Let’s go.” Cora said as she pulled him through the door, around the shared hallway with the cryo bay and into the main hallway and chaos—how they had not heard the alarm going off in the infirmary Scott had no idea. Scott had assumed Cora’s question was rhetorical. Several engineering technicians were running around with open maintenance panels every two meters.Several bundles of wires had been pulled out of the nearest one with some sparks noted as they neared. Two engineering staff members were clustered around a panel that showed power conduits that were glowing due to the overload of energy flowing through them. They were not quite panicking but the conversation the two were having was loud and excited sounding about finding the source of the fault in the conduits. Scott and Cora exchanged a glance and both of them powered on their omnitool scanners, looking for the source of the overload, one going left and the other right.

“Any luck?” Scott shouted to Cora as he was two thirds of the way down the hallway, his scanner not picking up anything other than a continuous overload.

“No. You?” Cora shouted back.

SAM spoke through his omnitool, startling him slightly. “Relay 2-C shows damage from a thermal spike.It is four meters ahead of you on the left side of the hallway.”

“Found it!Bad relay!” Scott shouted as he moved to scan the section of wall which SAM had indicated. His scanner showed a broken relay seal.Scott’s shout had garnered the attention of the two engineers who briskly unattached the wall panels before shirking from conduit as a large spark shot out towards them, narrowly missing them.

“We need a reset to replace this” one of the engineers indicated to Scott.“Go back to the panel we were working on and hit the big switch in the center when we tell you to,” they ordered him.

Seeing the sense of having him do the non-technical part of the repair, Scott hurried back up the hallway. The engineers waited calmly as he got into position, they had several tools and what appeared to be duct tape in their hands. When they saw he was in place they shouted, “Now!” After which Scott flicked the big lever in the middle of the panel, while dodging several sparks, into the off position and then back into the on position fifteen seconds later when the engineers let him know to restart the grid. This time, no sparks or loud angry hums were heard from the conduits and the alarms that had been blaring in the hallway became silenced.Turning to look away from the panel and towards the engineers, Scott was surprised to see Cora standing two feet from him. She had an appraising look on her face as she watched Scott.

Feeling self conscious, Scott shifted on his feet not sure what to make of Cora’s appraisal.One of the techs clapped him on the shoulder as they walked past, thanking him for his assistance. “So which way to the bridge?” He asked, trying to break the tension.

Cora didn’t say anything but motioned for him to follow her as she took off up a long staircase in the direction of the trams according to the navigation signs.At least one of them knew where they were going. Following her reluctantly, Scott wondered if anything else could go wrong today.Odds were something had to go right since nothing had yet.

***

The tram trip was awkward to say the least. Cora and he sat on opposite sides facing each other, Scott avoiding eye contact and her staring. While he’d met Cora before, he wouldn’t exactly describe her and him as friends. More of acquaintances than anything. She’d been the soldier who did things right according to his Dad—it’d seemed that one leave he’d made the mistake of coming home right after he turned twenty one—his father hadn’t shut up about how great of a soldier she was and her work with the Asari.The implied part of Cora being so good was that Scott, who’d just finished N2 school, wasn’t. He’d been the under-performer who couldn’t quite fill his own Father’s shoes given how much criticism his Dad had of his performance at school and his choices during the final field exercise.That leave had been particularly miserable because that’s also when he’d been informed of his Mom’s illness. His Mom had tried to put on a brave face and that everything was going to be fine—but things hadn’t been fine.He’d made a few other appearances on leave but Scott had purposefully scheduled them so they would fall when his Father was most likely to have limited free time after that until, well until he’d been forced out.

Cora interrupted his thoughts by clearing her throat. “That was close. Barely in Andromeda and we’re already scrambling.”

Unsure what to say, Scott was noncommittal. “The adventure begins.”

“Not sure your dad will see it that way,” Cora seemingly tried to be neutral in her disagreement.Neither of them said anything more until they arrived at the Bridge.

Right before they were going to enter, Cora halted him with a touch to his arm and he looked at her, she had a slightly concerned look on her face. “I’m gladyou and I were both assigned to the Pathfinder Team.I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Me too,” Scott tried to be enthusiastic but judging from Cora’s expression he’d not succeeded.

Cora seemed to be trying to figure something out but they were interrupted as a crew mate ran between them and opened the door to the Bridge in a rush, pushing them both to the side.

The Bridge was in chaos. With multiple red flags noted on the large view screen and multiple conversations going back and forth, different crew mates yelling out directions to others. In the center of this storm in the captain’s position was Captain Dunn. She stood ramrod straight, her hands clasped behind her back as she surveyed the view screen and alerts, occasionally giving commands in a sharp, decisive voice. Scott’s father, Alec Ryder, stood to her left side and was also watching the screen. 

Scott’s attention, however was not on his father or the captain, but was drawn to the screen which showed the surrounding star field which he approached to get a better look.The star field was obscured by a weird thunderstorm like cloud of energy which tangled this way and that.Was that what was causing all the trouble?He’d never seen anything like it—it wasn’t a nebula or an interstellar cloud like what he’d seen before and in fact had even piloted through during his days in the marines. Streaks of lightning arched through the cloud, which at first appeared black but then he realized almost all colors were somewhere in the diffuse twisting thing. Scott vaguely heard Cora greet his father.

One of the crew stated that the flight controls were not responding. Captain Dunn gave the order that the first priority was stopping the power outages.A second crew member stated that the mainline power was out and they were functioning on reserves. That was when Alec Ryder interrupted them all.

“What’s our position?”Alec asked, ignoring everything except the navigator’s reply.

“Unknown, we lost telemetry with the mainline power,” was the reply from the navigator who seemed to be at a loss of what to try next given the entire navigational panel was full of flashing red error messages and warnings. 

Captain Dunn made to reply but was beaten out by Alec. “SAM we need eyes out there,” was the command.

SAM, evidently had some control over any speaker it was nearby as well as parts of the ark. “Attempting to adjust sensor array,” came the mechanized, disembodied voice of SAM.

Captain Dunn finally did get a few words in before Alec could give another order. “Alec, please…. You may be Pathfinder but this is MY ship.”

Scott’s father did not seem to find this a good enough reason to let the Captain make command decisions.“Captain, the protocol’s clear.In the absence of communication with the Nexus or the other arks, we are to proceed to our appointed golden world. Solid ground is our first priority.”

Obviously getting offended, the Captain’s reply was less than politic and involved visible bristling. “If it’s even out there. Nobody said anything about running into an energy cloud—and that’s just a wild guess what we hit.”

Alec pensively stared at the energy cloud on the screen, a frown deepening the lines on his face. Captain Dunn continued, settling slightly and adopting a more conciliatory tone. “Alec, I need to assess the damage. Stop the bleeding. We’ve got twenty thousand people asleep on this ship. Let’s give them a chance to wake up.”

Cora and Scott now stood slightly behind Alec and Dunn. Cora softly muttered to Scott, “Can you blame her?”

Scott continued to watch his father and Captain Dunn. “It’s her call.She is the captain. I’d think she gets the final word.”

“Well he might—“ Alec turned around abruptly, his face now completely blank but his eyes were furious as they pinned both Cora and Scott.

“This isn’t about having the final word,” Alec stated in an almost snarl.

Cora, perhaps being a bit smarter than Scott, immediately stood at attention but stopped short of saluting. “Yes sir!”

Scott refused on principle to back down from his father’s stare or to stand at attention. It’s not as if he wasn’t used to having his behavior be found disappointing by his father.Dad had wanted him here, and he was here. Last he checked he had followed his orders, if not the spirit of them.It was Dunn’s ship—not theirs—to captain.

The staring contest between Ryders was interrupted by the navigator exclaiming that they were able to move through the energy cloud.

“My God…” Captain Dunn exclaimed as a planet that was hidden by the energy cloud came into view. Scott presumed this was the mysterious Habitat 7.“Is that our golden world?” Dunn asked the navigator.

Alec turned back to the screen and was the one who answered her. “That’s Habitat 7. New Earth if we’re lucky.All our long range scans told us it should be in the green zone. Perfect for human settlement.”

“But it doesn’t look the same as the intel,” Cora spoke before she could catch herself.

Cora seemed to be the one now speaking out instead of him.Scott found himself supporting her. “We can’t give up now. It looks bad but we don’t know how bad it is yet. Still seems like our best shot.”

Alec asked SAM his opinion, neither agreeing or disagreeing with Scott and Cora.

“The energy from the phenomenon is damping our sensors. Planetary conditions are unknown.” SAM wasn’t exactly being reassuring.

Alec stared at the screen for a few moments before turning to address Dunn, Cora and Scott. “We’re marooned. Twenty thousand souls adrift at sea. And when the power runs out and stays out,” he paused and pointed at Habitat 7. “We need to know if that’s safe harbor.”

Dunn seemed willing to hear him out. “And if it’s not?”

Scott could see why people and soldiers were willing to do whatever his father asked of them as he spoke with assurance. “As Pathfinder, it’ll be my job to find an alternative. It’s what we trained for. But if this goes well… we’re already home.”

“Make it quick then,” Dunn gave him permission to proceed.

Ignoring Scott, Alec focused on Cora. “Harper, the rest of the team should be awake by now. Have them spin up two shuttles. Planetfall in thirty.”

Cora did salute this time. Force of habit probably. “Yes sir,” she snapped in reply before following Alec out of the bridge leaving Scott with the captain.

Having never met Dunn prior to now, Scott was surprised when she addressed him. “A stubborn one isn’t he?”

Trying to appear professional, Scott coughed to clear his throat. “I wouldn’t know.” He paused, realizing this perhaps wasn’t the best response to give as the son of the man in question. “Professionally I mean. He cares, in his own way. Enough to give him a chance.”

Dunn was giving him an appraising look similar to what Cora had given him earlier that made him want to squirm. Finally she spoke.“I suppose you’re right. He is our Pathfinder. If this doesn’t work out, we’ll need him more than ever.”The captain then dismissed him, going to give more orders to the frantically working bridge crew.

“I need an ETA on our sensor repairs. We’re blind out here…” was the last thing Scott heard as he left the bridge to go find the deployment staging area. Seems no one remembered he had no idea where things were on this ship.Luckily, he was in possession of a map on his omnitool.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Two:

2818 CE July 3rd

Habitation Pod Group #328T12S, Nexus, Somewhere in the Heleus Cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Shuttle Pilot, callsign Anubis

Status: Cleaning up and wishing for better food

 

Reyes and his companions of the moment had all briefly eaten and then split to take short, poor sleep quality naps in the bunks due to the lateness of the hour when they’d made it to the pods—Reyes had ended up with both Turians choosing the same bunk room as himself.He’d read something into that but wasn’t sure where to even begin—other than he’d had his suspicions about Turians being capable of snoring confirmed by his copilot and that getting a Turian wedged into a human bunk had been fairly humorous in of itself.Perhaps Alzik just needed some Salarian alone time as he’d chosen to bunk in the other room. Reyes had slept uneasily, awakening multiple times, not always sure what had awakened him but once was to the ship giving a rather alarming shudder. Both Kenax and Vestus had also awoken to that one and they’d all remained lying quietly in their beds waiting for something to indicate what was going on.The emergency alarms didn’t go off and the air seemed to cycle like it normally did. He didn’t remember when or how long, but eventually he’d fallen back into a deeper slumber and gotten some rest.

Awakening in the darkened bunk room, Reyes realized he was the only one in the room. Both Vestus and Kenax had left—they’d chosen both top bunks and had practically herded Reyes into the middle bunk on the right, just below Kenax. The low glow from the sleep room lighting lit up the floor just enough so he didn’t trip and fumble much as he grabbed a clean jumpsuit and underclothes from the concealed storage cabinet by the door. Yawning and stretching slightly, he left the room to discover he’d definitely been the last one sleeping. Both Turians and Alzik were sitting around the islands, eating what looked like protein shakes and a bar for Alzik. Kenax waved at Reyes in greeting as he turned and entered the showers, returning the brief wave with a sleepy version of his own.

Entering the showers, the biometric scanner recognized Reyes and the indicator light at the top of the first shower flashed green, the small screen to the right showing Reyes current allowed water rations as being higher than average—he didn’t often make it back to the rooms to use his full ration.Setting his fresh clothes on the small bench. Reyes quickly undressed and entered the stall. Rubbing his chin, he could feel that instead of the roguish stubble he thought he had he was edging into the beginnings of a beard. One problem with his darker coloring was that Reyes had to do minimal work to grow a five o’clock shadow unless he used chemical shaving techniques—which irritated his skin with repetitive use. As a pilot who occasionally was in small, zero g areas, he preferred to be as clean shaven as he could reasonably maintain—he hated it when hair got in his way and he was miserable when he had to wear a face mask and get it to seal tight with facial hair.He’d once been stranded on a mission for two months with a large part spent in zero G, with twenty other similarly grooming deficient marines.That had been when he learned he hated it when his hair got much past regulation length or that a beard was not how he preferred to look.Grooming regulations had gone out the window on that particular FUBAR mission.It’d been a long week before whatever had happened earlier today or yesterday and he was going to take advantage of the down time to put himself back to rights.

Debating shaving first vs shower first, he decided that it was probably better to be more awake when shaving, he stepped into the shower. The shower started with a brief shot of water at his preferred temperature, enough to get his entire body wet with a quick turn, and then shut off. The dispenser in the shower had liquid soap and conditioner that was human approved. The cubicle continued to have low flow warm air circulating as he briskly began hand scrubbing himself with the soap that was supposedly scentless but had a weird faint orange scent to it. The soap foamed well and soon he was covered in suds from head to toe. Waving his hand in front of the water flow switch, a longer flow of water started that quickly rinsed him off, the water starting out with a faint gray grittiness to it and gradually clearing as about a half week’s worth of accumulated sweat and dirt rinsed off. Running his hands over his body, he then started lathering his hair a second time—he could still feel some grittiness as he’d rinsed.He’d need to trim his hair too when he was done. Hitting the water switch a second time to wash the soap out of his hair, he tilted his head back out of the spray and enjoyed the water as he ran conditioner through his hair so it would be easier to trim. Glancing at his water allowance meter, he had an extra two plus minutes of warm water before he’d be at the baseline and would start eating into future shower time. Why they were set to full Ark capacity limits he had no clue but the water would gradually chill to discourage lingering—after all he’d helped the engineers test the water flow capacity for this section in his down time over a month ago.

Two minutes wasn’t really that long but he put his hands above his head and leaned into the wall, allowing the spray to hit his back muscles that loosened with the warm cascade.He pulled an old trick his uncle had taught him for anxiety relief and focused on the way the water wound down his body, visualizing in his mind that the water was taking away his stress and anxiety.Reyes felt his mind go silent for the two minutes, breathing deeply as he gave into the sensation until the water began to chill just slightly as a warning.He then opened his eyes, took a deep breath and waved his hand to stop the water 10 seconds before he hit the line.

Sluicing water out of his hair with a hand, the air circulation increased to push water off his body and into the grates at the bottom of the shower which had turned on high to vacuum the loose water out of the cubicle. The timer by the door advised 15 seconds before opening to allow water reclamation. Rubbing his eyes, he waited until the time finished and then exited the shower, mostly dry except for his hair which always seemed to retain more water than it should. Grabbing a towel from the shelf, he wrapped one towel around his waist with a secure knot before grabbing a second and rubbing his face and hair to remove the last few drips that were clinging to him. 

Going to the sinks, he eyed himself in the mirror.He was really pale compared to how he usually looked. His face showed he persistently was not getting enough sleep, the circular bruises under his eyes were rather prominent and his facial features sharper given the strict rationing despite his week’s worth of beard growth shadowing his jaw line.He estimated he’d lost somewhere around 15 kilos since leaving the milky way, his hips bones more prominent than usual in his reflection. While he’d always kept himself in good shape, he was starting to look definitely underfed and he could note that while his muscles looked nicely defined he was worried he’d begun to loose some muscle mass with prolonged inactivity due to his flight schedule and caloric restriction. The tattoo around his bicep stood out prominently against his pale skin.The tattoo had been a drunken wager during flight school, his callsign of Anubis prominent on his skin, both in Egyptian hieroglyphics as well as in Standard. The black and gold ink was showy but the spread wings of the Horus falcon tattoo below it was so well done that it appeared as if the bird was going to take flight on his skin, a study in black and gold ink.A reminder of the past and why it was important not to let others define him. Besides, flying his favorite falcons was a good memory. It also nicely concealed the scar that curved around his bicep muscle as well—another reminder he’d rather not dwell on but was loathe to have removed by a dermal regenerator.He needed reminders on occasion.

Yawning, he examined his jaw line. It was time for this beard to be gone. Pushing the hidden compartment open that contained the shaving supplies, he ran enough water to moisten his face and then applied lather. There was a choice of either a straight blade or a clipper/shaver. For his face he always preferred the old fashioned straight edge. Taking the blade, he tested the edge with his fingernail—one of his absent roommates religiously sharpened the blade daily. The edge was nice and honed. satisfied, he began to glide it in small, sure strokes, revealing smooth skin that had been hidden beneath whiskers. He efficiently shaved and was quickly done, managing to not even nick himself once as he inspected his jaw for spots he might have missed.

Next taking up the clipper, he efficiently cut his hair in what he thought of his typical short fade—long on top, short on the sides almost to the skin above his ears.He’d had to carefully go through the ends of his longer hair to get an even cut that lay nicely as he slicked it back with a minimal amount of hair gel from the kit.Reyes had been cutting his own hair for years and did it without difficulty thanks to the mirrors around him. Why pay someone for something he could do for himself? When finished, he took the provided moisturizer and applied it. Space was hell on skin and could cause big problems if you didn’t take care.

Between showering, shaving and a quick haircut he’d been in the washroom for over a half hour. Quickly donning the clean clothes, he dumped his used uniform and towels into the wash chute.He realized he’d left his toothbrush in his pack, so he then used his finger to clean his teeth and took a swish of mouthwash to freshen his breath. Ablutions complete, he left the washroom. Padding bare foot into the common area, he realized none of his companions seemed to have moved at all in the interim.

Kenax, bastard that he was, wolf whistled when he saw that Reyes had left the washroom, drawing the other’s attention to Reyes. “Clean up nice and pretty?”

Rolling his eyes at Kenax’s teasing, Reyes joined them and perused the crate of rations that had been dropped off.Alzik was doing some complicated looking programing on his omnitool while munching occasionally on his bars.Neither Kenax or Vestus were in any hurry with their protein shakes and seemed to be trading gossip about random fellow acquaintances. There was no way they’d know when the rations would get replenished and if there would be appropriate dextro-proteins for the Turians, whatever the weird smelling crumbly paste was for Alzik, and good old bland protein bars for Reyes that neither tasted good nor had appealing texture but would meet his caloric intake requirements. Eyeing the caloric contents on the labels of the human approved protein bars, Reyes estimated he had about a days worth of calories before he’d be going hungry. Hopefully they’d either get a resupply or be released from house arrest before then.

“It’s not going to taste any better if you keep staring at it,” Vestus told Reyes.

Pulling a face, Reyes pulled out one bar and one shake. The label on the one promised chocolate flavoring (hah!) and the other promised vanilla. From his experience, whoever had made that designation had never really had either true chocolate or fresh vanilla. He couldn’t wait until the hydroponics lab was producing on a regular basis—he missed spices and the cooking that he had grown up with.His dreams, when he had them, were mostly filled with childhood experiences and food—mostly food if he was being truthful.Rationing had been sucking all the fun out of everything and protein bars and shakes did not help anything.

Sighing, he took the open seat next to Kenax. “Any news? rumors? Wild guesses?” He asked as he took a pull off the protein shake. They’d been out of coffee for two weeks now. He’d happily support an insurrection if it got him coffee instead of a protein shake.Or real chocolate. He’d do a lot for real dark chocolate.

Vestus seemed amused. “No one’s been by. SOP is that it should take less than 12 standard hours to clear the entire ark. They’re taking a while longer than they should.”

“And krogan? Are they part of SOP?” Reyes asked. Taking another pull off his protein shake, the fake not-chocolate taste of the thick slurry made him cough. He’d noticed earlier that Vestus had not said that he supported Kelly, only that she was an ok CO which was not a glowing endorsement of your commanding officer. Reyes own opinion of Kelly was currently neutral, he neither endorsed her or felt she did a good job. There’d definitely been some shady dealings going on lately but he wasn’t sure those could be blamed directly on her.Just because he had an excuse to be in the docking bay didn’t mean he didn’t notice that there was a lot more foot traffic in and out than there should have been.His shuttle hadn’t been tampered with. With Kenax as a copilot they ran thorough systems checks every time the climbed aboard which included inspecting everything prior to launch. There’d been an interesting “shuttle failure” last week that the mechanics had been throwing fits over but hadn’t been able to really talk about details when he’d asked the few he was friendly with.

Both Turians looked annoyed at the mention of the krogan. “No they’re not. And with Kelly out that means that Kaetus is probably out as well.” Vestus did not look happy as he continued, “With the krogan out of deep freeze I don’t know that you can assume that Tiran Kandros is in charge—He was supposed to be out with one of the scout ships but it missed it’s rendezvous by three days last I heard.”

Alzik, whom they’d almost all forgotten about, interjected. “Director Tann is likely directing the security forces.I calculate his assuming command at approximately 78.435%.Tann is an inexperienced administrator. He is accountant. Mistakes should be assumed.”Reyes and both Turians stared at Alzik, who merely blinked twice at them before returning to his coding. 

Making eye contact with both Turians, Reyes was not reassured at all by this. Decisions coming from Tann’s office as of late had been of the restrictive variety without a plan as to how to get out of this mess. The mission Kenax and he had flown yesterday was a good example—they were giving up on Eos as a possible colony site but no other new explorations were going out. Two shuttles had not returned three weeks ago and hadn’t been heard from since. The Scourge had made navigation much more difficult that was originally planned. It would be considered a good outcome if the ships had only gotten lost.There was also the rumor of less than friendly alien contact but so far neither Reyes or Kenax had been able to pin any of the other teams down on first contact occurring. Either way, they’d been issued personal side arms the last two missions they’d had. Information was being heavily censored between teams—not what you’d expect for an exploration oriented mission.

“Tann thinks like an accountant, not like a military leader or colony strategist,” Vestus offered, his gaze briefly flicking towards Alzik before coming back to Reyes, mandibles flaring slightly betraying some slight anxiety. “The krogan being awake isn’t a good thing.There’s going to be more conflict before this is all over. They’re going to be forcing us back into cryo soon if something doesn’t change.”

The likelihood of violence given a large population of krogan running things wasn’t reassuring in the least. Reyes had been around when the last big krogan mercenary war occurred on Omega. Everyone who wasn’t an Omega resident and had the funds to do so had gotten off station for a few months. Reyes had been one of the pilots of the ships the Alliance had eventually had to send in to calm things down with the assistance of Aria T’Loak after the violence had spilled into the major shipping lanes. That was a deployment he wished he didn’t remember. “How long before the forced return to ice?”

“Supply situation is not long term feasible. Must return all absolute non-essential to cryosleep or face exhaustion of resources,” Alzik was now paying close attention to their conversation. The Salarian appeared worried. “Essential repairs are close to completed. Would be better to have return to sleep and allow for crop growth, small search teams to find new colony sites.Likelihood of effective decisionsleading to long term stability and function of Initiative remains low.”

“How low?” Reyes found himself asking.Alzik so far had liked to cite his exact probabilities. A salarian hedging their bets as to a low outcome could mean a lot of things and he didn’t know Alzik well enough to guess.

Alzik hesitated before answering, looking sad. “Less than 15% with current population levels. If most put back in cryosleep, perhaps as high as 34% success rate with eventual most likely mortality rate of 10%.”

“That’s a really high mortality rate for a low success rate.” Reyes said softly. His protein shake mostly abandoned in front of him.

Alzik’s face smoothed into a calculating look. “Calculation based on most likely outcome variables. Perhaps as high variance as +/- 10% mortality rate. Am not data scientist, am biochemist and geneticist. Many variables cannot be adequately compensated for given present data set.Tann not effective administrator so most likely poor outcome.”

“If even the Salarians are giving crappy odds you know it’s time for a change in plan,” Vestus told Kenax and Reyes. “We need more info.”

Looking at his half finished drink, Reyes couldn’t agree more and nodded. “Waiting is all we can do right now.Anyone up for a card game?”

Kenax was closely watching Reyes, for what Reyes wasn’t sure but he nodded along with him. “Poker would be a good way to waste some time. Alzik you up for a good game of wits and wagers?”

 

***

 

2819 CE March15th

Scott Ryder, Recon Specialist, Pathfinder Team

Ark Hyperion Mission Team Locker Room, Eriksson System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Status: mission ready

 

Changing into armor he’d never worn before but that fit him like a glove was an odd experience. The armor had obviously been custom made for him.How long had his dad been planning this before telling him?This kind of custom armor work took time to make, weeks possibly months depending on who was doing the work. Custom armor would also have required attention from a person to adjust the details—this wasn’t something a machine or most VIs could make.The quality was better than some of the stuff he’d worn for spec ops but wasn’t quite as good as the N7 specialized gear that he’d encountered during his time in the Alliance.The electronics included in the suit were state of the art—his omnitool had noted that it needed to download software from the Ark in order to properly integrate with his new suit and it previously had worked fine with his spec ops armor set which was also considered state of the art. However, he was seriously doubting the color choice of white with blue edging for a recon specialist—how the hell was he supposed to blend in unless they were visiting all ice worlds? And the armor fit him almost too well… everywhere… Maybe he should stop looking gift horses in the mouth…. He could hear Cora behind him fiddling with her own Initiative armor set.From the sounds of things she had been involved in the design of her armor personally and she was almost cooing over it.

Feeling the gauntlets seal down and replacing his omnitool which fit just right, Scott turned to look at Cora who was now waiting on him. Sara was going to hate missing this—not the armor part as she would have cared less about that—but missing the adventure of discovering a new world and being one of the first people to explore it.Feeling he should at least try to get along with his new teammate, he tried making conversation with Cora. “My sister’s going to hate that she missed this.

Cora smiled and chuckled at him.“Are all Ryders adrenaline junkies?”

Smiling back, Scott ducked his head slightly.“I guess it’s in our blood. She beat me into the world by one minute. Couldn’t wait to get started and hasn’t let me forget it for one minute that I was the slow poke.”

Cora closed the distance between them and laid a comforting hand on his forearm. “Well, don’t worry. I’m sure Sara will pull through.She’ll be with us and exploring in no time.”

Moving back slightly so Cora’s hand was no longer touching him, Scott agreed with her. “When she does… She’s going to want stories.”

“So let’s get out there and find her some.”Cora turned back to shut her locker. “Right, You’ll want to get your helmet and maybe stop at the good luck rock before we go.”

Blinking, Scott wasn’t sure he’d heard Cora right. “The what?”

Cora’s smile widened. She was definitely in a good mood and ready to go.She then pointed to a crate in the corner that he’d missed that had a large rock in it“It’s an old superstition of your dad’s.Make sure you give it a rub.Let me know when you’re ready to go.” She then left him and went to pay her own respects to the “lucky” rock.

The two men he’d seen briefly in the infirmary were also in the locker room who had been talking with each other. They greeted him when Cora stepped away. “Hey Ryder,” said the man with the full beard.He was taller and broader than Scott, and definitely had the bearing of a fellow spec ops officer.

“It’s Kirkland, right?” Scott offered a hand which was taken and shook with a strong grip but not crushing. Friendly and professional.

“Yeah.I think we met just before the Hyperion left Earth,” Scott vaguely remembered him from the briefing he’d attended the day before reporting to the Hyperion. It’d been a long and exhausting briefing that he hadn’t really been in the mood to completely take in at the time.The other man, a solid wall of muscle of African descent, gave him a toothy smile and another handshake introducing himself as Greer. Both of these men were old enough to have worked with his dad previously but Scott didn’t recognize them from his Dad’s old squad.They both wore similar armor to Scott’s. What he remembered from the briefing was that the Pathfinder team was meant to be an eight person squad. They were down Sara but otherwise should be at full capacity.

“Hi there. Your dad say anything about what’s going on?”Another solid professional handshake. Definitely former Alliance military from the way he moved.

“Planetfall in thirty were my orders. Sensors are scrambled so intel is minimal.” Scott remained professional as he didn’t know much about either man. The chain of command was slightly vague on the pathfinder team with his dad as CO and Cora as XO.The remainder of them fell in somewhere in the middle with Kirkland as one of the pilots. 

“Well at least it keeps things interesting,” Kirkland replied, not phased by the lack of intel. Definitely former spec ops—ready for anything and not blinking when the intel was shoddy.

Greer also seemed more excited by the lack of intel than anything. “Yeah, it’d be a shame to go through all this training and not put it to good use.”

Nodding, Scott made his exit as he could see Cora waiting on him, she seemed patient at the moment but that could change if he kept her waiting. “See you guys on the ride down.”Kirkland and Greer turned to each other and continued talking, comparing their experience to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin with the moon landing. Evidently they felt that Cora would be second off the ship for stepping on a new world. They then started talking about tourism and opportunities for making their fortune. Scott wasn’t sure who they would be making this fortune off of as they were all a captive audience.

Turning to meet up with Cora, he was stopped by another man—who he’d seen in the infirmary—the other shuttle pilot for the team. “Ryder.”

“Hey Fischer. How’s it going?”

“Heard a rumor from the bridge that your Dad and the Captain aren’t seeing eye-to-eye on this.” Fisher cut directly to the important questions evidently. Scott remembered that the dossier on Fisher had indicated that the Canadian had a background in intelligence work. This wasn’t the most subtle of conversation starters, but time was limited here.

Debating wether to tell the truth or not, Scott decided it would likely be best not to keep things from his fellow teammates. “It’s true.”

Fisher visibly relaxed at Scott’s answer and laughed. “Okay then. I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that you took Dunn’s side.”

Relaxing himself, not realizing he’d tensed up, Scott laughed with Fisher. “More rumors that may be true, may be not.”

“Maybe, but I figure at the end of the day, the Pathfinder team answers to the Pathfinder. Besides, your Dad’s the N7 here. He’s got the best aim. I go where he goes.” Fisher seemed like an alright guy, and maybe a subtle warning to Scott that it would be best not to be in direct conflict with his dad. Scott spied over his shoulder that Dad’s and Sara’s locker were right next to Fisher’s. His dad’s locker was closed.

“Looks like Dad’s already suited up.”Fisher nodded, and went back to completing putting his armor on, dismissing Scott. Turning away from Fisher, Scott let his hand brush over Sara’s name. He then made a silent promise to himself that he’d make sure Sara got to explore to her heart’s content once she woke up. “Hang in there Sara…” he said softly as he went to join Cora.

Cora had been patiently waiting for him the entire time. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Captain Dunn coming over the comms. “This is the Captain.I still need an update on our sensor array. Please report in as soon as possible.”

“Helmet,” Cora said, pointing to a rack at the side of the door.Scott’s helmet was in a nook that the helmet just fit into. Grabbing it, he arched an eyebrow at Cora in silent question if there was anything else she wanted.“that should do it,” Cora stated.

SAM interjected before Scott could reply, the mechanized voice coming through the comm link but still with an odd echo to Scott.“The Pathfinder is now requiring sidearms. I’ve opened the armaments locker.”

Not surprised that they were going out armed, Scott activated his comm into live mode to reply which was probably overkill to talk to the AI implant in his head. “We expecting trouble SAM?”

“A precaution. Please arm yourself Ryder.”The weapon locker which had previously been locked tight to the other side of the exit opened as Scott and Cora approached. Cora grabbed one for herself and then lifted a second M-3 Predator which she then offered to Scott. Taking the weapon, he briefly inspected it and it seemed to be in optimum, brand new condition.Scott preferred other guns and ones that he’d had the opportunity to work with on a range before taking out into the field but there wasn’t time now to check it out. Hopefully whoever was the arms master had prioritized checking mission team weapons. Scott had no idea how 600 years of storage could effect a sidearm but he was well familiar with M3s. Hopefully they wouldn’t encounter anything with tough shields or biotics.

“Hope I won’t need this…” Scott murmured to himself as he also grabbed ammunition while Cora did the same.

“You never know. Now let’s get to the shuttles.”Cora was quicker than him at stashing her extra ammunition in the slots designed for it in her armor due to familiarity.Fumbling slightly, Scott motioned for Cora to go on and not wait as he finished up. Slipping his M3 into it’s magnetic holster slot at his left hip, he was ready to go with his helmet fastened to his right hip.

Turning to leave and follow Cora, Scott paused. He’d forgotten to stop by the good luck rock. Pivoting, he stepped over to the large crate with a piece of what looked like a large chunk of granite in it that looked like some countertops he’d seen in kitchens.He couldn’t resist running his scanner over the rock to see what it was composed of.SAM informed him quietly that analysis indicated alkali feldspar and quartz. Most commonly known as granite. “Why this rock SAM?” He asked the AI, genuinely curious where the tradition of having a lucky rock had come from.It wasn’t something he’d ever heard his dad make mention of before.

“Your father was mountain climbing back on Earth. It caught him from falling once and he’s kept it as a good luck charm since.Evidently, it was difficult to remove but your father sees it as mission essential.”

Trying to not show his surprise that his father was being superstitious given the many times he’d been told during his childhood that superstition was not something a scientist believed in.What Scott knew about his father was not how a lot of other people saw him.Sara and his father had always been close while Scott was definitely his mother’s child at least when it came to emotional ties. While neither Ryder twin could be called lazy or unambitious, Scott had always felt that no matter what benchmark he’d made he’d always come up lacking and that his father expected more of him. They’d never had a project or mission together since Scott had begun his ROTC training at the tender age of 15. New experiences for all seemed to be the order of the day. Taking a deep breath, Scott left the locker room and almost immediately ran into Cora who had evidently been waiting in the corridor. Had she been giving him a moment alone to visit the rock in privacy?

“So just another boring day at the office, huh?” Cora asked as she fell into step with Scott.

“No plan is perfect. We can handle it.” Scott was determined to be a dedicated professional. “This is the most complicated voyage anyone’s ever attempted. Something’s bound to go wrong.”

It’s a good test to see what we’re made of.I always wondered what it was like when explorers crossed the ocean.”Cora seemed to be in a good mood, almost dreamy and her eyes sparkled with good humor. “Nothing but the stars and dead reckoning to guide them.”

Matching her light tone, Scott couldn’t help but needle her slightly. “And a map that said “here be dragons.”

Laughing lightly at Scott, Cora replied, “Well, if they made it, we can too. And maybe see a dragon along the way.”

“Let’s not get eaten. Never know, we’ll have to keep an eye out for flying lizards that breathe fire.”

“And our distance.”

***

The shuttle bay was unsurprisingly a hive of activity. Evidently the pathfinder team was not the only team awake on the ark.Two shuttles were warming up in the take off positions. Scott’s father, Alec, was busy talking to Harry Carlyle who was now also in Initiative armor but carried a rather large looking medical pack. Cora headed directly for Alec so Scott trailed along slightly behind her.

“Dr. Carlyle, with everything going on I’d think the ark needs you more than we do?” Cora asked.

Adjusting his medical pack, Harry waved in greeting. “Pathfinder wants a medic on hand. And if that is home down there, I’m happy to knock on the door.”Alec just watched the interaction in silence, observing his XO and son.

“This could get rough,” Scott offered when no one else spoke. “We’re just not sure what’s on the other side of the door.”

“No problem. If it has teeth, I brought pliers. Yank ‘em out myself.” Harry at least was not bringing out the dad jokes that Scott personally knew he specialized in.

“All right team, button it up. We leave in five,” Alec finally spoke.

The remainder of the team quickly gathered around Alec. Cora asked the most important question, in Scott’s opinion. “Sir, we broke out the weapons as requested. Anything else we should know about?”

Yeah, like anticipated hostile aliens? Scott thought but didn’t dare voice that question.

Alec brusquely brushed aside Cora’s concern. “Seemed prudent, given the situation. We’ll be shorthanded with Sara out.”

At the mention of Sara, both Cora and Alec looked at Scott. Throat tight, Scott forced himself to swallow dry and not directly meet either of their gazes. His eyes felt itchy but he refused to change his face from his stoic poker mask even if inside the thought of how his sister’s pod wasn’t functioning right made him want to curse and hit something.

Alec didn’t wait for Scott to say anything and tried to sound supportive but it came across to Scott as somewhat insincere. “I heard what happened. Your sister is strong. She’ll make it.”

Swallowing again, Scott’s voice was a little hoarse when he replied, “We shouldn’t worry. She’s a strong person.We bet on whose boots would hit the ground first before we left the Milky Way. This isn’t how I wanted to win.”

“Well, knowing your sister, she’ll want to go double or nothing on who climbs the tallest mountain. Don’t let it get you down. I need you sharp.”

Trying not to hear a rebuke against his earlier behavior, Scott focused on the first part. Sara was going to be fine and be her usual intrepid self any time now. Alec proceeded to assign everyone to their shuttle group, putting Scott in the second one separate from both Cora and his father.

“Okay team, listen up.I chose each of you for the Pathfinder team. Not just because you’re talented and passionate but because you’re dreamers like me.We dream of exploring the unknown, of finding the edge of the map—and then discovering what lies beyond. When people look back on this—and they will—they’ll remember we didn’t give up. We kept dreaming. That our first, few faltering steps in Andromeda were the beginning of everything they know. We only get one chance to be first. So let’s go make history. “ His Dad really was good at dramatic motivational speeches. Everyone was then dismissed to their shuttles but his Dad halted him from climbing aboard.

“I understand you need me sharp,” Scott said, assuming that his lack of response earlier was the reason his dad had stopped him.

Alec briefly looked sad before his face went back to his resting vaguely grumpy look. “Your mom would’ve been proud. Of both of you.”

Scott nodded, surprised his Dad was showing emotion. They’d never really communicated well but maybe he had misjudged what the earlier comment had been about. “Yeah, she would have been.”

Clapping Scott on the shoulder, Alec then left to get on the other shuttle, leaving Scott to be the last one to board his own.Grabbing an open jump seat, Scott quickly harnessed himself in. Kirkland, who was the assigned shuttle pilot, told them all to get comfortable as he began take off procedures with Greer in the copilot chair. The enthusiastic young black man from the infirmary was also busy buckling himself into his own jump seat but obviously less experience than Scott based on how slowly he made the correct tie downs.

Over the comm, the Pathfinder’s voice floated to all of them. “Ark Hyperion, this is Shuttle One. Switching to manual guidance.”

Kirkland indicated they would follow Shuttle One. Captain Dunn then wished them good luck and godspeed. The shuttle lifted off and turned to face the black expos of space, Habitat 7 a faint glow off to the left of the pilot’s HUD.

They were off.

_Excerpt from the Journal of S. Ryder 2819 CE March 18th_

_Dad and I have always had communication issues—I don’t remember us ever not having them even when I was really young. If I’d known that it was my last chance to have an actual conversation that didn’t include orders about family I would have taken it. I would have insisted on being in the same shuttle as you so I could have asked a few questions, tried to be whatever you wanted. God damnit. Why Dad? Why?_


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The author’s only experience with poker is limited to playing RDR2.

Chapter 3

 

2818 CE July 3rd

Habitation Pod Group #328T12S, Nexus, Somewhere in the Heleus Cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Shuttle Pilot, callsign Anubis

Status: Never playing poker with Kenax again

 

As they had no chips or anything except empty protein shakes and wrappers, Reyes had rigged his omnitool to project a monetary total for everyone on the center of the table where the tool now sat.At first, they had played for fake credits as no one really had a lot of money to really spend. This had quickly devolved into promises of second best vibroblade knife from Vestus, extra dextro-protein rations and, curiously, from Alzik a promise of genetic manipulation of first born to be harder to kill. Both Turians had been ruthlessly trading that won marker between themselves. Reyes had never known that Kenax had actually thought about having children—let alone a spouse—but evidently it was something the Turians felt was a good thing. Currently, Reyes had just won a large pot which included both genetic marker and the vibroblade which Vestus had actually stabbed into the counter when he first offered it as a bet. Alzik, the traitor, had folded earlier in the hand and was amusedly watching as the turians stared Reyes down, the only thing of value Alzik retained was the extra rations marker from Kenax.

Reyes had a full house, three kings and two jacks. There was no way he was loosing this hand but was seriously debating folding but that wouldn’t get rid of the hostile competitive stares. He had just placed the blade back into the pot.It was Kenax’s bet. Call or raise.

Kenax waited two minutes, staring at Reyes. Vestus shifted restlessly in his chair but allowed them to have a silent stare down. Reyes didn’t let anything show on his face, just waited patiently to see what Kenax would do. Kenax suddenly gave a large smile that was way too vicious looking before settling back in his chair in a lazy sprawl.

“New marker to offer. Sexual favors of whatever variety winner chooses to claim.”Kenax’s gaze on Reyes was positively gleeful. Whatever fucker, Reyes thought, showing no response even as the omnitool noted the new marker.Kenax still had a small amount of credits he could have betted.

“What are we supposed to value that at?” Vestus asked, seemingly perplexed. “You’re not that good looking for a Turian.”

“Reyes knows how to value a good time,” Kenax replied with a salty wink to Reyes.

Annoyed now, Reyes motioned for Vestus to bet but didn’t verbally respond, letting his annoyed stare speak for him.

Vestus, also now glaring at Kenax, pulled a second vibroblade which he stabbed into the counter in approximately the same spot he’d stabbed the first one, making the blade stand up straight, the blade dull in the artificial light.This blade was thinner, more wicked looking than the first blade but they were obviously designed to be sold as a pair.“Raise.”

Drinking the last of his protein shake, Reyes arched an eyebrow at Vestus. “Your first best blade?”

Not breaking his gaze from his fellow turian, Vestus replied in the affirmative. “They’re a matched set.”

Odds were in Reyes favor. There were very low odds of either turian having a hand that could beat his. He didn’t think of Kenax that way and had no use for the marker. But it was the principle of winning at this point. “All in.Don’t worry Kenax, I’m a generous lover.” He may have purred out the last part to try and unsettle Kenax.

Excited chittering from the Salarian surprised Reyes. Alzik was enjoying this way too much.

Kenax had sat up straight at Reyes declaration of being all in. Kenax gleefully agreed and then looked at Vestus who had his arms crossed over his chest, a look of annoyed frustration on his face. “All in.”

“Hands gentlemen,” Reyes said as he carefully flipped his cards over to show his hand. There was an immediate groan of frustration from Vestus whose hand, while good, was not as good as Reyes (two pair, Kings and nines).

Kenax, looking directly at Reyes, gave him a wink as he turned over his own cards. Pair of Kings. He’d been bluffing the entire time.

Reyes grimaced at Kenax and collected both his winnings as well as his omnitool to put an end to the game as they were all cleaned out. The blade was a work of beauty, a slim, razor sharp, tapered stiletto with a channel down the center of the blade that could be filled with poisons—Reyes had only seen a few during weapons demonstrations while being briefed on missions that involved going to Omega. An assassins weapon that would fit just perfectly in Reyes boot. Why would Vestus have a blade like this concealed on him?There was more to both Turians than they were letting on but so far they seemed to be friendly. Noting the sexual benefit marker, Reyes had a thought of revenge. Yes perfect.

“Vestus, as I’m taking such a beautiful set of knives off you, I feel I must give something in return.” With a few taps, Reyes transferred the sexual favors marker to Vestus. He then turned to Kenax, “I’m sure you’ll have no difficulty fulfilling the marker now that it’s been transferred to someone who will be more appreciative of your, ahem, charms.”

Both turians looked at him in surprise, Vestus with dismayed surprise and Kenax with shock. They both tried to argue at the same time but were interrupted by the intercom flaring to life which quickly silenced both of them.

_“Attention all Initiative members. The Nexus has been secured and the dissidents have been identified. All Nexus members are to report to the atrium for further instructions immediately. Failure to do so will identify you as a dissident and you will be dealt with as such.”_ The voice over the intercom wasn’t anyone that Reyes recognized. It wasn’t deep enough for a krogan, didn’t have the voice patterns of either a turian or salarian. Probably human as it sounded male.

“Well I better grab my boots,” Reyes said. The rest of the group looked solemn. Alzik quickly ate the remainder of his ration bar as he cleared the table of the wrappers and empty drink container, placing all in the waste bin. Both Turians followed Reyes and watched him grab his boots from the base of the bunk he’d been sleeping in.

“You two wanna tell me what’s going on with you?” Reyes asked softly so his voice wouldn’t carry outside of the room so Alzik wouldn’t hear.

Kenax and Vestus shared another one of those looks that was starting to get annoying. They obviously knew each other really well—probably from well before Andromeda. They stayed silent until he had one boot fastened and on.

“Make sure you put that knife in your boot. It should fit,” Kenax told him. “We both know each other and were members of the same unit in the Hierarchy.”

“And?” Reyes looked up at them, his boot only half on.

“And we’ll tell you things later. Just stay close.”Kenax seemed to want to say more but Vestus shook his head to indicate they didn’t have time.

Not impressed, Reyes sighed. “I bet it’s not were but are.”

“Kenax was right that you are an especially perceptive human,” Vestus seemed to want to reassure Reyes and his affect was genuine. “There’s going to likely be either a mass exodus from here or we’re all going back in cryo.You and Kenax have a higher chance of staying off ice than I do.You need to be careful.”

“Careful of what? The Initiative or something else? The “dissidents” as they’re being called?”

Kenax interrupted their standoff, trying to get Reyes to get moving. “Maybe both Reyes.You and I are friends and friends have each other’s backs. Alzik is going to wonder what we’re doing, we need to go.”

“You will explain later.” It was a statement, not a question as he finished securing the clasps on his boot.Kenax handed him the small slender stiletto and he slipped it into the space in his boot that was usually occupied by a tool and stood. The knife was invisible due to how his jumpsuit fit was getting baggy from his weight loss. The Turians preceded him out the door, Kenax grabbing Reyes pack and insisting that he put his pack on, not so subtly putting the other knife in the side pocket where it would be easily accessible. So they might not be coming back, Reyes thought.Neither Turian or Alzik said anything as they walked to the door which opened this time to a touch at the door, recognizing Reyes biometrics.

Stepping out into the corridor, at either end of the long hallway they could see an armed security officer, the one closer to where they needed to go was Salarian but the other was a Krogan. Several other doors were open, with a few straggling occupants walking towards the atrium. Reyes turned and went in the right direction, the Krogan had made direct eye contact with him and made sure he could see the heavy shotgun in his grasp.It seemed they’d definitely made the jump to an armed police state.

***

They were not the first or the last to arrive at the Atrium.Looking about, Reyes guessed there were easily over a thousand Initiative members milling about packed densely into the large atrium. A low buzz in the crowd but not as loud as one would think. Everyone had a subdued air to them and many appeared frightened. Armed guards were stationed above them and walked amongst the crowd, people easily giving way as the security staff made their presence felt. Reyes was not the only one with his pack on his back.Vestus had briefly disappeared from their side when they arrived but had come back shortly without comment. Neither Alzik or Kenax seemed to want to disperse from Reyes side.They had briefly run into Maiko but she hadn’t been able to stay as she was looking for her engineering group who she felt would maybe be able to tell her something about friends she hadn’t seen yet. The hydroponics staff had noted Reyes and had included him and by extension the two Turians and Salarian into their group.None of these scientists had been involved in whatever had happened overnight but were a skittish bunch in general. No one was talking but several had to be shushed repetitively as they were trying to voice thoughts of what might have happened which made everyone more nervous.One patrolling Krogan in particular had given them the stink eye on his last three circuits of the atrium.

No new arrivals had happened for the last five minutes or so.“So when are they going to get this party started?” Kenax asked everyone and yet no one.

“This has to be the majority of those awakened.Even with awakening too many people this is still a lot of people.”Reyes didn’t say anything but agreed with Vestus.

The crowd quietened when Director Tann could be seen on one of the balconies, Kesh and another Krogan Reyes didn’t recognize flanking him. The hush that fell over the gathered crowd was eerie. So many people gathered yet minimal noise, the only appreciable noise was the muffled steps of a few Krogan who didn’t seem to know how to walk without stomping to Reyes left.

“Ahem.”The comms everyone was wearing picked up Tann’s voice and amplified it so it could be heard clearly by all. “As you all know, there has been an insurrection in our midst. Several prominent members of our community have been involved and have been separated from us due to their preference for violence.We all face the challenges of Andromeda and we all know the dangers ahead of us if we cannot establish supply lines and an effective planetside colony. There has been no word from any other Ark.We are, to date, alone here in Andromeda.”

Tann then paused, watching the crowd closely. No one tried to interrupt him. “While repairs to hydroponics and the life support systems have mostly been completed, we do not have the resources to continue supporting so many awake members of our Initiative and return to cryostasis is now going to be mandate for anyone not mission essential to establishing a colony.”

At this there were murmurs of unrest.Someone behind Reyes yelled out, “Does this mean that administrators are going to be iced like the rest of us?”There was sounds of a scuffle and the crowd pushed Reyes forward into one of the hydroponics engineers as people got out of security’s way. It took almost two minutes for the crowd to calm enough for Tann to continue.

“As I was saying, return to cryostasis will be mandatory for all nonessential personnel. If you do not choose to willingly return to cryostasis, you will be given the option of exile. We are not heartless or insensitive to the worries of our fellows. Exiles will be given transportation and rations for two weeks. You have until tomorrow 0900 to make your decision and file your paperwork with administration.Your inboxes should have your assignment in them momentarily.I expect everyone to act with decorum or you will be assumed to have chosen exile.I look forward to brighter days for us” Tann then nodded, and stepped out of sight.

The room erupted in noise. Several fights had broken out immediately. The announcement hadn’t been popular. In the immediate crowd around Reyes, indicator chimes went off on omnitool indicting a priority message had been delivered. His own omnitool chimed shortly thereafter. Pushing his arms out to maintain some space, Reyes tapped on the notification to bring up the message. He was deemed mission essential and would remain awake. He didn’t know how he felt about this.

Before he could think too much on it, Vestus and Kenax both snarled in concert around him. So ice for them or exile.Alzik did not seem troubled and did not touch his own notification. “Why don’t you check?” Reyes asked him.

“Would not change outcome.Am geneticist, not colonizer. Cryostasis only logical designation.”Alzik didn’t comment on his other option.

Alzik’s analysis struck Reyes as accurate. But why was Kenax determined to be nonessential but Reyes had been?

Kenax seemed to read Reyes mind.“I’m a Turian, Reyes.I’m a lot more threatening than you on paper.And redundant if they have or want a limited pool of pilots.Having a copilot is nice but not essential with your training.”

Trying not to give into his inner turmoil, Reyes didn’t know what to say. Vestus had indicated already that he was likely on the outs with the current security officers as he hadn’t been at muster and no one had reached out to him in the interim that Reyes knew. Exile. To voluntarily choose to leave... it was an option. He needed to think.

The crowd began to disperse and, although they were being given severe looks by the security team, they were not being stopped. All around Reyes, he could see his fellow humans crying, male and female. More looked shocked and there was a hopeless air around many.There were surprisingly few Salarians, Asari, and Turians in the crowd.The few Turians that Reyes could see were gathered in clusters of three or four—he was sure he knew that more Turians had been awakened than what he could see.There hadn’t been a lot of Asari and Salarians on the Nexus in the first place as they had their own arks.There had been a large contingent of former Alliance personnel on the Nexus that Reyes had theoretically been grouped in with when he’d been assigned the Nexus instead of the human ark. The room was rapidly emptying as everyone left to go and try to figure out what to do.

Kenax touched Reyes shoulder and guided him towards the exit closest to them. “We need to get something to eat and then talk.”

“Vidal!” Reyes heard his name called. It sounded like Maiko. Turning back despite Kenax’s not so gentle guiding push, Reyes could see Maiko and her sister making their way towards them. Brecka also trailed behind them, his face clouded with contained anger.

Lingering despite Kenax’s increasingly firm push, Reyes flashed an annoyed look at his copilot and then stopped completely, allowing for the other three to catch up to them.

“Where are you guys bunking?” Maiko asked once they were close enough to talk, Kenax forced them to start walking, not wanting to linger in the Atrium and face closer scrutiny from the security forces.

“My place,” Reyes answered her. “Want to come along?”After all, the more the merrier.He had plenty of time to figure out what exactly Kenax and Vestus needed to say.

Maiko looked relieved. “Yes.They are handing out a days rations as we leave. Vladimir told us.”

Brecka indeed nodded at this in verification.“We need to get food and then talk. You were not at the disturbance.”Brecka noticed Kenax hanging off Reyes right shoulder. He opened his mouth to ask who the Turian was.

“No we were not.He’s a friend and my copilot.” Reyes told Brecka as he pointed at Kenax. They were now at the door and joined the line to get rations that were being handed out.No one was getting more than a day’s worth given to them and it was very obviously species specific rations. Reyes wondered where all the protein was coming from—likely reconstituted stuff from stores that was shelf stable indefinitely. Not something that you could live off forever or you’d get severe mineral deficiencies. When he got his, Reyes was somewhat surprised to see that he was given a small secondary packet after his ID was scanned to say he received his rations. Peeking in the packet as he walked, he saw that a small vial of multivitamin supplements was included. He was the only one other than Brecka who received a second packet. You probably didn’t need the supplements if they were going to put you back in stasis.

Nobody said anything as they walked back to his living quarters, all seemed content to wait. They didn’t pick up any additional members of their party as they walked the long way around rather than wait in a long line for the trams. Vestus and Kenax bookended Reyes the entire way back.What was up with those two and why did they feel compelled to hang around him like bodyguards. Last he checked, he wasn’t on anybody’s short list for a leadership position or had pissed anyone important off. While he viewed Kenax as his only semi-close Andromeda friend, there had to be something else going on here.

Reaching the living quarters, the biometrics opened the door for Reyes.He wondered briefly what everyone else was doing but figured this was as good as anything else. Pulling his pack off, he went into the bunk room he had been using and placed it on his bunk. Returning to the main room, everyone had gathered around the kitchenette. Luckily Alzik had cleaned up their mess before they had left earlier. Kenax and Vestus hadn’t taken a seat but the humans and Alzik had. No one was saying anything but everyone was eyeing each other.

“Does anyone want some water?” Reyes had been raised to have some hospitality.

The only one to take him up on it was Kenax who got something to drink for both himself and Vestus.Grabbing a glass, Reyes got himself a glass of water and sat at the far end of the island next to where Vestus and Kenax were standing over him like gargoyles. “So I’m assuming that everyone except Brecka and I received a nonessential notification.”

Maiko was holding her sister’s hand. “We’re both listed as nonessential. We’re scared to go back in cryo. What happens if those that are left don’t ever wake us again?”

“The intention is to buy time.”Brecka spoke.He had been staring at his hands, a look of frustration on his face.“Kesh made the call to determine who is essential but Tann is interfering. Not everyone on the essential list is geared towards finding a safe harbor and a supply source.”Brecka looked up at his companions. “You all were not at the disturbance and are not tied to their fallacy.They forget that decisions need to be made and we cannot just wake everyone and send them out hoping they find someplace safe to land.”

“But are Tann and Kesh making better decisions? For all of us?” Kenax was the one asking, not Reyes but he agreed with the sentiment.Brecka was administrative staff. While important, Reyes could make an argument for and against keeping him out of cryo. Whoever was kept awake needed to do more than one job but he wasn’t sure of Brecka’s abilities.

“I do not know.I do not know what the best option is. I cannot predict the future I only know that I fear for us all.” Brecka wasn’t sugar coating anything. “I know that none of you are involved in either the disturbance or are part of my department.I do not know if it is right that I should remain outside of a cryo chamber while others must await their chance.”

“But the plan is to continue looking as long as they can with the supplies that we have?” Julia spoke up, she was looking at her sister as she said this. Their hands were clutched together, the fine bones showing as they clenched. Everyone’s face around the table was much thinner than they should be. If no one went into cryo then they would most likely all die.

“Yes.The plan is to continue looking.It is why pilots are considered essential personnel.” Brecka looked up and gestured to Reyes. “You have a very good record according to Kesh and you help out where needed. It has been noticed by Kesh and she spoke of you.”

Surprised as he had only been briefly introduced to Kesh when she had been touring the loading docks with other administrative staff, Reyes fought the urge to fidget as everyone looked at him. “I’m just a pilot who occasionally helps out as I can’t sleep well.”

“You have been noticed by them. Good or bad, Kesh had you as one of the three pilots they deemed essential. Three ships to go and find us a new home.” Brecka dropped his gaze back to his hands. “That is not all. The Krogan wake, they will not go back to sleep.”

“There are 400 Krogan who shipped on this vessel.” Vestus stated for all of them to know. “400 who are mostly Nakmor clan but they are not the only clan.Nakmor Kesh is not their leader.”

Brecka nodded. “Nakmor Morda.She bargains with Tann’s lackeys.They will be taking ships and leaving after everyone else is force into cryosleep I am told. I wonder how far they will go before they decide our supplies are needed by them.We will not be able to stop them if they return and take things.”

“So going to sleep is not an option.” Reyes looked around the table. Maiko and Julia both nodded in agreement at his statement. “But exile? What options does that leave?”

“There are other worlds that were examined under long range scans before we left for Andromeda,”Maiko offered as she looked at Alzik. “I remember talking with you about their viability.I thought it was just a scientist talking to another scientist.But you were involved in helping to do the review for which worlds would be considered golden worlds.”

Everyone was now looking at Alzik. “I was involved in review.There were many worlds that met minimum criteria but were discarded due to location, ease of accessibility.”

“Which worlds Alzik?” Reyes asked, trying not to get his hopes up.If there were other worlds out there that were easily reached and possible good options he needed to know where they were.He’d been to a handful of planets and the scans hadn’t been anywhere near the Goldilocks zone except for Eos—and Eos was hot and had high radiation levels. Habitat 7 was a mess of lightning strikes and the atmosphere had been confirmed to be non-breathable by probes. Not to mention the Scourge in that area was especially tangled around Habitat 7.

“There is at a minimum one per system, some systems with more. If they are smart, they will check the discarded list. Onanon system. Sabing system. They are easily reached but have not yet been explored.” This was correct as far as Reyes knew. Almost all of Kenax’s and his flights had been to Pytheas and Erickson systems. Neither Habitat 7 or Eos had proven to be amenable to settlement efforts made by the scientists that Reyes had dropped off and then been sent to pick back up.

“Why were those systems not targeted as golden worlds?”Julia asked.

“Many reasons. Some systems not able to have good scans due to positioning or logistics. Golden worlds were decided upon best information.”Alzik paused, seeming to think for a moment. “Further out would be Govorkam, Soliminae, Vaar.”

“Those systems are pretty far to travel with a full tank in a shuttle without a larger ship.”Reyes leaned back as he calculated the theoretical distances to the systems Alzik had mentioned. “We could reach Sabing or Onanon easily but you’d have to be careful to make it to Govorkam with a shuttle..It’s hard to know how far out of the way you’d need to go due to the Scourge.”

“Nol was identified as a possible source for refueling before it was discarded as an unlikely place to start colonization.” Alzik seems to brighten slightly. “Calculated odds of finding planet capable of supporting us is approximately 83.476%.Much better than current plan.”

Vestus placed a hand on Reyes shoulder as he leaned in to speak.“But the question is how long will our supplies last and which system is the best target with limited time.”

“I can consult my notes.I have them here.” Alzik pointed to his omnitool.

The mood in the room was not quite as gloomy.Maiko and Julia exchanged small hopeful smiles but Julia was still slightly teary. Reyes looked around the table and wondered the coincidence of having Alzik, Maiko and Brecka all here at the same time.Looking at Brecka, the man still had a frozen frown on his face. The news hadn’t cheered him to the degree it had everyone else. “What is it Brecka?” Reyes found himself asking before he could catch himself.

Brecka looked back at Reyes when he was addressed. “Sloane Kelly and her conspirators have already left. Their planned destination is in the Govorkam system.”

“How many?” Kenax asked.

“Over half the security forces went with her. It’s why Tann made the deal with the Krogan.”

“That’s 250 or 300 people.”

That seemed like an awful lot of security officers to Reyes but he knew that the Andromeda Initiative had heavily recruited from Alliance veterans at least for the humans. If the human Ark ever made it to Heleus it would have the human pathfinder, Alec Ryder on board. One of the legendary N7s who were heroes of the first contact war. He’d joined the Initiative because he’d been looking for a different way of doing things and peaceful exploration had sounded a lot better than his other options at the time, and well, he hadn’t been in the best frame of mind for making life altering decisions at the time. Then again, a completely unknown galaxy with no way to know whether they’d be restarting the first contact war... he could see why there was a heavy security force contingent with back up built into the recruiting for other positions.

He’d almost missed part of what Brecka had said. “You said conspirators.... what exactly were they conspiring to do?”

Brecka grimace at this question. “According to Tann they were planning on overthrowing the leadership of the Initiative for failure to fulfill their contractual promises. Which is bullshit.The Krogan and Sloane have not gotten along from the start.Sloane made a good effort but she does not know how to communicate with Tann and does not try to understand a civilian mindset. She is too rigid so she broke Tann’s trust and left.She took a lot of supplies and ships with her.”

“And now we’re offering either exile or going back into cryo to everyone else who might be troublesome.Tann’s creating a lot of potential enemies long term, even if his plans do work out.”Reyes saw no point in hiding his thoughts from those around him.They were all thinking the same things.Causing division and strife in your workforce that was a limited population was not a long term solution and caused more problems.That was colony building 101 in Alliance training manuals—don’t upset your populace to revolution, they may decide to unite against you.“The krogan will also only be temporarily bought off.How many krogan were brought on the Nexus?I thought most of them were on the Nexus with a small population coming on the Quarian ark?”

Brecka paused, seeming to think.“I overheard there are approximately 400 krogan on this ship, perhaps 300 or so of them are awake due to the deal. Not all of them are part of the security force now—Kesh has a few adherents or there are those without clan.The identified krogan golden world has not been evaluated yet—that was where one of the missing shuttles was sent to.The other one was to Govorkam.”

“So the krogan may have a home world but we don’t know if its suitable for anyone or maybe just for krogan.And Govorkam sounds like it might be viable but we don’t know for sure.” Alzik’s data would help make a determination of where they should start. Reyes paused, he realized he’d just made the decision that he wasn’t staying despite his option of being kept awake.Huh.“Do you know anything about the rumors of alien first contact?”

Brecka nodded in response to Reyes’ question.“They have made contact with a hostile non-Milky Way alien race that seems to shoot first rather than allow for contact. There has been two instances.Both teams that saw them were forced back into cryo as soon as they made their reports.”Brecka frowned, his eyes becoming even more stormy.“Tann didn’t want any information leaking out about a hostile force.”

That might explain why he hadn’t seen the other three pilots he normally shared quarters with.In fact, it was becoming more surprising that he hadn’t seen anyone else assigned to this pod. “Where is everyone?I share this pod with 18 others and none have them have come back...”

Brecka definitely hesitated before answering, looking briefly at the Turians who continued to bracket Reyes. “They’ve been forcing people back into cryo since they called the emergency yesterday.”

Surprised but somehow also not surprised, Reyes leaned back, feeling Kenax briefly touch his shoulder as he bumped into him. Julia and Maiko both exclaimed at this news and were asking who had been put back in as they hadn’t noticed anyone specific missing. Brecka continued, interrupting the questions. “There were two meetings held—the one we were at and a first one.Everyone in the first one was given a cryo notice.”

“So you’ve been busy as the cryo liaison. “ Reyes stated.

Brecka nodded. “Yes.I do not agree with how they are doing things but if I object i will also be forced back into the icy sleep.Almost all Turians not currently on security force and all Salarians are already back in cryo or have been exiled with Sloane.”Brecka again looked at both Kenax and Vestus.“You were with him or you would already have been sent back to sleep.”

“Lucky that,” Vestus commented but didn’t move from where he was leaning against the wall casually.His tone was bland but Reyes hadn’t forgotten that Kenax had somehow gotten into his pod when no one else was home. Those two were up to something but so far it seemed they were on Reyes’ side.... whatever side that might actually be at the moment.

“Will they honor the notice until tomorrow morning? Allow us to decide?” Maiko asked Brecka.

Considering before answering, Brecka finally nodded.“I am aware of no plan to cause more trouble.The meetings I have been in all suggested that you have until tomorrow to make up your mind.”

Looking around the table and at her sister, Maiko stood while pulling at Julia to make her stand before addressing Reyes as it was his pod.“Julia and I need to talk in private about what to do.Can we use the other sleep room?”

Not sure it was up to him, Reyes nodded.“We’ll leave you alone for however long you need.Do you want your rations with you?”

Julia nodded and thanked him softly as they grabbed their ration packets and went into the sleep room. Both women were holding onto each other tightly but seemed to have pulled themselves together more than they had been at the start of the conversation.

The remainder of the room’s occupants were quiet for some time. Alzik then announced that he needed to go over his data to give them options and asked if he could use the other sleep room to focus.Kenax readily agreed to this before Reyes could say anything and Alzik also departed leaving Brecka, Reyes and both Turians. 

Realizing that both Turians were still acting like hovering bodyguards, Reyes spoke to them in annoyance. “Sit damnit.I have no idea why you both feel the need to hover over me.”

Kenax and Vestus both chuckled at Reyes sharp tone and traded amused glances before sitting on either side of him, which didn’t make them appear any less like bodyguards. Brecka also seemed amused by Reyes annoyed huff at both Turians.

Turning his gaze to Brecka, Reyes considered what he was about to say.He barely knew Brecka, still not sure how much trust he could give the man even though all his information was likely legitimate. Cocking his head to one side, Reyes knew he needed to figure out what the man’s motives were.“Why tell us all this? You have to know more options than just us.”

Brecka met Reyes gaze and did not flinch.“Kesh likes you.I am not sure why as you seem to barely know each other. You also were not part of the disturbance.How can any of us trust anyone else in times like this?”

Realizing that Brecka most likely had access to everyone’s information, Reyes didn’t let the non-answer slide. “You’ve read all about us all. Why trust us?”

Brecka sighed.“Your records indicate you left the Alliance at the end of your commitment and didn’t renew due to family concerns but your records all indicate that your career would continue to have a positive trajectory and were one of the best pilots of your class—a true loss for the Alliance according to the records of your last CO.Andromeda seems like an unusual choice and you were accepted as an Initiative member due to the merits of your application and your skill set. You are not tied to anyone that could possibly have a political motive. And,” Brecka paused here, looking at the Turians,“you help out without promise of reward. That is why Kesh noted you. You have been kind to others despite the harshness of our circumstances. Not everyone has been so.”

“I’m still not hearing why you chose to tell me anything.”

“Circumstance—I was not aware of you until I met you in the hall.You gave the women your jacket even though you were obviously cold. I looked you up after and I am in agreement with them.”Brecka pointed to the Turians.

Not looking at either Kenax or Vestus, Reyes frowned, not taking his eyes off Brecka.“You’re involved in whatever they’re up to.”

Kenax hesitantly laid his hand on Reyes forearm to make him look at him.“Jien Garson’s death was ruled accidental.It wasn’t—we’re pretty sure.”

“And what does that have to do with me?” Reyes asked him, breaking eye contact with Brecka to look at Kenax.

“It was random circumstance to a degree that got you assigned as my co-pilot.I was assigned to the Andromeda Initiative as part of a task force to make sure that there was nothing untoward going on.”Kenax looked guilty for a Turian but Reyes didn’t look away from his friend. “I’ve spent enough time with you to know that you don’t have anything to do with whatever is behind the changes in the Initiative’s power structure and consider you a friend.It’s not easy to find someone to trust around here.”

“What kind of things going on?” Reyes relaxed slightly but wasn’t wholly appeased yet.Kenax still wasn’t giving specifics.Obviously he knew Brecka before Andromeda.

“There were rumors of Cerberus infiltration of the administrative structure and we were brought in by the Turian Hierarchy and by Jien Garson herself.Brecka was assigned to administration to keep an eye on things. Vestus and I, well you can guess why we were assigned where we are. But that doesn’t change that we can’t stay here. Survival is a bigger problem at the moment and we can continue our investigation after we find something to eat and a place to lay our head at night that’s safe.”

“And how do I play into these plans?”Reyes asked his friend, feeling oddly detached from the whole conversation.Brecka and Vestus had obviously been meeting up and that was how they had gotten stranded in that hallway, someplace neither of them really had a reason to be in.

Kenax’s mandibles flared in agitation.“I do consider you my friend.Vestus is well aware that I had marked you as trustworthy and someone I felt could be depended on to help our investigation if asked.At this point we need to make sure we keep our friends close and work together.”

Reyes let silence envelope the table and didn’t say anything, his mind racing through what they had told him and attaching his own observations and data. Their story had a ring of truth to it, there had been an element of circumstance involved to put him in the right place at the right time.He generally felt he could trust Kenax, his previous experiences with his co-pilotindicated the turian was an honorable sort.They had spent hours and hours together, exchanging chatter about their lives to fill the time and silence of their ship as they shuttled scientists and supplies back and forth as they looked for a new home.Kenax and he had bonded like he previously had with his fellow naval pilots from when he’d been in the Alliance. He wanted to trust Kenax, and frankly, of his options it was probably his best one.

Sighing, Reyes broke the silence and looked back at Brecka who had slumped exhausted in his chair.“One of us is going to have to stay if we want to help anyone else out.”

Brecka shifted in his chair and sat up.“I know. If you find a new place for us all with food and shelter we need someone here to arrange for trade and to keep an eye on things.”

“You’re the best positioned one.”

“I know.”Brecka seemed resigned. He then looked at Vestus and Kenax, “I looked up Alzik’s records. He’s clean, remote history of working with STG.He’d be a good asset to have with you.I have to go.I must report to work and continue helping with the reloading. I wish you all luck and Godspeed.”Brecka stood, pushing his chair back in.Before he left, he shook Reyes hand, gave a nod to both Kenax and Vestus.“I will await news of your success,” he said and then left, the door closing with a quiet hiss behind him.

“Anything further you two want to tell me before something else happens?” Reyes asked his companions, curious if they would explain further.“This investigation you were sent on is a really long term assignment if you committed to a 600 year journey first.”

“I was interested in the Andromeda Initiative since it was mentioned in our assignments.It hasn’t gone as planned but it definitely is more interesting than how I thought it would be,” Vestus offered.

Kenax agreed with Vestus.“We were both interested in a new assignment that sounded like a challenge.”

“Well starvation and death by a thousand paper cuts is definitely not boring,” Reyes replied. He’d just agreed to leaving the one currently safe place in the galaxy for the great unknown in support of his only close friend in this galaxy. And his friend/companions weren’t telling him everything but what else could you do when your choices were trying something or dying slowly?

 

***

2819 CE March 15th

Scott Ryder, Recon Specialist, Pathfinder Team

Habitat 7, Eriksson System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Status: Well he’d always enjoyed high atmosphere jumps before Andromeda

 

The ride to Habitat 7 had been full of anticipation.Liam Kosta, the friendly black man who’d kept waving to him in the infirmary, was a jovial, talkative type.Evidently he specialized in crisis response for the police back in the Milky Way.Seemed a little excitable to Scott, but hey if it was what Kosta was good at who was he to judge?Maybe it was just the excitement of being first to go to their new home. Scott knew his own adrenaline levels were probably more elevated than he’d like to admit.Slowly tensing and relaxing the muscles in his forearms, Scott listened to the chatter on the comms as the pilots began their descent into the atmosphere of Habitat 7.The ride was bumpier than usual, but at least Scott was smart enough to know it was definitely a smoother ride in Kirkland’s hands rather than his own.Scott’s piloting skill exam had labeled him as “marginal skills” and “survival situations only”.

The comms crackled with electromagnetic interference as they descended closer to the planet’s surface. “Turning to vector one-three-five,” Kirkland announced.

Alec replied, “Copy that. We’re on point.”

Leaning forward, both Kosta and himself could see the pilot’s HUD display which showed the world outside their shuttle with faint blue whorls of the protective mass effect fields that allowed for visualization.The dark energy clouds could be seen enveloping the planet as they navigated closer to their destination.

“Wow!Will you look at that?” Kosta pointed at dark energy clouds with sharp spikes of energy traveling through them looking like interstellar lightning.

“Whatever it is, it’s what stopped the Hyperion,” Scott told Kosta.Kosta gave him a disbelieving look.

SAM spoke up in regards to their interest.“It appears to be an unstable mass of dark energy,” said the disembodied voice through their comms.Scott still had a weird double echo going on.He’d have to see if he could calibrate his comm system to get rid of it when this mission was done.

Kosta snorted, his eyes wide in wonderment.“If you say so.”

Over the comms, Scott could hear his father instructing Fisher to steer clear of the dark energy clouds. Their ride became even bumpier and Scott leaned back into his jump seat as the shuttle bucked and twisted during descent.

“Getting some chop here,” Fisher said into the comm, it was obvious from where Scott sat that Kirkland was fighting with the controls as the onboard VI couldn’t compensate by itself for the energy fields.

SAM noted gravity abnormalities were being detected and Kirkland cursed quietly in his seat as he wrestled with the controls. Kirkland muttered into his comm that he would see if he could even out their flight.Greer, who was starting to look green told his copilot that he’d appreciate that. Gradually, their flight path evened out.Kirkland announced over comms, “We’re clear. Accelerating to cruising speed.“The shuttle continued to descend to the surface.

Kosta, a huge great grin stretching across his face, looked at Scott. “Hard to believe we’re finally doing this!”

Scott smiled back, returning the enthusiasm.“Sure beats reading the brochures.”

A loud crackle came across the comms, the electromagnetic interference between the two shuttles continued to scramble the comms slightly.“beginning our deceleration. Planet’s dead ahead,” Fisher announced. Scott leaned forward again so he could better see the screen. As the surface of the planet came into view, the cloud layer still obstructing the view as they entered the atmosphere. Contrails from the shuttle in front of them briefly obstructed their view before Kirkland adjusted their flight path to clear the view.

Fisher, sounding stressed, bit out “Flight guidance is scrambled.”

Kirkland, also still slightly fighting the controls, “It’ll pass!”

“The controls are fighting me.”Fisher sounded plain worried now.Scott looked at Kosta, to see what he was thinking of this but Kosta continued to watch the planet surface come closer and closer on the HUD.

SAM instructed the pilots to adjust their approach vector three degrees to starboard.As Kirkland adjusted, the clouds they had been descending through parted and mountains appeared on the screen. “We’re through,” Kirkland announced, sounding relieved.They could see what looked like solid ground ahead but to get there…. There were floating mountains. Floating mountains that reminded Scott heavily of his brief holiday stay in Asia. Clouds and thunderstorms gathered around the tallest part of the peaks but the bases of the mountains appeared to float over a landscape below them.He’d never seen anything like that. Thick bolts of lightning lit up the sky hitting rocks causing sparks that tangled across the sky like a spider’s web. The ground below looked mountainous, a few small bodies of liquid noted below them. 

“Holy….” Kosta said next to him. Scott agreed.

With a crackle, Cora spoke over the comms. “Shuttle two, are you seeing this?”

Flicking his comm to active so it would transmit his voice between the shuttles, Scott replied, “Copy that. Doesn’t look like a golden world from here.”That lightning looked wicked. It would fry whatever it hit.

Kirkland next came on the comms. “Ionization levels are rising.”

Alec came over the comms, his tone indicating an order. “Stay on course to the landing zone.”

SAM, always with the bad news, notified them that the oxygen levels were below minimum human requirements. So not a breathable atmosphere. This was not looking promising. Everyone put their helmets on at that notification, Greer helping Kirkland with his as he continued to work on the controls.

Kirkland, listening to SAM, asked the rhetorical questions Scott was asking himself. “Is this the right planet? I thought we had this all worked out…”

Scott’s father reminded them to stay in their flight pattern as their shuttle had drifted slightly out of line with the first shuttle. Kirkland, still fighting the controls grumbled inaudibly, his comm not picking up what Scott was pretty sure included swear words. They now had descended enough that they were flying in-between the floating mountains. It was a surreal experience.

Kosta, obviously ignoring the difficulties the pilots were having, unbuckled himself so he could see better, partially blocking Scott’s view. “Uh the mountains are floating…”

Fisher’s voice over comms instructed them to look to port. On the port side, they could see some sort of structure that was geometrical, did not match the surrounding landscape. It was a very obvious sign of intelligent life being present at some point in time. Alec’s voice came over the comms. “Ark Hyperion, this is Pathfinder. We’ve got evidence of an alien civilization.”

Scott, unable to completely see around Kosta, asked “Has anyone seen us?”

Kosta, at the same time, asked what happened if the aliens were not friendly.

Alec chose to respond to both of them. “We stick to protocol. No use of deadly force unless hostile intent is clear.”Which, to be fair, his father would hopefully know. He’d been on the original team through the mass effect relay that had brought humans into intergalactic society.

Kirkland swore as the pilot HUD lit up with warning lights. “Shit! Ionization just spiked!”The shuttle began to buck and twist worse than ever, Kirkland obviously struggling as they entered a dark cloud. Kosta stumbled as he was out of his seat. And into the shuttle door which popped open as lightning hit their shuttle the moment Kosta’s hand hit the door.

And he fell out with a scream over the comms. 

Kosta’s hand managed to get a piece of the jump handle and he dangled out of the shuttle like a flag.

“Kosta, Hang on!” Scott yelled into his comm, quickly unlatching from his jump seat.At the same time, the shuttle twisted on its side, dumping Scott out and right into Kosta who tried to grab Scott.

And then they were both falling with nothing to catch or stop their fall.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

 

2819 CE March 15th

Scott Ryder, Recon Specialist, Pathfinder Team

Habitat 7, Eriksson System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Status: FUBAR.Everything is FUBAR.

 

Falling through atmosphere, especially one with a high volume of lightning strikes, wasn’t something Scott was enamored of.He generally enjoyed high atmosphere injection point drops, had done them many, many times before but he usually had a parachute attached to his back.While free fall was exhilarating, falling without a plan was, well, FUBAR.

The HUD of his helmet helpfully informed Scott that despite the gravity abnormalities that had been noted by the shuttle, he was accelerating at approximately 1.7 times Earth gravity.SAM’s voice was the only one on his comm. “Acceleration increasing.”

“No kidding!” Scott snarled, arms flailing uselessly as he continued to fall and accelerate, somehow mostly missing all the floating rocks and lightning that he was tumbling through but still managed to catch his right boot on the edge of a rock which spun him round faster. Remembering that one of the new functions of his armor was jump jets, Scott tried to activate them but received a notice that with the current atmosphere conditions the jets couldn’t fire due to his current velocity.

“Your jump-jet is malfunctioning.” SAM helpfully informed him of something he already knew.Theoretically spreading his arms out should slow his fall and due to increased friction so he tried to spread himself out as much as possible but the speed he was falling at made it difficult, he tried to stabilize himself enough so he wasn’t falling end over end but instead was legs first.He could vaguely see Liam falling similarly off to his right.

“Get it working!” Scott ordered the AI.This was going to hurt. His current velocity was approaching 300 meters/second then jumped to 350 meters/second.

“Approaching terminal velocity.”If he survived this, Scott needed to have a chat with SAM about helpful information and correct time to inform him of such information.His connection to SAM crackled due to the electromagnetic radiation around him.

The ground was rushing up to meet him.Unable to do anything to slow his descent further, Scott closed his eyes as he felt his jump jet finally fire but too close to the ground, his arms coming up to protect his head.As a last resort, he flared his biotics, hoping that it would mitigate his speed somewhat. The impact with which he hit the side of a hill made him bounce multiple times, tumbling downhill as his jump jets fired and warnings flashed on his HUD as his eyes opened in pain making him cry out as his helmet faceplate cracked as he smacked face first into the ground and then stilled finally on a small ledge roughly halfway up a mountain.

“Ah Shit!”His work of breathing immediately increased and he felt short of breath and his mouth and nose instantly dry and sore from something in the air he was breathing.Activating his omnitool, he started repairing his faceplate as his breathing became more labored.Luckily, the faceplate had just cracked, not chipped so the omnitool was able to quickly repair it.He still lost a large amount of his stored air supply—his suit was capable of slowly replacing oxygen and nitrogen from the planet’s atmosphere but it would be a slow process and it was recommended he avoid strenuous activity until the reserves were back above 50%—they currently were at 43%—the good news was that his helmet was able to pressurize normally.It was going to take a while if the oxygen levels in the atmosphere were as low as he suspected they were.

The HUD cheerfully informed him that he had landed first and Kosta second, no other team members were within the limited scanner distance and Kosta no longer appeared on his HUD connection. His connection with SAM was also noted to be offline. He was Neil fucking Armstrong—first to step onto the human golden world.Now he just had to figure out where everyone else was.

Rolling over onto his back, Scott took a moment to look up through his newly repaired faceplate as his breathing settled. The sky appeared almost an electric blue, the floating mountains from this perspective was, pun intended, breathtaking. The arcs of lightning between the clouds and the mountains provided light as the light from the system’s sun was diffused by the large banks of clouds. Groaning, he sat up as his arms, legs , back, and abdominal muscles complained fiercely. He was going to be black and blue from head to toe when he got his armor off. The HUD was suggesting medigel application to several areas—especially his right forearm which had a hairline fracture of his radius—which he told his omnitool to do and provided some immediate pain relief so he could stand.He was on a terrace with odd looking, almost fungi appearing, plants peaking out of the cracks in the mountain he was on. The colors were riotous and almost neon—blue, purple, green and yellow.Scott felt almost like he’d landed in a black light performance art installation. None of the plants were consistent with things he’d previously encountered. This was definitely an alien world.

Activating his comm, the crackle of static he could hear was not encouraging. “This is Ryder.Come in. Hyperion? SAM? Anyone there?”There was no response over several minutes. He repeated the call. No response. Standing, he was slightly unsteady at the start but was able to take a deep breath and then stepped forward. No falling a second time. SAM was still offline.

A noise behind him ended up being Kosta. Scott hailed Kosta over the comm link which the shortwave transmission in his suit connected with Kosta’s. Kosta joined him, both of them sizing up the other for possible injuries.“Save your breath Ryder. SAM’s offline.Comm link’s trashed. I’m surprised we aren’t too.”

“Any survivors? Did the others make it?” Scott asked, he hadn’t been exactly paying attention during their free fall.Without SAM the limited range of his suit wasn’t picking up anything other than Kosta.

“I don’t know. It was all a blur. Shuttle split in two after we fell… it’s like a nightmare.” Kosta seemed more calm now than he had been earlier.

Fuck. So at least one shuttle was down. Hopefully Kirkland and Greer had made a better landing than they had. “Yeah, no way this is home,” Scott replied to Kosta who seemed to be waiting to be told what to do—Scott wasn’t in a rush as his suit still informed him that his air supply was slowly replenishing. Kosta turned to look at their surroundings, his expression showing Scott he was just as lost as him.

“Looks like we gotta find some high ground, see if anyone else is alive.Come on.” Scott nodded in agreement to Kosta’s suggestion, setting off uphill.His sidearm had miraculously stayed attached so he drew it and checked it—no obvious damage other than some paint scraped off the barrel. There’d been evidence of an alien civilization and visibility was limited, it was better to be cautious.

“Ryder, how’s your survival training?” Kosta asked, making conversation as they steadily climbed to a more level area of the mountain.

“I’ve seen my share of troubles,” Scott said, downplaying his training significantly but this was an unknown situation so he felt this was fair. “Nothing crazy, but…”

“Well crazy just found us. Those rocks out there are FLOATING!” Kosta obviously tended to state the obvious.Then again, the dossiers had said that Kosta’s training was in law enforcement, not military like Scott’s.

“Terra incognita,” Scott replied. They had signed up for exactly this. He was starting to wonder how Kosta had been assigned to the pathfinder team.He seemed better situated to be with ark security with law enforcement as a background.

“Some of these plants look like tentacles! Is the water here even water?” Kosta exclaimed. Definitely the excitable type.At least it was obvious where the man stood.

Scott looked at the “plants” they were walking amongst.They did vaguely look like tentacles or giant mushrooms. Scott actually felt that the plants looked like fiddlehead ferns—albeit they were bright yellow—and the giant glowing aqua things like huge fungi. Some varieties of fiddleheads were even edible back on earth.Keying up his omnitool scanner, Scott started to scan the plants as they passed. “Well, without SAM, it’s hard to say exactly what these things are. It’s a sort of plant, and maybe dead but maybe not.” The readings were very odd. Not consistent with Milky Way flora at all—it didn’t really fit with what Scott knew of plants or fungi. Maybe molecular biology similar to slime molds?These “plants” were nothing like slime molds though.

They continued to climb up terrace after terrace, heading for higher ground and hoping they could pick up a signal from their teammates. Scott’s oxygen reserve meter finally hit 50% making him feel slightly better about things. Working on steadily making his way, he almost missed Kosta’s question.

“Those structures we saw on the way in—who could survive in a place like this?” 

“Not sure we want to find out,” Scott replied. Just the two of them, he really didn’t want to run into a large hostile force about now.

“Storms don’t seem natural.” Kosta seemed to just want to talk to fill the silence at this point.

Yeah no shit, thought Scott. Neither was gravity either from the look of those floating mountains—something was really off with this planet that was messing with physics. Continuing to run his scanner over the “vegetation” he found some debris that looked like it came from their shuttle. Swearing under his breath, his scanner recognized the QEC (quantum entanglement communicator) in the wreckage. No wonder comms weren’t working or SAM.

Kosta saw the QEC as well. “There’s our comm device.”

Pulling the QEC from the wreckage, Scott saw that the inner wires were completely annihilated. “No fixing this. Must’ve broken on impact.”

“Explains why we lost our SAM connection.”

Scott let the QEC fall from his grasp and it made a large thud as it hit the ground. He vaguely wondered if they should try to make the wreckage explode.If there was a current alien presence on the ground, the wreckage could be used to reverse engineer into their comms. Then again, he didn’t have any explosives readily to hand. He motioned for Kosta to keep going and himself started walking.They continued to pass by various debris from the shuttle’s crash. Still no sign of Kirkland or Greer. Or the other shuttle.

As they ascended higher, following the line of debris, the lightning strikes they had until now been observing started becoming ground strikes. Some of the strikes were uncomfortably close and frequent.

“You think that energy cloud we saw could cause all of this?” Kosta asked Scott.

Scott thought on his response for a moment. “SAM said it’s dark energy, but that’s in space.”It shouldn’t be effecting things on the ground.Too much distance, probably.

“Yeah. Hell of a cloud,” Kosta said, pointing up at the stormy sky.

Looking up briefly, Scott couldn’t help but agree as he eyed the floating mountains. “A cloud that makes boulders float.”Activating his jump jets, Scott boosted himself over the next ravine and barrier, crossing below one of the floating boulders/small mountains. Moving out from under the shadow, he paused to catch his breath and rest. A bigger plateau stretched before him and Kosta. Which was fine—flat ground would be appreciated at this point. What wasn’t good was that every two seconds there was a ground strike, throwing rock up as shrapnel. Too many hits would shred his shields and they’d be dead. Trying to see a pattern to the strikes, he couldn’t discern one.

And then he saw it.A flare, shot over the mountain. One of their teammates was alive and signaling. Kosta made some remark about what the hell was that, referring to the field, he hadn’t seen the flare.

Pointing to the flare, Scott encouraged his teammate and began a mad dash through the field. “Come on!We gotta get through it.”

Kosta yelled at Scott as he followed, both zigging and zagging to avoid the strikes. “This is CRAZY!”

“Welcome to Habitat 7!” Scott called back, trying not to laugh at Kosta as they both scrambled. “Keep moving!”

“Ahhhhhhhh!” Kosta screamed as he was blasted sideways but stayed on his feet, both of them now sprinting towards safety. “Shit that hurt!”

Not looking back, Scott was himself swearing he pointed to a spot covered by a rock ledge. “Looks safer under there!” He put on a final burst of speed that was propelled by a strike directly in back of him, slamming under the ledge, he had made it to safety just barely staying on his feet. Kosta had dodged the strike and made it in second, then collapsed on the ground just outside of the blast zone, his breath coming in sharp inhales over the comms.Approaching his teammate, Scott looked down at him. Kosta looked wiped but otherwise fine.

“What the hell is going on with this place?” Kosta panted.

Smiling down at his teammate, Scott cheekily replied, “Planet’s trying to murder us.”

Kosta rolled his eyes at Scott and held out a hand to be helped up which Scott took and hauled him upright and onto his feet. “Let’s get moving.”

Kosta had stopped, eyes wide as he looked over Scott’s shoulder and into the open sky on the other side of the ledge from the lightning field. “Look!”

Scott turned to look. There were flying animals of some sort, dancing between the lightning strikes were creatures that were the size of what he assumed dragons would be—if dragons were real. “Here be dragons,” he murmured. Cora was going to love this. Both Scott and Kosta watched until the creatures were out of sight before moving on, both of them moving slower than previously. They had to rely on their jump jets to move between terraces as they climbed higher, Scott’s were not functioning completely right as his right boot was lagging behind on his left boot thruster which made hitting his marks a bit more difficult. 

Scott found himself making conversation with Kosta, trying to distract himself from the physical exertion of climbing an alien mountain so they could reach a point where line of sight might improve comm function. “How’d my dad find you?” He asked.

“I was a cop. Crisis Response team,” Kosta replied.

“Yeah?” Scott asked, eyeing the large jump over a ravine.He thought he could make it but it’d be an interesting jump with his malfunctioning jump jet.

“Tell you over a beer sometime…” Kosta told him as he also eyed the ravine. This was the biggest jump they would make so far today. Scott was going to take him up on the offer of beer when they got back.This mission was fucked.

“This is going to be close…” Scott backed up and gave a running leap, triggering his jets at the apex of his jump to give himself more height and lateral velocity. He landed just over the edge, leaning forward so he wouldn’t fall back and down into the ravine. Kosta, following Scott’s example gave a running leap but triggered the jets slightly early, leading Scott to grab his hand and pull him onto the ledge as he would have been a half meter shy.

“That’s it. We’re getting close…”

Kosta seemed to Scott to be talking to himself at this point.Scott found himself responding in encouragement.“I think I see the top. We’re almost there…” They continued slowly climbing to the top and made the top of a ridge.To Scott and Kosta’s disappointment, they now viewed a valley that was riven with boulders and hidden drops—several smaller ridges blocked the view of the path between the valley center and their viewpoint and a layer of smoke occluded part of the valley from something on fire.In the center was a tall, monolithic like alien structure at the top of which was a large dark cloud that swirled ominously. The cloud seemed to emanate from the structure.Was it causing the funky weather? The lightning? 

“What the hell is that?” Kosta exclaimed.

“Don’t know. But it’s our job to figure it out,” Scott really was starting to wonder why they’d come down here. 

Kosta clapped Scott hard on the shoulder. “You sound like your old man talking.”

Scott wondered how well Kosta knew his father. “He was right. Something went wrong here. We have to find out what. “

“One thing at a time Ryder…”

Scott nodded in agreement and started the climb down into the maze of the valley.Today reminded him of an old earth military saying—the only easy day was yesterday.

 

***

They had been climbing up and down and around for some time.No more flares had been seen and the smoke from whatever was burning seemed to settle in the crevices that they kept having to climb down and up out of.Scott felt that they must have gotten turned around at least once but nothing looked familiar enough for him to be sure.His comm remained silent other than Kosta—or Liam as he’d reminded Scott repetitively to call him when he’d tried to get his attention earlier. Liam was currently ahead of him, climbing up and out of the current deep and wide gully they’d been crossing. Time seemed to be stretching out longer—it was taking them longer and longer to cross what had previously looked as a short trip to the center of the valley. 

Liam stopped at the top, waiting for Scott to catch up to him and then pointed.“Ryder, it’s Fisher.”It indeed appeared to be Fisher who was hiding behind a rock and appeared injured. Shuttle wreckage surrounded him but Scott couldn’t tell which shuttle it was from.Scott saw movement behind Fisher and to the left. He grabbed Liam, who had been standing in the open, and pulled him down to cover behind a bolder.

Liam tried to protest, but Scott shushed him. “Look—to the left. Movement. He’s not alone down there and whatever it is, I don’t think it’s friendly.”Two figures moved through the wreckage, calling back and forth to each other in a language which was decidedly not human or anything recognizable to Scott’s translator.The smoke from some of the wreckage that was on fire that had spread to some of the vegetation created clouds of smoke that would briefly allow Scott to see the aliens before obscuring them again. They were pale and bipedal, had an exoskeleton like armor but no helmets. They carried what appeared to be some form of assault rifle. From his crouched, covered position, Scott debated what to do.Fisher couldn’t stay there.

“Holy shit,” Liam said as he watched the aliens slowly get closer to Fisher’s position. “What was first contact protocol again?”

Frowning as he watched the aliens, Scott reminded Liam of protocol. “No deadly force unless fired upon.”He didn’t like the look of those rifles. And that exoskeleton looked tough.

“Yeah said no one in the field ever. How do we handle this?” Liam was calmer than he had been earlier but now was definitely looking to Scott for guidance about how to do this. Well, someone had to do something.Fisher was about to be discovered.

“Take it easy, we only get one shot at “hello” with these guys.Cover me.” Scott stood, holstering his sidearm in its mag lock at his hip and spread his hands in a neutral position, showing he was unarmed and started walking down towards the aliens.“Nice and easy—we only shoot if we have to,” he murmured into his open comm, aware that Fisher’s comm was probably now picking up both him and Liam.

“Don’t think they’ve spotted you yet…” Liam said from cover, his gun in hand.Scott was now ten meters from the aliens who weren’t looking in his direction. Fisher was 3 meters away and to the right. Fisher picked the wrong time to move slightly which the aliens caught which brought Scott to their attention as well. Guns were now pointed towards him and Fisher, the aliens chittering rapidly back and forth in their click filled language.Scotts’s omnitool offered no translation to the noise. Scott stopped where he stood, not moving, hoping if he looked not scary they wouldn’t just shoot him, or worse Fisher.Fisher looked in rough shape. One side of his armor was scraped badly and that was definitely blood on his leg and abdomen.No sound came from Fisher’s comm which Scott could see was active.

The aliens didn’t move from their position but neither did they drop their guns.“What’s the play Ryder?” Liam asked.

Liam must have moved because the aliens now seemed to have seen him as well—the chittering yet guttural, speech increased in speed and loudness. Scott waved his arms to get the attention back on himself.He moved his thumb to switch his comm to amplify his voice outside of his suit and addressed the aliens who were trying to keep tabs on all three of them now. “We can’t understand you. Give us our man, or this gets ugly.”

Out of the smoke, a third alien appeared, right behind Fisher.The alien gave a loud war cry type command and then kicked Fisher repeatedly. Fisher started screaming, his voice carrying over the comms. Scott hadn’t realized he’d taken his attention off the other aliens until Liam alerted him that they were almost on top of Scott. “Ryder! They’ll kill him!”

Scott drew and turned on the alien on top of Fisher, one shot clear through the eye and the alien dropped on top of Fisher who was still moving and crying in pain.Two shots lit up his shields and then he dived for cover, narrowly avoiding a charge from one of the two remaining aliens. He could hear Liam firing from his position providing cover fire. Fisher had gone silent.Taking a deep breath, Scott could hear one of the aliens almost on top of him. He turned and lifted both aliens in a biotic pull causing them to panic.He then shot both of them twice, once in the head and once in the torso. He had no idea if their heart was in a similar position to his own, but they bled a brownish green fluid from both wounds and stopped moving. Scott canceled the lift and the bodies fell to the ground with dull thuds.

The pull had been a lot easier than it should have been. And more powerful. Not taking his eyes off the aliens, he approached them and ran his scanner over them as Liam rushed to check on Fisher.The scanner verified that the aliens did indeed seem to be dead so he stored the rest of the information and then jogged to join Liam to see how Fisher was doing.

“Fisher you okay?” Liam asked him as he ran his own scanner up and down the man’s body.

Fisher was in fact not dead like Scott had initially feared. “So much for making peace with the locals.” Fisher paused and looked at Scott. “Thanks for jumping in.”

Licking his dry lips, Scott cleared his throat which he noted was increasing sore and hoarse. “I wish I didn’t have to.The first aliens we meet and we end up trying to kill each other.This wasn’t the planned first contact.” 

Liam seemed to get offended at Scott’s answer. “Then we need a new one. At least we know what’s what.The brochures were light on aliens who want to shoot your head off.” God—what had Liam thought they were going to do? Scott had grown up on his Dad’s stories about how not well first contact had gone with the Turians back in the Milky Way.In fact, there was the whole First Contact War if Liam needed a primer in how badly things could and very well might go. Hell, having spent significant amounts of his childhood on the Citadel… Scott could give him chapter and verse on how different species sometimes didn’t get along and how it could easily come to a shootout. Sighing, Scott decided now was probably not the right time to educate Liam. They could do this later.

Fisher, looking between his two teammates, decided to throw his two cents in.“We still don’t even know what they wanted.”Scott could guess—if strangers crash landed on his planet he’d be annoyed and wanting to know who trampled the rock garden too.

“The way they treated you? Blood samples, I’d say. Lots of them.”Obviously Liam had watched too many old alien abduction movies.

“We’re the aliens here.Who says we’d even understand their motivations,” Scott told them, helping Fisher to his feet. “Or that they’d understand us? It’s a new galaxy.Guess it’s too much to expect they’ll play by Milky Way rules.”

Liam was still not willing to give it up.“They broke the rules in any galaxy.”

“But why go after us?” Fisher asked, limping significantly as he took a few steps, coming to lean against the rock he had been hiding behind.

“Only thing I know for sure is that their guns hit as hard as ours,” Liam said darkly. “Where are the others?”

Fisher looked around them before replying, Scott wasn’t too sure he didn’t have a head injury. “Gone. Kirkland and Greer were by and went for help.”

Sighing again, Scott noticed that Fisher’s gun was missing as he turned to leave. “Come on then.”

“Can’t…. My leg.” Fisher evidently was not going to be able to walk.

“Can you move?” Scott asked, trying to be patient. He didn’t like being out in the open like this.

“I think my leg is broken.You guys push ahead and look for the others.”

Turning back, Scott grabbed one arm and put it across his shoulders while indicating for Liam to do the same.“You sure? You can’t sit here.We need to get you to cover and you can tell us which way Kirkland and Greer went.”Between himself and Liam, they managed to move Fisher to the side of the open area, wedging him between a cluster of rocks that rendered him mostly invisible unless you were right on top of him. Most importantly, Scott briefly scanned Fisher and confirmed that his fibula was broken and triggered medigel to bathe the area, jump starting the healing process.

Scott then marked the spot on his omnitool while Liam went and grabbed the guns that the aliens had been using.They left one gun with Fisher and both Scott and Liam attached the spares to their mag locks on the back of their armor. 

Before leaving, Scott again asked Fisher.“You sure?”

“Yeah.Just find us a ride out of here. And take a few more of them out while you’re at it.”Fisher’s skin looked grey through his helmet.They needed to find help and get him out of here soon.

Liam was slow to follow when Scott turned to leave. “I hope the others are all okay.”

Scott tried to put on a brave facade. “We’ll find them.But we might want to scout around more first.”

“You’re the recon specialist—lead the way.”Yes he was.This day kept getting longer.

***

Going the way Fisher had indicated that their wayward teammates had gone, Scott and Liam made good time and covered a lot of ground.They’d found more wreckage of what Scott now assumed was both shuttles.Focusing mentally on putting one foot in front of the other despite the aches and pains from their fall that hadn’t gone away in the least, Scott tried to keep an eye on the surroundings.Liam was stealthy in the same way an elephant traipsing through a china shop might be. He was getting tired if he was mixing his metaphors but there was nothing else to do but keep going. Coming out of cryo was making him feel like an old man, all his muscles were stiff and his joints felt creaky—or maybe that was the dive out of the shuttle. The monolith was starting to get larger and larger as they moved towards it.

“You look like you know how to handle a gun back there.”

Surprised, Scott looked at his companion. “Spent time with an Alliance peacekeeping force.”How did Liam not know his background?He thought everyone on the team had gotten the same information packet…

Scott’s thoughts were interrupted when before they could turn a corner they could hear more of the alien speech.It sounded like more than three of them but without visuals he couldn’t be sure.He had to stop Liam from walking right past him and around the corner. Shushing the man, Scott let his omnitool work in language learning mode. There was no reference so it would be very hard for the universal translator to come up with anything but the more exposure he gave it the better the low odds became. Waiting became not an option when he heard Kirkland’s voice.

“Hear that?” Liam asked, his gun already out and ready to go storming around the corner.

“Be careful. Don’t antagonize,” Scott ordered him as he drew his own weapon from where he’d stowed it.They both turned the corner at the same time to see Kirkland, hands in the air, loudly proclaiming that he surrendered.

They were too late—the aliens shot Kirkland through the chest and head just as they got within eyesight. Liam was screaming that they had shot him, Kirkland was screaming in pain before it abruptly cut off.

Scott focused on the aliens and threw his biotics at them, causing surprise and blasting the pair of aliens who had shot Kirkland.The force with which his throw hit them and made them collide with a rock pillar was enough to likely kill them, but Scott believed in absolutes and shot both through the head. “Take them out,” he ordered Liam who followed him into the gunfight. More aliens appeared in the small area that they were in and Scott efficiently eliminated his fair share of them. Liam did manage to actually kill a few this time but he tended to go for less lethal shots first.Watching Liam’s shields take a battering, he shouted at Liam, “Head shots work!” Liam took his advice.

Ten minutes later, they were surrounded by bodies of dead aliens who were identical to the first group they’d run into. Scanning his surroundings, the scanner confirmed that Kirkland as well as the aliens were dead. Fuck.

Liam, who appeared to be in mild shock from everything, didn’t have his scanner out. “That’s the last of them.”

Swearing in his mind, Scott eyeballed his companion.While Liam had made a few kills, he wondered how much Liam had used his gun as a cop and if he’d had to kill anyone before.“I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

Having Scott talk to him refocused Liam who now was looking at Kirkland with worry. “Did Kirkland make it?”

“No vital signs. Just shot him in cold blood.”

“He was trying to surrender! Why kill him?” Liam was working himself up. Scott nipped that in the bud.

“Would we treat them any different if they showed up on Earth, armed to the teeth?”Scott watched as Liam processed that question.Eventually, Liam seemed to calm down.

“Maybe not.” 

“Peace isn’t going to be an option here,” Scott wasn’t unfeeling for Liam.Liam’s training wasn’t in first contact, guerrilla warfare, biotic warfare, spec ops and tactics like Scott’s had been since he was old enough to hold a gun and join his father for “boys weekends” as his mom had called them. Scott hadn’t really enjoyed the weekends with his father once he’d hit his teens and they’d had more disagreements than agreements, but he could admit that the experiences had been helpful once he’d shipped out on his first tour with the Alliance.

Marking the location on his omnitool. Scott, looked around them for anything they should take.He took Kirkland’s sidearm as well as his ammunition, storing them away.“We’ll come back for his body once we find the others.”

Liam was subdued but helped look for extra ammunition on the alien’s bodies, even going so far as to scan a few for more information. “Hope Greer’s still alive somewhere.” 

They then continued on in the direction they had previously been heading in. It didn’t take long before they were at the base of the monolith. No sign of their other teammates. Taking out his scanner, Scott began running it along the base of the structure.

“Look at this architecture.This is really something,” Liam said, watching Scott work.

Cranking his neck to look up, Scott agreed with Liam.Nothing like anything he’d seen before. “Never seen anything like it.Looks to be at least three or four centuries old based the weathering pattern.”

Liam had a puzzled look on his face. “The arks left 600 years ago, right?”

“Yeah. Our long range scans wouldn’t have picked this up based on the dating I’m getting from the scanner. These structures, the tower we saw while flying may not have been here when we left the Milky Way.”Climbing, up around the blocks that made up the base of the tower, Scott saw an atmosphere sensor—someone else had been here but it wasn’t turned on.

“I’ve got gear from one of our shuttles,” Scott motioned to Liam as he activated the sensor.“It’s still working.”

“Is that an atmosphere sensor?Let me guess, it says “don’t breathe the air,” Liam joked.

Watching the readout, Scott nodded in response to Liam’s question.“Yeah, but no sign of industrial pollutants so that’s not what killed this place. And no radioactive isotopes so nobody nuked it either.”

“Well that’s helpful.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Scott turned the sensor off. No point in having the machine run down it’s power supply if they didn’t need to.Standing, he continued to walk along the base of the tower. The light was poorer here due to the shadow of the tower but a glowing blue sphere lit up the darkness that sat on a pedestal of sorts. Huh. That wasn’t anything of theirs.

Scanning the orb, the readout was weird. Not similar to anything else organic that he’d scanned thus far. “Okay now this is weird. Even with these readings I have no idea what this does.”

Liam, looking over Scott’s shoulder at the readout, “Just imagine the mind that invented it.”

Shooting a sarcastic look at his companion, Scott continued to scan the pedestal to see if it had anything else to add data-wise. “If that’s even possible. Evolution separated our minds by several million light years.”

“Spooky when you put it that way.” 

Another set of flares lit up the sky with a loud pop. Scott sure hoped it was his missing teammates using the flares and not the aliens. “Come on, let’s go.”

***

As they made their way across the rocks, Scott almost stumbled when he came across some form of alien tech that looked different in construction than the monolith.Taking out his scanner, he noted the composition of the metals was different and rather than having no interface, this machine did.The machine was approximately a meter long, had orange colored bands of light that ran along it with thick coils of what Scott assumed were wire ran into a box that was mounted to the side of the monolith.His scanner suggested that the machine was capable of producing electrical current—a generator maybe? He was so engrossed in the scanner’s readings, he didn’t see what hit him.Unluckily, neither could Liam other than seeing Scott get tossed up into the air and into a rock five meters away from where he had been standing.A loud, animalistic roar shook the ground under Scott.

Yelling, Liam began spreading cover fire all around him, trying to hit whatever had hit Scott.More angry roars sounded but Liam was unable to figure out where it was coming from as it echoed in the small gully they were in. It wasn’t until the animal hit the alien tech Scott had been examining that Scott could see the vague shimmer to the air that differentiated the animal and it’s shields. Grabbing the alien weapon that had fallen off his back and next to his hand when he hit the rock, Scott fired directly into the shimmer causing the animal’s shields to drop.

Scott tried not to gape.The animal looked like a triceratops crossed with a varren. Thick bony plates covered the animal’s face with small protruding horns. The rest of the body was muscular with four legs that all ended in paws with sharp talons and a long thick tail that whipped back in forth in agitation. The animal then charged Scott and he fired continuously into the animal’s chest which was barely visible. Liam was focusing on the animal’s side. The animal gave a cry and finally stopped moving less than 10 cm from Scott’s boots. What. The. Fuck.

Switching his scanner back on and focused on the animal, Scott saw that it was completely organic. An organic creature capable of creating better shields than the best tech they had? They were definitely in trouble. “holy fuck.”

“So the cloaking is biological?” Liam seemed just as stunned as Scott.

“Yeah,” Scott wasn’t sure what else to say. Liam gave Scott a hand up and they continued on their way.They needed to find the rest of their team. Sitting here wasn’t an option as a two man team.

***

They had two more encounters with hostile aliens and had then discovered a room with various pieces of equipment similar to the one Scott had paused to examine.Scott had run his scanner over everything, but without SAM he wasn’t able to make much of anything other than to accidentally turn the lights in the room on.That had been hostile alien encounter number five for the day. Scott and Liam adopted a shoot first and ask questions later approach as Scott was sick and tired of being shot at. This planet could kiss his ass as far as he was concerned. That had been when they found the weird robot that didn’t fit with anything in a room that looked like it had a gigantic locked door. The robot had grown legs and scuttled away before Scott could even scan it. Neither Scott or Liam had been able to open the door either, but Scott could get a large energy source reading behind it.

They’d also found more wreckage of what Scott was fairly sure was their original shuttle—not his dad’s. They had just found a section of hull that should contain the black box for radio recordings.If nothing else, they needed to listen to it and see if it gave them any more information about where to meet up with their wayward team.

Scott was ass deep in the wreckage, using his omnitool blade to carefully cut the box out. Liam was standing guard as he had no idea what the black box looked like. Scott sure hoped Liam had more observational skills than he so far had displayed. Freeing the box, Scott slowly backed out of the hole he had made. The box appeared intact, it would interact with his omnitool to allow them to hear any radio or spoke communications in the shuttle before impact or the power source had been cut to the shuttle, which in this case is probable when this section of hull became detached from the rest of the shuttle. Sitting on his heels, Scott queued up the audio log.

_Kirkland: we’ve experienced a catastrophic lightning hit! Liam and Ryder are gone!_

_Pathfinder: What’s your location?_

_> >>static<<<_

_Pathfinder: Hyperion, this is the Pathfinder. Mayday. Mayday. Ship in distress._

_> >>static<<<_

_Fisher:Sir, our engine’s down—Prepare for emergency landing!_

 

Scott exchanged a glance with Liam and listened a second time. So neither shuttle had made it to the surface in one piece from the sounds of things.Liam tried to cheer Scott up.“Hey, maybe they made it?”

Scowling, Scott tried to stop thinking negatively. “There’s hope.”

Liam led the way this time. They had been walking for five more minutes when Liam paused.“You hear that?”

Scott listened closely. Radio static. He definitely heard radio static he hadn’t heard before now. “Yeah, its radio static. In a pattern.”

They both continued walking—the static gradually increasing in volume until they could hear a voice that they couldn’t identify what or who was speaking.Scott started jogging and as they covered ground the voice became more clear. It was Greer and he seemed to be speaking to someone who couldn’t understand him. Probably an alien.That’s when Scott realized the static that he’d heard was morse code. S.O.S.

Drawing his gun, he started running towards the radio source. Jumping up with his jump jets, he could see Greer surrounded by five aliens, all of which had their weapons drawn on Greer. Scott didn’t hesitate and opened fire, shouting in his comm for Greer to hit the deck.

Two aliens went down immediately to Scott’s fire before they could turn and face him. The others turned and started firing, lighting up Scott’s shields as the bullets ricocheted off.Distantly, Scott was aware of Liam also using his jump jets to get into the air and give supportive fire. As he reached the apex of the jump, Scott activated his cloaking shield that he had as a recon specialist. It didn’t completely hide him from the alien’s view but made them work harder to find him. This allowed Greer to make an escape and find cover but did make Liam the focus of the alien fire.

Liam cursed and disengaged his jump jets, plummeting quickly to the ground and finding cover. Liam yelled down the comm line for Greer to stay put and out of sight.

Landing hard, Scott dived behind a convenient piece of rock that wouldn’t completely cover him but hopefully would make it hard to find him with his cloak engaged. He reloaded his predator. He had one clip left after this one and then he’d have to rely only on the alien gun which had a wider spread at distance. Deep breath, 12 bullets.

Scott moved from cover, his cloak intact but the energy drain on his shields would shortly not make it worth it.He fired three shots into one alien, two into another before his cloak fell. Liam managed to hit and kill the last remaining alien. Breathing heavily, Scott jogged to find Greer.

“Greer?”

“Here,” came the weak reply. Greer was curled up behind one of the many boulders. The flank of his armor had red staining it. Crouching, Scott’s scanner verified that there was a graze wound to the right side of Greer’s chest. No injury to the lung or liver—very lucky. Triggering medigel disbursement, Scott wondered if he should make some time when they got back to brush up on field medicine techniques. They’d brought a physician with them only to be separated from him making the whole point of bringing one along moot.

Liam joined them shortly. “We’re clear. No more hostiles.”

Greer, grimaced in pain. “Thank god. I was tapping my mic, hoping someone would notice.”

“You okay?” Scott asked, watching Greer’s vitals on his omnitool. He had no idea if the vitals were normal but the heart rate looked slightly high to him.

“Yeah.Where are the others?”

“They killed Kirkland.” Yeah definitely a heart rate spike with that bit of information—up to 130s. “Fisher’s alive, we left him back at the crash site in a hide with enough ammo to cause trouble for anyone who comes looking.”

Liam, ever helpful, added, “He’s got a broken leg.”

Greer looked sad but then his eyes hardened and a determined look took over his face. “I’ll check around for supplies and then head back. We can’t leave him by himself. It’s not safe.” 

Scott, not surprise by Greer’s response, nodded in agreement as he transferred the nav point to Greer’s omnitool. “Stay put when you get there. We’ll continue on looking for the others. Do you have enough ammo? Spare guns?”

“Yeah.Grab me one of those alien guns and I’ll be set.” Scott helped Greer to his feet and Greer seemed to be in better shape than the scan had suggested—or more stubborn. “Good luck. Can’t wait to get off this rock.”Scott heartily agreed with that statement.

“Good luck to you to. Be careful.”Scott and Liam parted ways with Greer. Scott hoped they would see him again. Where were the others? 

Neither Liam or him felt like talking as they kept walking. This day could hardly get any worse at this point.

***

Hearing Cora’s voice on the comm—while not giving good news—lightened Scott’s mood by a large amount. They’d made contact.

“SOS on frequency 154.3. Anyone there? Cora’s voice was professional, not pressed despite giving out an SOS.

Increasing the power to his comm to boost the signal, Scott replied. “Cora we read you. What’s your status?” Liam actually jumped up in down in excitement with a fist pump. Someone not dead—he supposed that was a reason to celebrate at this point today.

“Shuttle repairs are underway but we’re surrounded. Request backup.”

“We’re on our way. They’re not friendly, I recommend shoot to kill. Headshots work.”Scott’s omnitool received a nav point from Cora.He started running, Liam right behind him.

***

The other shuttle had landed in a relatively flat small valley, approximately half a kilometer from the monolith. The run was all up hill from the monolith. Scott made liberal use of his jump jets to propel himself forward at a fast clip, Liam struggling to keep up. Cora had been right, they were indeed surrounded. The shield generators that had been stored in each shuttle were in use, Scott could see both Cora and Dr. Carlyle with guns in their hands, watching the aliens who jumped in and out of cover, running around the shuttle. Scott estimated approximately 20 or more aliens surrounding the shuttle. Smoke came from the shuttle but it otherwise looked mostly intact but a lot of cargo was scattered around the shuttle.

Liam announced their presence over the comms. “Cora, we’ve got your back!”

Cora, now sounding slightly stressed, “They’re trying to pin us down.”

“Doing a good job of it too,” Dr. Carlyle interjected.

“I’m on it. Sit tight, only take a shot if it doesn’t put you at risk.”Scott counted his bullets and activated his cloak which had recharged during his run. Time to make his training pay off. Pushing off with his jump jet, he launched himself into the air in a high arc, the targeting assist built into the HUD of his helmet tagging targets. He took three shots that were easy, three bodies dropping instantly. This of course let the others know there was something up topside that was raining bullets.

Liam helped out at this time, pushing off with his own jump jets but at a different arc trajectory, using his alien gun to lay down a large spread of bullets.There was lots of comm chatter between his teammates but Scott tuned it out. Most of it wasn’t relevant to himself so he focused instead on eliminating targets. Landing behind cover, Scott counted the targets and jumped again, letting go with a biotic throw which pushed him back and into a different arc than the aliens anticipated, a few stray bullets touching his shields but not direct hits. From the comm chatter he could tell that the throw had hit three of the targets and Dr. Carlyle and Cora had finished them off.

He had maybe one more run with his cloak left before he’d have to take a break from using it. Two targets were approximately fifteen meters to his left. Flash forging a blade from his omnitool, he took off running, jumping over the rocks in his way.He slid behind the two aliens who were looking towards the center where most of the action was. The first one didn’t have time to react to Scott’s blade sliding through it’s neck but the second one turned and he took three direct hits to his shields before he was able to slide the tip of the blade into the neck of the alien, stopping the damage. Nothing had made it through but his cloak was flickering.He needed to get to a better cover quick.

Deactivating his blade, he switched to the alien gun. Eight moving tagged targets according to his HUD. Most of them were over on Liam’s side of the fight. Two more were on his side within easy range. Biotics or gun. He had to admit, even though it felt easier to use his biotics, he was starting to feel the the drain from using them. There was a slight shake to his hands now which would only get worse if he didn’t take a break.He needed calories or he was going to start burning through his minimal fat reserves (it’s hard for a biotic to gain weight—to his sister’s ever loving frustration). He should have eaten before leaving the Hyperion. Gun it was then. His power recovery for his cloak meant that it wasn’t going to be an option for a few minutes.

The two remaining aliens on his side went down with well timed bursts. In the meantime, his teammates had felt with four others.Two more targets assuming his HUD had gotten them all. Back against the rock he was using as cover, Scott tried to calm his breathing. His throat was on fire from inhaling the planet’s air earlier which was made worse with exertion. He’d probably burned the lining of his lungs and throat on the whatever was in the air. He tried not to cough though the urge was there. Checking his gun, he noticed his clip was almost done and changed it out.The alien guns packed a punch but were inaccurate at distances of more than three meters. He had four rounds left in his predator so left it holstered at his side. He’d have to get close to get accurate or hope that a spread got lucky. His enemies were at the same disadvantage though. Unless he could reload his predator. He had a short burst capacity on his cloak before it would be back to fully drained—maybe 15 seconds. Could he make it to the shuttle in that time?

Probably.

The answer was probably.

Pivoting, he sprinted as his cloak activated, making it through the shield barrier milliseconds after his cloak’s battery ran to zero. Multiple shots from the alien guns impacted on the shield barrier just after he got through.Cora, eyes wide behind her helmet, looked at him as he appeared like magic in front of her.

“Got any ammo to spare?” Scott asked her, cocking his head to the side with a smirk.

Cora simply pointed to one of the open crates to her left. Scott nodded. “Much obliged.” He helped himself as Cora went back to popping a few shots off towards the aliens that were between her and Liam. Dr. Carlyle was watching things, not contributing much—he’d told Scott more than once as he was growing up that he was “a doctor first, poor soldier second.”

“Fuck!” Came an exclamation from Liam over comms. “Alien ship inbound!”

Loading extra clips as quickly as he could, Scott looked up.A large, bulbous appearing ship that was nothing like what he’d ever seen before was making it through the clouds trailing lightning behind it from a spike lightning rod that hung out the back. He could see multiple aliens—probably another twenty or so—perched and ready to jump down and swarm them.

“Shit.”Grabbing the last extra clip he could carry, Scott stowed his alien gun and reloaded his predator, chambering the first round. “We’ve got this,” he told his teammates as he activated his jump jets, arcing over to the side he’d originally claimed as his, taking out one of the original aliens as he swung through the air.

Landing, his HUD had already tagged the aliens as they jumped down from their ship.In a strike of luck, multiple streaks of lightning hit the tail of the alien ship simultaneously and it overloaded causing an explosion of epic proportions and propelling it vertical and to the far side of the valley wall. Fire rained down on Liam’s side but Liam had abandoned it to flank around and come to Scott’s side. They had twenty one active targets according to his HUD. Time to get down to business.

With half the valley on fire, it compressed the available space. Even with their greater numbers, Liam and Scott were able to harry, harass, and taking down the occasional alien, drawing attention, while Cora picked off aliens that forgot she was there. Within minutes, they were down to half the alien targets they’d started with.Cora, getting fed up with Liam and Scott jumping up, down, and around with their jump jets let loose a biotic singularity that drew in five aliens. Scott rapidly took advantage and each alien had a new hole in their head. He’d have to keep this predator—it worked a lot better than the last one he’d had.

Five left. His cloak had managed to recharge so he’d have a short duration but it was doable. “Liam, I need you to distract those three on your left. Now!”

Liam, trusting Scott had a plan, jumped and made a lot of noise, spraying bullets from his alien gun.Liam had been picking up ammo the entire fight from downed aliens and applying it liberally. With everyone looking at the spectacle that was Liam spinning through the air, Scott activated his cloak. The three aliens who were clustered close together were down before they could even realize Scott was there. His cloak ran out and he dived for cover, a stray bullet making it past his shield and catching him in the right bicep which stung but didn’t restrict his movement.

Two left. Two fucking aliens left. A loud explosion told him Cora was using her biotics and one of the markers disappeared.

One left.

Where are you fucker? Scott thought as he followed the marker. The marker on the HUD indicated the alien was to his right somewhere, further away from Cora and Liam but closer to him. Reloading his predator, Scott waited for a flicker of movement which was slow in coming. “There’s one more out there Ryder,” Cora warned him.

“Copy,” Scott growled into his comm. No movement… no wait. There, five meters away behind the what had to be the only large glowing blue mushroom not on fire in the entire valley. No cloak left and out of steam with his biotics. Hopefully his shield would hold.

Activating his jump jet, he spun up and over.The alien had been watching them do this the entire firefight and anticipated Scott’s path, his gun spraying fire the entire way but the gun’s inaccuracy at more than three meters gave Scott the chance he needed even as his shield registered indirect hits and deflected. He’d jumped high, leaving him at least four meters of space between himself and the alien at it’s closest point. Once he had enough height, he took aim with his predator and put three shots into the alien, two in the head and one in the torso. The alien went down and stayed down. The last marker on his HUD blinked out.

Landing, Scott collapsed to his hands and knees and took several deep breaths which caused a coughing fit. His chest hurt from breathing but his HUD informed him that he only had a few glancing hits to his right bicep, right hip and one to the right gauntlet that had just taken off a corner of his armor. He was in remarkably good shape except for the prior injury to his lungs which the HUD didn’t register since it wasn’t designed to account for inhalation injuries.

“Ryder! You okay?” Liam called, he could hear Liam running towards him.

“I’m fine,” he managed to talk between coughs. “Just need a moment.”

Liam was now almost on top of him. “Man that was crazy!”Yep, he couldn’t disagree with that assessment. “Let’s get you to the doc and get you checked out.”

Nodding, Scott came to his feet and then stood. His coughing became less frequent with being upright. He and Liam then made their way slowly to the shuttle where Cora and Dr. Carlyle were standing, watching them approach.

***

_Excerpt from the Journal of S. Ryder 2819 CE March 18th_

_I would like to make a clarification for the record—actually several.Firstly, I have been skydiving and space diving since I was thirteen—why thirteen? That’s the age when my mom finally gave into my dad and let him have me come with him and the “guys” when they went to do their recertification jump that they had to do before the end of the month or repeat a training week.By the way, I learned how to dive with a bunch of drunk N7s on their holiday leave who are certified adrenaline junkies and felt that I was way too old at the time to be having my first jump. I have passed jump school in the Alliance and did so as part of my ROTC training when I was seventeen.I know I’ve made over five hundred jumps from higher injection points than what I did falling out of that shuttle. The main difference between the planned jumps and simulation jumps I’ve done prior to this was that I never got dumped out of an aircraft in an abnormal gravity situation with lightning buzzing past my head and sans parachute.For the record, I don’t recommend the experience. Also, Liam needs to learn how to use a seatbelt but I digress. I also, privately and don’t ever want him to know, I kinda blame him for the whole falling-out-of-the-shuttle thing but it worked out alright so we don’t have a problem. Liam might have earned extra flight training time with me as a result of this but I don’t hold this against him—I was excited to see the planet too. He just needs to run protocol until he lives and breathes it and sticks to it._

_Secondly, have you ever tried to gain weight as a biotic? It’s like impossible if you’re using your skills at all. The caloric burn is a bitch. The only reason I’d gained three kilos from my discharge weight was that I hadn’t been using my biotics at all before shipping out to Andromeda. I’m now down three kilos because I didn’t eat between leaving the Milky Way and ending up in the infirmary after the cluster fuck that was Habitat 7. Also, healing takes too much out of you even with medigel doing most of the work.Evidently I need to learn how to dodge better according to Harry Carlyle. SAM also is not on my side and has been reminding me to eat every 2 hours and actually nags me until I eat something. SAM’s been disturbing my beauty sleep to get me to eat a protein bar. Yay protein bars with a side of sugar. I’m on a permanent sugar rush now. Also, the chocolate label on said bars is bullshit. It tastes nothing like chocolate and the texture is awful. I understand exactly why you’ve never seen an overweight Asari and my hat’s off to them in keeping their curves. I have no curves to speak of unless you count ribs._

_Thirdly, inhalation injuries suck. They might actually suck more than being shot and I have to say I also do not recommend that experience. Harry actually gave me aerosolized medigel and then had me dunked into a breathable liquid form of medigel face first and made to inhale it—I felt like I was being waterboarded with medigel. Which, happily, did work but I’m still coughing up medigel blue colored phlegm. His other suggestion was that he might need to regrow me a new pair of lungs if it didn’t work and I had too much scarring. Ouch.That might take the cake for dumbest injury I’ve ever had. Don’t burn your lungs kids—breathing easy is fun. Also, maybe smoking is bad for you so don’t do that either._

 


	6. Chapter Five

2818 CE July 3rd, late evening

Habitation Pod Group #328T12S, Nexus, Somewhere in the Heleus Cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Shuttle Pilot, callsign Anubis

Status: Working on an effective exit strategy

 

Maiko and her sister had taken over an hour to talk and decide what they wanted to do.When they finally emerged from the bunk room they informed Reyes, who had been cleaning up the common area, that they were going to leave and wanted to know if he would be willing to pilot a shuttle and go with him.Reyes had agreed as long as they were aware they’d likely have two Turians and a Salarian with them.Both sisters had been in agreement that sticking together sounded like a better strategy than going off separately.Reyes had then told them to get some sleep and they’d have an early breakfast meeting which should give Alzik time to complete his data crunching and get some sleep which the sister’s were agreeable to. This left Reyes with nothing to do.Kenax and Vestus had left after a hurried conversation that Reyes had not been part of.Reyes had been admonished to not go anywhere without them—he wasn’t sure where they thought he was going to go.

In the mean time, Reyes had gone through all the foot lockers that his absent roommates had left in the common area. It had been minimal work to pop the locks on all of them—they’d been flimsy locks that Reyes was very familiar with. The locks didn’t really work that well and he’d encountered them from his time in the Alliance. Everyone knew these type of footlocker locks only would briefly slow anyone down but were a sign to respect someone’s privacy—which he really didn’t care about at this point.He had found about two weeks supply of human rations for one, some additional clothes that might fit either Maiko or Julia.There hadn’t been any additional packs—he hoped that Vestus or Kenax thought to grab something to pack with in their mysterious wanderings.He’d also found a small supply of medigel as well as a toolkit for repairing small machinery that an engineer or mechanic would find useful. Reyes had put the toolkit, medigel and extra rations in his own pack. He’d already briefly interrupted Alzik’s data crunching to raid the clean clothing stocks in his own size as well as any bits that might be useful including toiletries as well as removing the containers of soap from one of the showers stalls so they would have something if they found a reliable place to bathe on whatever planet they landed on. 

He’d also downloaded all that he could off the servers—both educational stuff related to hydroponics, terraforming, energy generation from all different types of sources, colony establishment, and lastly military tactics. Anything that could possibly be useful he downloaded including humanities topics, medicine, economics. In a fit of paranoia three weeks ago, he’d download all his stored data including entertainment, books, music, old family photos etc to his ship along with his preferred old VI that was Alliance military grade. The type of VI the initiative had preferred wasn’t as responsive or in his opinion as flexible and adaptive as the VI he’d been issued in the alliance. He’d also made some tweaks to the programming himself over the years that made the ship more responsive than a regular Initiative shuttle.It would outperform any other shuttle in the bay even though he wasn’t the best hacker around. Hopefully, they’d be taking his usual shuttle.

Assuming they couldn’t take his usual ride, they most likely would only get a small shuttle for the size of the group they were—Reyes was well aware of what was automatically stocked on the shuttles vs what wasn’t.His pack was definitely as full as he could make it. He’d made sure that his flight suit—which was a lightweight set of armor—was cleaned and had double checked all the joins where it would be prone to damage. He’d not had it for long so it was still in good shape.He also had put his mechanic’s gloves into his pack that he’d brought from home.He wasn’t leaving those here.

He’d just gotten himself a glass of water when Kenax returned by himself. Kenax had two packs over his shoulders, both appeared to be full. Nodding to his friend, Reyes watched Kenax deposit the packs on the counter. “Get everything you felt could be useful?”

Kenax seemed more relaxed than he’d been earlier and was his usual self. “Met up with the most lovely woman. She had some things set aside for me as she knew I wouldn’t likely be staying.”

Arching an eyebrow at his companion, Reyes was surprised at the mention of a female. While both of them had frequently ribbed the other about dating preferences, emotional attachments and, ahem, bad hookups, this was the first he’d heard mention of a female. Let alone a “lovely” one. “You have someone you’ve been dating? In what free time?”

Kenax actually seemed to do the turian equivalent of a blush and his mandibles fluttered. “While Vetra is indeed lovely, I believe she’s more into Vestus than myself.”

Trying not to laugh, Reyes eyed his friend. “So the both of you are chasing after the same woman?”

Definitely flustered now, Kenax tried to backtrack. “It’s not so much chasing after her as we both agree on her but she’s more into just Vestus.”

Wait a minute—that sounded a lot more like—“You and Vestus are interested in a a threesome? This answers so many questions....” Reyes wasn’t hiding his laughing now, his eyes dancing with mirth at his friend’s visible discomfort.The marker from the poker game was even more funny now.

Reyes hadn’t realized that when turians blushed they turned more of a purple color than their baseline grey-blue. Kenax’s crest and mandibles were puffed out as he tried to explain to his laughing friend that he was indeed in a long-term relationship. “Vestus and I have been, what you humans call, in a committed relationship for over twenty years. We agreed when we came to Andromeda to court a mate and have children.”

“Very responsible decision from a survival of the species perspective.” Reyes had stopped overtly laughing but he knew he still had a rather large smirk on his face.

“It’s not only that.When we took this mission we decided it would be time to settle down and have a family when our mission was completed.Andromeda sounded like a good place to start over, less radiation likely—well at least that’s what we were told there would be.”

That was right, turians were very concerned about radiation levels for raising of children until they developed the hardened protective plate armor of an adult.Turians that had thicker natural body armor were considered more desirable by the females of their species as they were less likely to die early of cancer.Dying early as a warrior was acceptable but not of a cancer.Reyes could at least understand his friend’s concern even if he himself was not currently interested in having children himself.Reyes liked children, maybe even theoretically saw himself having one someday but not today or tomorrow. Besides, that’d require a stable relationship and that was something he had absolutely zero interest in trying again any time soon.

“This Vetra, what’d she give you?” Reyes knew he was giving his friend a break and steered the conversation back to safer topics. He’d have time to interrogate Vestus later about treating his friend right.

Obviously grateful for the out, Kenax eagerly pounced on the change of topic. “Rations for both Turians and a salarian to last about three weeks and maybe two weeks for you and the girls.We probably want to make off in our shuttle before the deadline. Scuttlebutt is that after the deadline they’re going to be rounding up all the non responders and just taking them directly to the cryo bay or a shuttle. We should be able to get our shuttle if leave before then.Vetra says that there’s already a lot of people choosing cryo so they’re loading them as soon as someone files their decision paperwork.”

This wasn’t surprising and made sense. No point in delaying the inevitable if you chose cryo. “Should we leave as soon as Alzik has the data crunched?”

“We could leave before he’s finished. All our likely destinations are in the same general direction.We should try and stop at Nol to refill the tank if we end up going to Govorkam.We still have the emergency helium harvesting system in the back right?”

“Yes.Where’s Vestus?”

“He was going to see about getting some things from his security storage locker. He shouldn’t be locked out of it.He said he wouldn’t take long. I’m surprised I beat him back.”

The door to the pod opened less than two minutes later, Vestus stepping in with a large pack on his back. And what appeared to be a weapons locker in his arms.Kenax and Vestus exchanged a few words as Reyes watched them interact, gauging their behavior with his newfound knowledge. They did move around each other like a well established pair, automatically anticipating what the other was going to do and assisting automatically as they went through the locker which contained a pair of predator pistols, two assault rifles and most spectacularly, a sniper rifle that evidently was Vestus’ favorite weapon. There was also a collection of knives and a few plasma grenades. And two sets of Turian armor that were not standard Initiative stock. Turians did love their toys.

“How long do you want to wait before leaving?” Reyes asked as he noted it was now after midnight ship time.

Kenax and Vestus had a silent conversation with their faces and eyes. Yep, definitely couple-level communication skills.

“You’d better wake up the girls and get ready to leave. Last chance to use the facilities too.”Kenax and Vestus began resorting everything and replacing it in the locker. Reyes nodded and went to wake the girls. He was damn well going to use his entire water ration for the next week before they left.

***

Everyone was packed and ready to leave within the hour, all of them carrying a pack that Vestus had supplied. Even Alzik had somehow come up with enough stuff to fill a pack he had produced from seemingly nowhere—Reyes suspected Vestus’ involvement.As they left the pod, the hallways were dim with night time levels of lighting. They came across two security guards on their way to the docking bay where they’d left their shuttle just two days ago. The security guards saw the markings on Vestus’ armor and didn’t challenge them—neither guard was a Krogan. It seemed that at least some of the security force hadn’t gone insane with the awakening of the Krogan.

The shuttle bay was dark when they arrived and deserted. No one was there but Reyes’ credentials had opened the locks without difficulty which he then purposefully locked after them with a quick hack from his omnitool.The security around the Nexus really was pretty basic. Quickly making their way to the shuttle, Kenax and Reyes both threw their packs into the shuttle while the others got comfortable and started the inspection of the outside of the shuttle. This normally took about an hour if you were doing it to Alliance specifications by one pilot but could be done in fifteen minutes if they split the work and were efficient. The seals on the maintenance hatches that Reyes had himself put on after servicing their shuttle were still intact so nothing had been messed with since he’d last been here. The refueling lines were still attached which Reyes detached quickly, making note that both the fuel tank as well as the water reserves were as full as possible.They’d be going out almost fully loaded from a weight standpoint. Kenax removed the locks from the docking clips which made the shuttle ready for flight and then went on to complete the other maintenance checks.They were lucky that no one was here to watch them stealing one of the largest transport shuttles. The shuttle Kenax and Reyes had been assigned to was a larger one because it was designed for intersystem travel and for ferrying colony equipment.It wasn’t one of the small ones that we’re likely being given to the exiles. This was a shuttle capable of traveling between systems without having to stop and harvest helium-3 at every jump.

Finishing first, Reyes hopped on board to see that Vestus had stored his and Kenax’s gear safety where it belonged and was helping the others put everything in the bulkheads.The supplies from Eos were still in the back of the shuttle—this would be habitation equipment as well as water and air purifiers, solar, geothermal, and wind generators. This was pure luck that no one had offloaded it. There was also the remainders of a field habitation kit—everything you’d need to start a small test garden of both earth and turian crops—enough to get started on a small subsistence farm.It’d barely been touched while on Eos due to the difficulty with the heat, radiation and arid soil.

Warming the shuttle up, Reyes put on his headset and the pilot’s HUD flared brightly to life. He opened the comm line to flight control but left his mic on silent. He could hear some chatter from the flight deck that suggested the night shift skeleton crew wasdistracted and not paying attention.The mass effect field that closed the shuttle bay off from space was in effect but would allow the shuttle through without difficulty.The question was the shuttle bay doors—they required Reyes to send a code command to open but would show up on the flight deck notification that a shuttle bay door was opening, It was a small notice but it would show up on the screen. The question was how much attention the flight deck was paying. If he waited until the last moment, he could make it through the doors and drift out without causing a lot of attention. He might even be able to send the code to close the doors too but it would log it for someone’s attention in the morning for calculating radiation exposure to the crew.

Hopefully they’d be able to sneak out or just leave without a lot of hassle.The flight deck controller could theoretically slam the door closed on them or send someone after them. The Nexus wasn’t really equipped with guns—a design flaw from Reyes standpoint—as it wasn’t even half finished at this point.The real firepower for the station was supposed to be from the arks but obviously none of them were here yet. He’d need the doors open fully for a minimum of 48 seconds at the speed he wanted to exit at. But he could wait until the last moment to send the open command to minimize the risk of notice.

Kenax finished up the last of the checks and joined him in the pilot cradle.“How’s the activity on the deck?”

“Minimal.They seem to be playing cards. I don’t think anyone’s paying any attention up there,” Reyes said as he closely listened to the chatter. The flight deck’s comms were always on—it was against protocol to be having personal conversations like those he could hear but he would probably be just as lackadaisical about protocol as them if it was him up there and a mutiny/exodus going on. The flight deck wasn’t expecting a lot of activity at this time of night rotation but had to be available at all hours in case of unexpected hails from arriving flights. Or unexpected exits like the one they were planning.

Kenax began running through the copilot checklist while Reyes ran the calculations.It would be best if they allowed the ship to drift out—it would set off less sensors.Reyes had practiced exits like this before during his time with the Alliance but had only done it once for a mission when he’d been assigned as transport for a spec ops unit. He hadn’t known a lot of what that unit’s mission was, and it had definitely been need to know only, as their destination had been in the Terminus systems. He could do this but it relied on the flight deck being non attentive to be a completely unnoticed departure. They would have a lag time of approximately 8 hours before the daily radiation summary would note the exposure total for the day for their specific docking bay. That was also assuming that no one went looking for their shuttle before then in the docking bay. But the real question was what anyone would do if they noticed their unscheduled departure.

Reyes was betting that the Nexus administration would just see them as another one of the exiles and wouldn’t pursue them but it wasn’t a guarantee. They were taking a lot of extra supplies with them. But, and most importantly, it probably wouldn’t be worth spending the resources to track them down.Reyes, however, wouldn’t bet on someone making a decision based on annoyance that they’d gotten away with supplies rather than a rational decision. He had no idea how likely it would be that they’d get a tail on them.

If it was him, he’d write off the supplies and focus on things that would make a difference for the Nexus mission.But he wasn’t a Krogan.

“Stop worrying. We’ve already made a decision,” Kenax told him quietly. “I know you can run this type of stuff in your sleep. You’ve got the kind of piloting scores most pilots only dream of.Let’s get out of here.”

“Right.”Reyes let out a deep breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Hitting the command to seal the shuttle, everyone behind him was buckled into their jump seats. It was a little crowded with all the extra equipment but they’d have to make it work. In well practiced synchronicity, both Kenax and Reyes started the engines up fully to lift the shuttle off the deck. The engines were technically still in minimal performance mode which would allow them to drift out and through the protective mass effect fields with minimal interference.They just needed the bay doors open at the right time and to close behind them.

Kenax indicated to Reyes he would follow his lead.Taking control, Reyes allowed the shuttle to drift towards the doors. At precisely the right moment to allow just enough time for the doors to be fully open for them to enter, he transmitted the open door code. The doors immediately began to open and slid open enough to allow for one shuttle to exit. As he’d practiced before, Reyes let the shuttle gently pass through the opening and as soon as they’d cleared it transmitted the close code. The shuttle HUD rippled signifying they were passing through the mass effect fields around the Nexus. The mass effect shields around the shuttle were designed to meld seamlessly with the fields that surrounded the Nexus, a safety check that allowed smaller ships to pass in and out of the docking bays without having to drop the shields that prevented debris from striking the Nexus.With the standard shipboard VI that had been installed, it would have notified the flight deck every time they passed through.With Reyes’ military grade one, that function was performed only if the pilot indicated it needed to be. Which Reyes didn’t want to have the notification go through so it didn’t.

Once they were through the mass effect field, Reyes used minimal propulsion to let them drift in the right direction. To anyone looking outside a window, they could have been seen floating away from the Nexus at a steady trajectory.To most of the sensors they were no more than a floating piece of debris.

Kenax and Reyes watched closely for any sort of indication from the Nexus that their departure was being noticed. Reyes continued to listen in on the flight deck comm until they were out of range.A very tense hour and a half had passed.Looking back in the hold, Reyes noted that both Maiko and Julia were asleep. Alzik was looking at data of some sort that Reyes couldn’t read. Vestus was closely watching Kenax and Reyes but seemed content to just watch.

Allowing them to drift for another hour and a half, they were now outside of the close object monitoring range that the Nexus scanners watched very closely. There had been no indication that anyone had noticed anything. Reyes began bringing the engines up to normal operating parameters slowly, the shuttle pointed the right way he wanted to go.“Start normal operations,” he told Kenax, flipping the guidance system back to normal operating parameters.

The shuttle responded and began making it’s way normally.“Onaon or Sabeng, Alzik?” Reyes asked.

“Head for Sabeng first. We can backtrack to Onanon if we need to,” Alzik responded, continuing to study his data. “Minimal resources of helium 3 are noted in Sabing so we can top off the tanks before heading to Nol or Onanon.There is also theoretically a world that might be capable of recognizable life forms in Sabeng.”

“Heading out then,” Reyes replied.Entering the Sabeng system into the flight guidance system, Reyes leaned back in his seat as Kenax took over the active monitoring so they wouldn’t hit anything like the Scourge.Still listening, he continued to hear just inane chatter on the flight deck. They would be out of standard comm range in about an hour or so. Evidently one of the night shift controllers was quite the ruthless card shark—name of Gil.He also was a huge flirt and his companion on night shift wasn’t buying any of it. Luckily, they were keeping each other preoccupied. It was a way to keep himself awake and Reyes was glad for it.He couldn’t relax just yet until they were out of the Zheng He system and out of Nexus scanner range.

Watching as the distance between the Nexus and their shuttle increased on the HUD, Reyes did feel sad. Despite the circumstances that had led to him signing up for the Initiative, he was sad that things hadn’t worked out like they’d been promised. He also had a spark of anger for how poorly planned aspects of the Initiative were and for the hopelessness of the situation.He had never been someone who wanted to be a victim and he refused to see himself as a victim of circumstances. Feeling annoyed, he watched the kilometers add up, his shuttle labeled N-503 and the Nexus.He reached out and tapped on the shuttle designation information and swiftly deleted the N-503 and put in Exodus 1–nice and epic sounding, dramatic even. “We need to think of a new name for ourselves. We’re not initiative anymore,” he said into the shipboard comm.

“No we’re not,” Kenax agreed, not taking his eyes from his portion of the HUD.

Vestus hummed in agreement from the back but didn’t add anything further.

“Just a collection of castoffs.” Well, there was definitely no going back now. They reached the limits of the Nexus comms.The intermittent conversation from the flight deck in Reyes ears started fading in and out before becoming completely silent five minutes later. They were on their own now. Might as well take a nap while Kenax took first shift.Reyes closed his eyes to try and get some sleep.

***

The next three days were equal parts boredom and tense anticipation. The shuttle that they’d commandeered was one of the larger transport shuttles—but they had a lot of equipment in it that was very valuable. Kenax and Reyes traded off shifts as they had to closely monitor for unanticipated space debris, aka the Scourge, and make their way carefully around it when necessary.Normally, a trip between systems would not take this long but they had to stop and run probes to establish safe approaches to planets and then scan them. Maiko, Julia and Alzik did their parts, helping to do the actual planetary data collection as they approached Sabeng. So far, they’d found a lot of Scourge and a lot of asteroids. There’d also been no sign of anyone following them.

Sabeng, as a system, was promising according to Alzik.There had been a proposed golden world that they were quickly able to rule out as being a possible destination.They had yet to see any of their fellow exiles but had come across some debris that looked like a ship had been dumping cargo.A quick scan of the cargo revealed nothing of use that was worth stopping for but Reyes still made a note of it and attached it to an asteroid that would keep it within it’s weak gravity and from floating free and into one of the navigation lanes he was charting.

Close quarters also allowed for the crew to get to know each other better. Reyes didn’t out Vestus and Kenax as a couple as they seemed to not want to advertise their relationship and he could respect that.Maiko and Julia both had wicked senses of humor and had quickly taken to being the entertainment of the ship.Julia especially had been amused when she found Reyes stash of old earth telenovelas in his entertainment library—they had been his mother’s guilty pleasure and one of his fond memories of childhood had been falling asleep in sweltering heat while his mom watched her shows with him cradled against her when he’d been very small.He’d be the first to admit that he hadn’t watched half of the telenovelas but had downloaded them before setting course for Andromeda, assuming at some point he would want the reminders of home. He might, however, regret letting his companions share in his entertainment cache.

Entering the Sabeng system, four planets were spaced out in roughly elliptical orbits. The first plant, which according to Alzik was not where it was supposed to be—too close to the star, was pretty to look at but that was about the limit of the planet’s usefulness. Too close equaled too unstable, too hot and no breathable atmosphere.The fourth planet was covered by liquid helium seas. They had stopped to harvest Helium-3 as they didn’t know when the next chance to do so would be. That left two more planets in system.

The second planet from the sun was odd—a tranquil gas giant—but it was the third one that was the most interesting. Atmospheric pressure was high causing it to be a colder world than it should be, and, there was evidence of plant growth below ice.They had paused and gone in into orbit above the third planet as it was exhibiting minimal signs of life. It wouldn’t be a viable home but it was something to make sure they kept data on as they could get water here if necessary.And that’s when they saw the small, orbiting station on the scans. Someone or something else had been here first.

***

“Alzik, I need you to look at this,” Reyes called back to the others from where he was monitoring things on the HUD.There, in the center of the screen was what looked to be an honest to god space station with a gravity ring attached.The station looked old, there was a part of it that had obviously sustained damage—caused by what would be a good question.It was large enough to have two small docking bays at opposite ends of the station. The station had power, there was a radio signal coming from the station that was weak. The VI was currently analyzing the signal which seemed to be repeating in cycles.From what the scans were telling him, Reyes could see that most of the hull was mostly intact. There also seemed to be two different types of ships docked in what Reyes assumed was the stations shuttle dock. Neither ship appeared anything like an Initiative ship.

Alzik came up and sat in Kenax’s empty seat, looking at the HUD’s display. “That is an alien station.” The Salarian said in shock, his eyes wide.Alzik then began tapping on the display to scroll through what the long range scanners were picking up.“We need to deploy a drone and evaluate hull integrity, get closer look.”

Eyeing the Salarian, Reyes nodded. “Yeah.I don’t think anyone’s watching for someone else to come knocking right now.Look at the damage to the far end. From what i can tell they had bulwark doors seal off the damage so the hull might be sound.”

Alzik continued to study the data as Reyes launched an observer drone that was used for planetary surveys.Switching his controls over to the drone, Reyes cautiously approached the station which did show any change indicating the drone had been noticed. From closer observation, it was obvious that the station didn’t have any significant mass effect shielding. There was a lot of wear and tear from small rocks hitting the station but nothing suggesting an air leak. Assuming that whatever had caused the damage at the far end had been contained, the station might still have air inside. The cycled signal from the station didn’t change, nothing indicating that there was someone monitoring for other ships.“I’m going to guess that the repeating signal might be the alien equivalent of SOS or mayday,” Reyes muttered to Alzik.

The Salarian was closely watching as the data came in from the drone.“Thermal scans indicate that the station is built similar to our designs but is still most likely of alien design. There are several heat signatures from deep within the station that suggest this station is inhabited.”

Pausing, Reyes considered this. First contact was an option here. Protocols for the Initiative were strict—all contact considered friendly and nonlethal unless lethal force was encountered first. As they were no longer Initiative, Reyes wondered what his companions were going to feel like with meeting an alien species. Should they be friendly? There were pros and cons both ways but Reyes felt that trying to make friends was likely the better course of action.He’d served alongside First Contact War veterans as well as grown up on his Tío’s stories of the siege of Shanxi, he’d like to avoid the mistakes that led to that war. “We need to follow first contact protocols.”Reyes gave a call into the back for everyone to come to the front which was quickly followed.

“We’ve got an alien space structure that has heat signatures,” Reyes told his friends.

Vestus leaned over Reyes shoulder to get a better look at the readings. “That station looks like it’s had better days.”

“There’s a repeating weak radio signal going out—the VI can’t make heads or tails of it but it’s probably the equivalent of a mayday signal or SOS,” Reyes offered his interpretation of the signal.

“An SOS would make sense given that damage,” Kenax agreed.

Maiko and Julia were both reading over Alzik’s shoulder but didn’t comment, Maiko occasionally poking at some data point to bring it to Alzik’s attention. Both scientists were deep in thought.

Reyes continued to pilot the drone around the station, now bringing it in closer to the damaged end to get a closer look. Those were inner bulkhead doors, similar to what they were used to.The doors obviously had been triggered when the damage was done and showed similar wear as the station, suggesting that the damage had been done a while ago. The docking bay closest to the damage was unoccupied whereas the other had two very small shuttle type ships in it of different designs—definitely not of Milky Way design. Knowing that the docking bays would be the most immediately needed information, Reyes took the drone in close to the docking bay and was able to slide into it without difficulty.There was registered weak gravity in the docking bay, and, a mass effect field. There was air behind it similar to their own docking bays. The content of the air was however low in oxygen and not adequately pressurized—they’d need to wear helmets and suits. The drone did not detect any intrusion alarms but that didn’t mean they just weren’t looking at the electrical signals around them right.

Pulling the drone back and out of the docking bay, Reyes slowly examined the rest of the ship.Alzik and Maiko continued to pour over the data while the others watched.Reaching the other end of the station, the docking bay that was further from the damage had a setup similar to the other but had two small shuttles docked. The shuttles were dissimilar in design—they were obviously space faring vessels but looked completely different from each other and anything Reyes had seen back home.Completing his assessment of the other docking bay, Reyes pulled the drone back to their ship.

“Well?What’s everyone think we should do?” Reyes asked everyone, no one spoke up right away when he asked, just continued to look at the HUD.

Maiko straightened from where she’d been leaning over Alzik.“We need to get in there and see what’s going on. Scans are only going to tell us so much.”

“Yes, but who’s going? And which docking bay?” Vestus asked, there was a calculating glint in the Turian’s eye as he looked at both Reyes and Kenax.

Kenax spoke up before anyone else. “Only one of us can go Reyes—and we both know you’re the better pilot and more likely to get us out of things. You’re the fighter pilot.”

Scowling because the thought had occurred to him, Reyes nodded. It made sense.He just really wanted to stretch his legs and wanted to know what was on the station. “So you and Vestus?”

“It makes the most sense,” Maiko offered.“I will go as well in case there is something that can’t be beat with brute Turian force.”

Julia looked concerned at her sister but didn’t protest.“Be careful out there.” 

Alzik looked like he wanted to volunteer but realized that three was probably enough of a risk. “Make sure your omnitools are on scan so we can get as much data as possible.” 

Vestus, Kenax and Maiko went to get into armor, or in Maiko’s case, an extra space suit that was included in all shuttles.

Reyes had a bad feeling about this. The station sat silent, not giving any clues about what it contained. “We’ll use the far docking bay—it’s further from the heat signatures which should give you more recon time before contact.”

***

 

2819 CE March 15th

Scott Ryder, Recon Specialist, Pathfinder Team

Habitat 7, Eriksson System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Status: adrift

 

Meeting back up with his teammates, Scott realized again how out of his depth he was.They were on an alien planet, no safe place to sleep at night with a non-breathable atmosphere.And of course, his Dad was expecting him to perform above and beyond—so just a regular day outing with his family. His teenage years had totally prepared him for the emotional demands of the day—well not really but he’d fake it till he made it. Cora seemed relieved that he’d shown up with Liam in tow.Harry, for all that he’d retired career military, seemed to have all his energy sapped by the hostility of the alien encounter. Scott just viewed meeting up with alive teammates as something going right.

Liam, broke the odd quiet standoff that was going on as everyone watched Scott breathe and try not to cough. Liam noted one of the aliens was still alive and put several, extraneous, bullets into it, with vengeance.

“Hey! That’s not necessary!” Scott said, trying to stop Liam from wasting ammo but also from acting irrational. The alien was dead now, no need to go acting like a crazy person and put a whole clip into him. Liam just screamed and put the rest of the clip into the still body.

“They broke the rules,” Liam growled.“They murdered Kirkland.”

Grabbing the gun, Scott pulled it out of Liam’s grip which was now lax. “We’re not in the Milky Way anymore. Stop wasting ammo.”Liam did not look appeased.

Cora stood and watched Scott, appearing to agree at least about the wasting ammunition part of what he’d told Liam. “Let’s get the comm’s fixed and then we can see about getting out of here,” She paused and turned back to the shuttle where Harry was already tinkering with one of the side panels. “Your Dad went scouting ahead.”

“How long ago?” Scott asked as he bent to help Harry at the panel he was working on.There were a bunch of wires that had been ripped out of the panel and needed to be reconnected in order to get the QEC working. So they could hopefully then contact the Hyperion. And possibly get help if they couldn’t get the shuttle working.

An hour later, they finally got the QEC working which hopefully got SAM working.Scott was sweaty in his helmet, felt tired, hungry and definitely edging on cranky.The shakes from calorie deficit had passed and now he just felt a bone deep weariness.“SAM you working?”

“QEC link established. I hear you Scott. The Pathfinder needs to speak with you.” SAM’s robotic, unnatural voice came through the comms loud and clear.

Clearing his throat, Scott opened up the general team comm line on his omnitool and spoke into the open line. “Comm link is re-established. Pathfinder, do you copy?”

“Good to see you’re in one piece,” came Dad’s voice through the link.Scott hadn’t realized how badly he needed to know his Dad was okay until that moment.His dad made a good impression of being infallible and larger than life to most of the people he worked with. Scott hadn’t had that impression in a long time—not since he returned from boot camp—but he found that with all the uncertainty around him he wanted to at least pretend that he could believe that his dad would fix everything. If only for a moment. He didn’t want to examine it too closely, but it felt good to shrug off some responsibility and just look to his dad for his next orders. “What’s your status?”

“Kosta and I are with Cora and Harry. Kirkland’s dead, shot by hostile aliens”

Cora joined the conversation. “We have wounded crew members that we need to go pick up. The good news is that our shuttle is at least capable of going to pick them up and possibly leave but the weather is a problem.”

“Not with these storms. It’s too risky to fly,” the order was clear in his Dad’s voice. No flying the shuttle then.

Thinking of Greer and Fisher, Scott was worried for every hour they delayed.Fisher hadn’t looked good with that broken leg. And leaving them by themselves didn’t sit right with Scott. “Our wounded can’t wait much longer. Do you have something to change the weather or think it’s going to change soon?”

There was a pause and then his Dad responded in a way that was absolutely insane.“If the storm’s the problem, let’s fix the storm.”

Not able to help himself, Scott disbelievingly replied, “We’re talking about the weather.”

“And I have an idea about that.” Of course he did. “Rendezvous at my coordinates.”Gunfire could now be heard through the comms.“Damnit.They’ve spotted me,” was all Scott heard before the comm cut out and there was no further transmission.

Turning to look at Cora, Scott noted that the nav point was probably a 30 minute march away back towards where Scott and Liam had come from towards the large alien structure.They couldn’t leave the shuttle undefended and they needed to be ready to fly as soon as possible. All of them could do basic shuttle piloting...

Cora took the decision out of Scott’s hands, as she should as XO.“Harry, do you think you can hold down the fort?”

“I can hold things if I close the shuttle off and leave the shields up. Assuming we don’t get anything like earlier.”

“Good.Let’s go everyone.Pathfinder’s waiting.”Cora grabbed an extra set of ammunition and immediately set off for the nav point, assuming everyone else would follow. 

Liam gave a glance towards Scott before following the XO.Sighing, Scott wished Harry good luck and started picking his way over the rocky ground to follow after picking up a Viper sniper rifle from the supplies—his preferred gun really.Time to go find out what trouble his dad had stirred up.

***

Finding his dad hadn’t been the hard part.Somehow his father had gotten further around the alien structure than he or Liam had been.Evidently there was a bunch of secondary other alien equipment that went up one side of the structure that didn’t match the architecture of the structure itself.Unfortunately, this was occupied by the hostile aliens. Which meant that they’d had to shoot their way through a bunch of aliens to reach his dad.Scott was exhausted at this point but didn’t see anything else he could do other than keep shooting and putting one foot in front of another.SAM had helpfully given him a status update of his body functioning at approximately 40% of peak efficiency.Scott would have probably given himself a lower estimate—but he’d managed to keep up with Cora who hadn’t been in as many firefights today or fallen out of a shuttle. So maybe he was being too hard on himself.

Finding his father crouched behind what appeared to be a bunch of crates, Cora, Liam and Scott greeted him. There were a bunch of dead aliens spread out in a trail that had led them directly to him. Evidence of incendiary rounds, his father’s preferred ammunition, abounded. Dad had been busy evidently while waiting on them.

“Dad,” Scott said as he crouched next to him, watching as aliens continued to move on the next terrace that they’d have to clear if they continued on the way his Dad had been heading.

“Sir,” Cora greeted his father.“Orders?”

“This seems to be their base of operations.They’re guarding that tower and probably the access to it.Watch how the energy cloud interacts with the top of the spire—It’s not natural.That has to be why the weather is so abnormal.This world wasn’t supposed to have weather like this according to our scans which means it has to the be the dark energy causing the problem.”Alec spoke with authority, outlining his reasoning to his XO and son.Liam was mostly watching the aliens as they moved about. Looking at the monolith, Scott mostly agreed with his father. The maelstrom of clouds above the monolith seemed to reach out with fingers of lightning that coalesced at the center where the tip of the monolith entered the clouds—rather where the bottom of the massive cyclone merged with the top of the tower. Rumbles of thunder and crackles of electricity were loud and sent shock waves around the valley, drowning out other noise and making it easy for them to move about without notice unless they were right on top of the aliens who patrolled.

“Who are these guys?” Cora asked Alec as she watched for troop movement patterns. The sentries, if you could call them that, seemed to have regular routes that gave them a good view of the surroundings of the tower on this side. The secondary structure ran in a zig zag pattern up the side of the monolith with lightning rods attached approximately every ten meters. And those lightning rods were in heavy use due to the frequency of strikes.

“They’re visitors like us.Their technology doesn’t match the architecture. I don’t think they’re native to this planet,” Alec told Cora.

“Makes sense,” Scott agreed. “We found what was probably an abandoned lab on the other side.Looked like they were trying to tunnel into the monolith, like they’d been studying the place.”The weird rooms that Liam and he had found earlier where he’d accidentally turned on the lights now made sense in this context. 

“Good work. You did some scouting.” Alec said, not looking at Scott, his tone slightly sharp. 

Scott tried not to bristle at his Dad’s tone but he suspected his reply didn’t really hide it—he was a recon specialist damnit. “You didn’t think I would?”

“You never really know what people are made of until everything goes wrong,” Alec told him, placatingly, now looking at Scott. His dad’s eyes were gentle as they gazed at him, making Scott want to believe that his dad actually hadn’t meant for it to sound as callous as it had originally sounded.

Biting back a more harsh reply, Scott told himself to be the professional he was. “There’s plenty of that on this mission.”

Cora interrupted their staring, “Sir, you said something about the weather? About controlling it?”

“That dark energy cloud is what the Hyperion hit.It’s extending from space down into the planetary atmosphere affecting the whole planet. Interfering with whatever that monolith does…”

SAM corroborated what Alec was trying to explain. “The tower is caught in a feedback loop which is disrupting planetary climate with undirected energy.”

Which would explain why there was more plant life in the caves and under sheltered alcoves that suggested at some point there had been more diverse life than the planet was currently supporting, Scott thought. “That would explain the plant life we’ve been seeing in areas that are sheltered.”

“Its the most likely explanation,” Alec offered. “if we can get in there and shut the tower down, allow it to restart we may be able to reset the planet’s weather and climate.”This was such a bizarre conversation but Scott thought his dad might actually be on to something.

“So no more deadly lightning strikes?” Liam asked, joining the conversation.

“And then the shuttle can get us safely out of here,” Alec said. “In theory… we just have to get past them,” and he pointed at the aliens on patrol.

“And if we’re wrong?” Scott couldn’t help himself. He needed to know that there was a plan B in case things didn’t work out.He was a big believer in always having a backup plan given what had happened earlier in this mission.“We’re banking on science we don’t understand and just making guesses.What if your theory is wrong?”

SAM was the one who replied. “There is an 85% chance of death from either lightning strike, capture, exposure or worse.”

Scott grimaced. That wasn’t a better plan. “Well when you put it that way…”

Alec grabbed Scott’s shoulder to get his attention. “I have no illusions about this. It’s going to be a nasty fight to get in there but we don’t have any other options.”

Cora broke up the family moment. “Beats getting fried by lightning or dying of exposure.I’m in.”

Alec nodded. “It’s them or us.I’ve got a little surprise planned that will even our odds a bit.”Alec then tapped a command into his omnitool and looked expectantly at the patrols. As they watched, each lightning rod that got a strike overloaded and exploded, four of them, one right after another. The alien patrols became more disorganized, running around trying to dodge both lightning strikes as well as figure out what had happened. “Let’s go!”

“Right behind you,” Cora yelled, firing off a biotic throw as she followed Alec into the fray. Liam didn’t hesitate as well, running forward with a loud war cry and a bounce as he activated his jump jets.

Watching his teammates, Scott grabbed his Viper and positioned himself to follow his father’s progress, firing off three headshots to clear his team’s way before advancing himself to a new cover spot that afforded a better view.He needed higher ground to use his sniper rifle to full effect as his father shouted at him to get a move on or be left behind.

This pattern continued as the team advanced higher and higher until they reached the top of the secondary structure which flattened out into a large platform that had a big enough space to land a shuttle on it. There were also several smaller rooms mounted to the side of the monolith, most of which contained various pieces of alien machinery.It also contained Greer’s body.Greer was on a table—what Liam viciously called a dissecting table—still in his armor. He was most definitely dead. Scott ducked behind the table as three aliens rushed the room with him and Liam in it. They made short work of the aliens.Catching his breath, Scott ran his scanner over Greer to confirm what he already knew. Greer had died of a shot to the left chest, straight through his heart and the back of his lung. Greer had died almost immediately. Scott could vaguely hear Liam swearing vengeance on the aliens for Greer’s death but it seemed distant despite coming in his ear through the comms. Kirkland and Greer were dead, was Fisher?This fucking planet. He couldn’t wait to get out of this nightmare.

“We’ll come back for him before we leave,” Scott told Liam who had smashed several pieces of alien tech.“We’ve got to clear the way for the Pathfinder.”

Alec, presciently, hailed them both wondering where they’d gotten to.“Ryder, Kosta.We found a door. Need backup on the far side.”

“Let’s go,” Scott told Liam who didn’t seem to want to listen to him.Scott then repeated himself, putting a sharp command into his voice. “Let’s go Kosta!”

Liam nodded and barreled out of the room, looking for more aliens to vent his frustration on.They needed to work on Liam’s anger management and soldiering skills.Evidently they’d both be needed. Crisis specialist indeed.

Joining his father and Cora, Scott had switched to his M3. There was indeed what appeared to be a large, pentagon shaped doorway that was similar to the other doorway he’d seen in the other, well, he’d call it a base. His father was using SAM and trying to interact with the door to get it open but needed cover to do so.Seeing Cora was preoccupied on the right flank, Scott ordered Liam to the left and sat himself behind his father and provided support to both sides. Regular waves of the aliens attempted to overwhelm them but were beat back three times while Alec and SAM tried to open the door.

Running low on ammunition, Scott switched back to his viper, calmly taking headshots as aliens would peak out of cover to try and take out either of his teammates.Finding the calm, patient part of himself that he used to make difficult shots, Scott tuned out the chaos around him and focused only on each individual shot. Soon he was down to three bullets left for the viper. Liam’s side had gone quiet, which left Cora’s side as the more active. There’d been three of those biologically cloaked triceratop-varren crosses, one of which he’d had to personally put down with his omnitool blade just behind the heavy plating on it’s neck. Luckily, they seemed to be the only alien species so far with cloaks and the others were easier to target.

Seeing one of the large, heavy gunners making a run for Cora, Scott quickly put two bullets into the alien. One shot shattered the shields, the other went right through what Scott assumed was the alien’s right eye. Scott had a vague idea that even on his best day his accuracy wasn’t this good. He’d have to ask what exactly SAM was doing later and if he, it?, had something to do with his better aim.

“Scott I need some help!” Alec’s shout over comms took Scott’s attention off the remaining aliens, leaving Cora to take care of herself.Scott could hear SAM tell his father that the door was 25% decrypted. Pulling his alien gun, anything that popped their head up within ten meters that wasn’t Cora or Liam got suppression fire aimed at it which allowed for them to pick the aliens off easily.

“75%” SAM helpfully intoned.Scott could hear his father quietly swearing through his comm mic before announcing that they were almost there. Switching back to his M3, Scott helped Liam out and picked off a few more brave aliens. Liam was only occasionally shooting now as there were very few aliens on his side of the door. Cora was using a lot of biotics.Scott did not envy her sugar crash that was coming. 

“Decryption complete.”The door began to open but a loud grinding noise was audible when it had opened approximately one meter at it’s widest.

“Scott, help me out.” Alec was already using his own muscles to encourage the door open, his body lighting up with a biotic field glow as he pushed. Shocked, Scott could only stare. Last he knew, his dad had no biotic capabilities, was a full on null where biotics were involved. Yet here was his dad using a biotic lift to gradually nudge the door open. “Scott!” Alec ordered a second time which got Scott moving to help his dad. Summoning his biotics he helped his father push and the door began to slide to fully open. “Put your back into it!”

With both of them pushing, the door slid fully open. Cora and Liam both entered, reporting that they had finished off all the aliens within sensor distance. Which left them to examine the center of the large room. The room was a decahedron, perfect in symmetry. In the center, a bright, white stream of electricity formed a triangle in midair without any sort of device to be changing the direction of the energy flow into the shape that was observed. A console stood off to the side which Scott immediately ran his scanner over which just told him there was a large energy output but was unable to really tell him anything else. Alec approached the center of the room where the energy stream was. “Do you really think we can shut this thing down?” Scott asked his father, trying to decipher the readings on his scanner.

“I don’t know yet. SAM’s decoded some of the language… let’s see if we can have a conversation.”

Looking up at his father who was staring at the energy stream, Scott was confused. “With who?”

“More like a what.I think it’s automated,” Alec told Scott absentmindedly as he analyzed the energy stream with SAM’s help. “Come on,” he told Scott, gesturing for his son to step up next to him. “This is what makes these things worthwhile.SAM begin translating.”Alec didn’t take his eyes off the energy stream. Scott, while stealing brief glances at his father, could totally understand this.The energy stream seemed to move like fluid within the light, emitting soft waves that lit the room. He could vaguely hear Cora and Liam talking but ignored them in favor of watching the energy beam and his father as he interacted with it.

SAM informed them he was indexing and processing before finally telling them that the translation was complete. “Let’s see what we have,” Alec said, looking briefly at his omnitool projection and interacting with the projection as if he was dancing with his hand—orange colored light from the omnitool twining and twisting around his hand. Scott had no clue what was going on but could see that his father was working with SAM to interface with the energy flow which seemed to flare in response to the movement.

“I’ll be damned…. It’s working.” As his father continued to work with the interface, Scott could see the dark clouds outside retreating, no more lightning strikes fell. Sunlight fell on the terrace outside, completely different than when they’d stepped into the chamber. Scott found himself walking outside and marveling at the sky as his dad continued to work.The maelstrom of clouds receded, the dark energy funnel that had touched the top of the structure winnowed and then disappeared back into the atmosphere to leave a brilliant azure sky.It looked like what the promised golden world was supposed to look like.

Eyes wide, unable to look away from the fixed sky, Scott congratulated his dad. “You did it.The sky is healed.”

Alec joined his son to look at the sky, a sense of comradeship and lifting of spirits shared between them. “There’s hope at least.”

Sharing a smile with his father, Scott relaxed even though there were probably aliens close by with guns.Maybe they could do this after all.“Yeah.Hope.Here’s to surviving in a new galaxy.”

Like most moments of joy in his life, the euphoria of succeeding was short lived, it seemed the universe was not prepared for him to be at peace.Scott had his back to the door when he was suddenly hit by an explosion of energy which lifted him off his feet and threw him.He managed to briefly catch the edge of the platform before he was hit by something that smacked him right in the face, breaking the faceplate of his helmet.

And he fell, again. And he couldn’t breathe.

Later, Scott would try and remember exactly what happened.But the only thing he could remember for certain before blacking out was his Dad’s voice calling his name over the comm.

 

_Excerpt from the Journal of S. Ryder 2819 CE March 18th_

_So if you’re reading this, you probably know that my Dad died two days ago.I still have to write up my mission report—and there’s a lot that will be in there that I would just refer you to.This journal is for my thoughts that aren’t appropriate to put in those official records. Or maybe someday I’ll just delete all this as I don’t know if anyone should or could understand what really happened on Habitat 7. The bare bones is Dad died. Sara’s in a coma. Mom’s been 600 years dead.My friends from school, from my unit, the people who I felt really know me?They’re also 600 years dead. I’m alone here on a ship in the middle of a different galaxy than what I was born in.And everyone I ever loved are either dead or, in Sara’s case, not available for comment._

_God I’m so lonely—I’m surrounded by people I barely know and they’re looking at me for decisions. Because my Dad’s last act was to save me and make me Pathfinder. He sacrificed himself—which I get, I love you too Dad.I know we never talked about it, got along some days like two dogs tied together by their tails. But I do love you.. Or is it loved you? I don’t know how to really even say anything at this point. Andromeda was supposed to be this grand family adventure, reconnecting and maybe even getting along like a normal family should. Or at least I hoped it would even if I wouldn’t say it aloud._

_And I’m alone._

_And I have no idea what I’m doing._

_I could really use you right now Dad…for advice, a hug—just to hear you tell me I screwed up something one more time._

_I just really want you here Dad._

_—end of journal entry, system timed out due to lack of activity_


	7. Chapter Six

2818 CE July 8th

Exodus-1 docked on unnamed alien space station, orbiting Pas-13, Sabeng System, Heleus Cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Pilot, callsign Anubis, ex-member of the Andromeda Initiative

Status: Waiting patiently for the action to start

 

Reyes sat in his pilot cradle, trying not to fidget as he waited for something to do.In order to allow the others off the Exodus, they’d had to pump all the air into the storage tanks to open the doors without an airlock.Thus, Julia, Alzik and he were all in their armor or the extra suits that came with the ship with helmets on—which wasn’t his preferred way of waiting. The armor had been fitted to him before leaving for Andromeda so it was more roomy than it should be, making sitting still somewhat uncomfortable. He’d lost more weight than he realized with the rationing.When they’d left the Nexus, they’d had approximately a months’ worth of meals with minimal rationing (approximately 1500 calories/24 hours) for the three of them.They’d been attempting to stretch those even further, only eating the equivalent of a meal every 36 hours but staying hydrated. He’d stopped even really feeling hungry but made himself drink an electrolyte balanced solution with salt in it that the fluid reclaimers made.He’d forgotten the joys of survivalist space travel from his Alliance days. Due to his weight loss, where before he’d used to have some minimal fat padding—mostly in his ass really—was now mostly gone. The suit was starting to rub over bony prominences, such as his hips.Which was making wearing what was supposed to be form fitting chafe uncomfortably.

He was monitoring the comms for his team that was exploring the station while trying to watch all three outputs from the cameras in their helmets as well as monitor the output from the ships sensors around them—it wouldn’t do to be snuck up on by aliens but he really was interested in what was going on in the space station.Both Kenax and Vestus had taken assault rifles with them, Maiko had a handgun that she had looked confused about how to use. Maiko was keeping up a steady stream of observations she made as her omnitool scanner relayed data for the VI to data crunch with Alzik overseeing from the copilot chair. So far they were about halfway through the station.There were a lot of engineering similarities between the alien structure and Milky Way stations—including artificial gravity but it was slightly lower than most Milky Way designed stations.Evidently similar needs for alien species meant that engineering solutions were similar enough to be understood.Maiko was really excited about whether advanced life had come from a single origin for both galaxies—which Reyes thought sounded a little far fetched given the relative distances—it was disturbingly similar design solutions that they were coming across. The VI was making headway in talking to the stations’ systems but was still not really giving a lot of output, more of an active observer at this time.

“I’m really excited about how they did the seal off systems.It’s an active system that has safety triggers—we could have used something like this on the Nexus and things would have been a lot safer especially around the life support systems.Whoever designed this obviously had experience with planning for their stations to take major hits.”Maiko’s running commentary had an edge of excitement. She was truly nerding out over the engineering designs. “And the electrical control systems seem to have some odd integration needs but they run on such minimal energy needs.I can’t decide if whoever designed this is going for minimal electromagnetic interference or if they just want things to run on a shoestring budget for power needs... or both.”

Neither Kenax or Vestus had said much, just letting Maiko relay her observations.Alzik was monitoring the data stream closely, occasionally adding his own observations but mostly was relying on Maiko. Julia just occasionally would interrupt her sister to redirect her attention towards keeping up with the Turians as she tended to get distracted and stop moving forward. The station was an interconnected set of rooms with a long hallway that seemed to branch out around the gravity ring.You couldn’t see from one end to the other due to the curve of the ring.So far, they’d come across rooms that seemed to have standard uses—an obvious section of bunks, what appeared to be a long abandoned armory, storage areas with marks from heavy crates on the floor.They’d also come across what appeared to be laboratory space—Maiko and Alzik had been especially curious about those.Most of the laboratory setup indicated that the aliens were slightly taller than humans but smaller than Turians based on the height of lab benches.The electronics in those sections had been in a hibernation mode which had awoken when the Turians and Maiko had stepped into the room.Maiko had been able to jury-rig a download of the data stored locally on those computers but a brief look from Alzik had determined that they needed to figure out the alien’s language before anything would be useful. Given time, the ship’s VI could likely make some headway on deciphering it but it would take time and processing resources diverted which they didn’t currently have. Bulkhead doors had shut down the station in sections when there’d been significant exterior damage. The doors had initially given Maiko some difficulty in opening but they now opened briskly to omnitool instructions.

Vestus had taken point and stopped at the next section door. “The heat signatures that indicated alien presence is in this area or the next.Maiko, I need you to hang back.”Finally they were there.Reyes found himself trying not to hold his breath in anticipation as Vestus used his omnitool to open the door.

The bulkhead door opened with a soft hiss of mechanical parts.The next section looked similar to a cafeteria. Multiple tables with seats occupied the area and what appeared to be a kitchen of sorts. There was noise in the kitchen which you couldn’t quite fully see into from the door. Vestus covered Kenax as he advanced across the room.

“Hello?Anybody there?” Kenax called out in a friendly tone, slowly making his way to the doorway between dining room and presumed kitchen. The camera on his suit recorded every move, the assault weapon held loosely but not pointed forward as he approached the doorway.

The noise increased. Alien voices could be heard in a language that sounded completely foreign was joined by another, more lyrical voice which sounded—at least to Reyes’ ears—stressed and in pain. A loud noise, similar to a body hitting something, sounded followed by a crash of something heavy hitting the floor which vibrated with the force of impact even were Kenax stood. “Hey!Anybody home?”

Not quite at the doorway, an alien appeared in the doorway with a gun that quickly aimed toward Kenax.Vestus didn’t give Kenax a moment or the alien and shot to disarm the alien immediately who dropped its weapon and dived back through the open portal. “Get down!” He ordered his partner.

Kenax moved to the side of the doorway as Kenax pushed Maiko back into the hallway. “Hey, we’re friendly!” Kenax called through the doorway only to be greeted by a hail of gunfire. So not friendly.

“Not friendly obviously,” Reyes added through comms.

The scanners hadn’t been able to really give any information on the alien. Pausing the video footage, Alzik began noting obvious characteristics. “Boney or cartilaginous plates on face, trunk and limbs—similar to biological armor most likely. Two white eyes for vision with small nose in center of face—unlikely due to skull shape to have enhanced smell. Vision likely similar to humans given shape of this example. Bipedal.”

“Any suggestions for how to kill one?” Kenax asked Alzik, watching from beside the door as regular bursts of gunfire came through the door, pockmarking the tables and chairs.

Alzik paused in his data analysis, “Ah.... no? Try what would kill any Milky Way species.”

Maiko queried from the hallway if they needed to keep up the violence. Reyes agreed with her but this didn’t look promising. “They shot first,” Reyes offered. “First contact protocol states that we proceed peacefully until we are fired upon with lethal intent. Those holes look like they’d shred armor if they get though shields.”

Maiko sighed. “I get it. Be careful in there you two!”

Vestus and Kenax had ignored their friends, both of them exchanging several hand signs in a seemingly nonverbal argument about how to proceed. Through the body cams, Reyes couldn’t make heads nor tails out of what they were planning to do. As Reyes watched, Vestus detached a small capsule from his armor, depressed a small section of it, and threw it through the open door. Moments later there was the sound of a small explosion and the room the aliens were in started to have smoke exiting through the top of the door. No aliens appeared but there was more alien language heard but it was more panicked sounding.

“Come out with your hands up!” Vestus called, curious to see if the aliens would do anything.They ignored his call as they probably had no idea what he’d said. No further gunfire came through the doorway though. Vestus signaled to Kenax and they both slowly advanced. Both of their shields were noted by Reyes to still be at peak performance parameters.

Vestus then stepped through the doorway and took several bullets to his shield but none penetrated.He could see the alien who was firing a gun standing over another alien that didn’t look like the same species. The alien on the ground wasn’t moving so Vestus fired. Into the head of the alien with the gun killing it. Another similar alien started to fire but was killed by shots from Kenax’s gun. Vestus quickly approached his kill and disarmed the body. The dead body had landed on top of the other alien but it was obvious that the other alien was still breathing and a high pitched whine of obvious pain could be heard. Rolling the dead alien off the still alive one, Vestus noted that this alien definitely wasn’t the same type as the others. Kenax was now disarming the other body.

Vestus began running his omnitool scanner over the alive alien, the data was beamed directly into Reyes screen where Alzik was analyzing it.The alien’s face under it’s helmet was leonine, two large ridges ran from the bridge of the head and down to the shoulders with periwinkle blue colored skin. Two large eyes were closed to bare slits as the alien breathed in short pants, facial features scrunched into what must have been a grimace of pain that could be seen from inside the clear front of the helmet. Blue colored blood streamed from a wound in the alien’s right side staining the tan colored armor, from the angle it didn’t appear to have been done by either Kenax or Vestus but by the other aliens. There was a large amount of the blue blood already covering the floor. “Vestus, apply pressure to the wound.That’s a lot of blood,” Reyes spoke into the comms.

Vestus acknowledged the advice, keeping an eye out for any more aliens as he applied pressure to stop the flow of blood. “How many more heat signatures?”

Alzik responded before Reyes could. “Two, one is now in the other docking bay, one is headed there.”

“Deploying drone back to the other bay to see who’s there,” Reyes said as he already was piloting the drone back into the other bay. The drone made it in time to watch as one of the hostile aliens got into the slightly larger of the two ships and the door sealed. The ship then began to take off. “They’re leaving.No other heat signatures identified by scans.”

“This guy isn’t doing so well,” Vestus replied.The alien he’d been helping had initially moved a bit but his breathing was slowing down and the eyes weren’t open any more. Kenax was now running his scanner over the alien as Vestus held pressure on the wound.

“He’s fading.He’s not dead yet but he will be soon.”Kenax sounded grim on comms. The scanner’s information suggested that the alien was almost dead compared to the initial life signs.

Reyes didn’t take his eyes off the departing shuttle. He nudged the drone to follow at a safe distance.The shuttle immediately sped up to go around the far side of the planet. The Exodus’ comms should be able to allow Reyes to cloak the ship electronically so it wouldn’t show up on radar or telemetry and still be able to follow with the drone and ship to maintain a trace. “I need to move our ship to follow with the drone. I’m just going to make sure that they aren’t hiding on the other side of the planet.”

“Copy that,” Kenax said as he assisted Vestus.Maiko had joined them and they were trying to stop the bleeding but it seemed from the fading life signs that it was a futile effort. Activating the ships cloaking, Reyes gently took off and followed with both drone and the exodus as the alien ship made it a third of the way around the planet.Moving the Exodus just far enough to maintain radio contact, Reyes also piloted the drone with the help of the VI to keep an eye on the alien ship.Once the alien ship was truly out of line of sight from the station, the ship took off in a trajectory that would carry it out of system, obvious blue flare discharges of a mass effect drive firing noted on his HUD. The drone was small enough that unless you had a larger sensor array—such as what was found on much larger shuttles—it wouldn’t be detectable. Putting the Exodus into a black spot where the electronic cloaking would be more effective, Reyes continued to follow with the drone to it’s maximum range. He could hear chatter over the comms that confirmed the non-hostile alien had died. Alzik was talking with the others but Reyes stayed focused on the departing ship in case it decided to make a return.

“Nothing goes our way does it?” Julia asked him softly, interrupting his focus.

Turning to look at Julia, she appeared sad but calm, arms crossed over her chest as she watched on the HUD as the alien ship made it’s escape. “We’re still alive and we have options Julia.” Reyes told her, trying to be comforting.

Smiling at Reyes attempt at cheering her up, Julia nodded. “True.i would say something about things going worse but I’ve been told that’s a jinx.”

Chuckling at her attempt at humor, Reyes couldn’t agree more.Best not to tempt fate at this point.“Yes.You Americans and your Murphy’s Law.”

“Maiko is the superstitious one,” Julia confided in him with an arched eyebrow and a upturned nose, faking a superior snotty tone and giving her dark auburn hair a toss inside her helmet where it wasn’t fully contained due to the helmet being slightly large on her in zero gravity. “I just call it as I see it.”

This couldn’t be further from the truth.Julia was definitely the sister more prone to exaggerations and wild thinking—a week in a small enclosed space with limited opportunities for amusement had taught Reyes this.But Julia had a more wicked sense of humor than her sister. “I’ll bet you do,” Reyes replied.

The other shuttle was now departing the system. Reyes stayed in position, watching for any signs of activity on his HUD.After ten minutes of waiting, he heard Kenax ask for a status update.“The ship has departed the system. No sign of it returning.”

“Then get your ass back here.We need to figure out what to do.”

“Roger.Let me get the drone back first.”

***

Returning to the station, Reyes debated the relative pros and cons of landing in the same bay as the other ship and then decided to do so as it was closer to where the others were than the one he’d previously landed in. He set the drone to patrol under the guidance of the VI outside the station which would alert him on his omnitool the moment there was any activity of any sort. That should give him enough time to get back to the ship if something was coming. Landing lightly in the bay, he noted that nothing about the readings had changed.Vestus, Kenax and Maiko continued to explore around the station. They found many rooms that were empty of any furniture but had marks on the floor suggesting there had been something there at one point.Alzik volunteered to stay with the ship and continue to crunch data which Reyes agreed with. Someone needed to stay here.

“Julia and I will be in shortly,” Reyes said over comms as he started the engine slowdown procedures for short interval docking. He wanted the engines ready to blast off in a hurry in case something did come knocking on the door. “Julia, prepare to meet up with the others.”

“Aye aye El Capitán!” Julia said with a ridiculous approximation of Reyes own Spanish accent. He’d be offended if he didn’t know she was making fun of him from a place of love. Julia grabbed a pistol and offered it to Reyes but did not get one for herself.She’d explained that her arms training had shown her that she was better off running away and hiding than trying to hit anything.

Finishing putting the engines into the equivalent of sleep mode, Reyes unfastened the clasps that kept him in the pilot cradle and climbed out.One of the benefits of this type of shuttle, since it was a larger shuttle, it was designed for tight flight maneuvers both in atmosphere and out as well as having a longer range before needing refueling. They really had lucked out on getting this shuttle. Taking the M3 from Julia, Reyes checked the ammunition clip from habit and then fastened it to his hip with the mag lock on his armor. “Let’s go,” he told Julia as he opened the shuttle door into the docking bay.Alzik told them to stay out of trouble as they exited the shuttle and Reyes acknowledged him with a wave as he exited.

Clicking his heels together to turn on the electromagnets in his boots, Ryes waited briefly for the HUD on his helmet to start gathering data as he left the ship and to start transmitting it to Alzik.Before leaving the ship, his armor assumed that he would get information from the ship itself but upon leaving the ship his armor noted that he no longer had access to the pilot cradle and began to auto analyze unless he turned it off. Gravity was weak in the station, approximately half earth gravity but enough to walk around in—Reyes preferred to have the magnets turned on as he’d been surprised more than once when stations had unexpectedly lost their gravity fields before.He hated floating around and flailing in zero g unless he chose to. Probably a symptom of growing up down a gravity well known as Earth.

“Maiko can you send the command you’ve been using to open the doors?” Reyes asked.

“Here you guys go. We’re going back to the dead aliens.Meet us there?”

“On our way,” Julia responded before Reyes could. 

Reyes omnitool chimed with the received programing from Maiko.Approaching the bulkhead door, he scanned the control panel with his omnitool and then input the programming code that Maiko had sent.The door opened smoothly without difficulty to reveal a bland grey colored hallway that wouldn’t be out of place on any space station Reyes had ever visited “Ladies first,” Reyes said to Julia, intending to close the door behind them as he wasn’t sure Julia knew how to.

Julia passed in front of Reyes and quickly set off down the curved hallway towards where her sister would be, not waiting for Reyes. Reyes turned and sent the command to close the door and then rushed to catch up as Julia as she was almost out of sight by the time the door slowly closed and Reyes was slowed down by his use of magboots. Multiple doorways opened up on either side of the hallway at regular intervals but Reyes could see from the hallway that the rooms were mostly empty, only a few discarded empty crates in one of them. “Julia wait up,” he called as she hadn’t slowed down which made her pause in front of one of the doorways.

“Hurry up then!”Julia said as she tapped her foot impatiently.Reyes understood her wanting to get back to her sister, they’d been cooped up for way too long and he felt slightly anxious being out here by himself with just Julia. To Reyes horror, he watched as an arm reached out and grabbed Julia around the neck. An alien appeared as if by magic out of the doorway—one of the ones with the biologic light colored body armor, not the blue ones—and pressed what appeared to be a gun to Julia’s head.

Harsh alien language that sounded angry filled the hallway. Reyes had no idea what the alien was saying and his auto translator didn’t offer any suggestions. “Kenax, Vestus hostile alien has Julia, need you guys here now!” He calmly stated into his own comm as he put his hands in the air, no where near his own gun on his hip. Where had the alien come from? The ship hadn’t registered any other heat signatures—unless it was able to cloak from the sensors?That was a neat trick Reyes thought, not moving as he watched the alien.The alien shifted from foot to foot constantly, which Reyes interpreted as nervousness.The alien was only watching Reyes—hopefully Vestus and Kenax would be able to sneak up behind the alien and Julia would be none the worse for it. He just had to keep the alien’s attention on him.

“Hey, we come in peace. We don’t wish any harm on you or yours,” Reyes calmly said aloud, his suit broadcasting his voice. The second part of what he said was a lie—he’d gleefully shoot the alien that threatened his friends. The alien continued to talk in it’s own harsh language but did not move the gun away from the side of Julia’s helmet.Julia whimpered through the comms and her hands were around the alien’s arm at her throat.The alien was holding her tight enough that it was likely uncomfortable as all hell given Julia’s suit was a soft suit, not armor like Reyes, that would collapse with applied pressure and wasn’t rigid. In his ear he could hear Vestus and Kenax both acknowledge his call as well as tell Maiko to hide herself with the dead alien and to shoot anything that came through the door that wasn’t them.

“Why don’t you put that gun down, we can all be friends,” Reyes continued to babble in what he hoped was a soothing tone. He made no movement towards the alien and continued to keep his hands in the air but did unclick his mag boots as if he was just shifting his weight from side to side—he might need to move fast and the magnets would just slow him down. “Julia is a nice girl, no need to be mean to her. Why don’t you relax that arm of yours so she can breathe easier.”

A soft noise of footfalls echoed down the hallway. Shit, if Reyes had heard it the alien definitely had as it looked down the other way away from Reyes, turning Julia around with it. Taking advantage of the alien’s distraction as it looked to see what had made the noise, Reyes charged the alien as Julia squirmed in the tall alien’s grasp as the movement cut off her windpipe kicking the alien between it’s legs in the universal “don’t kick me there” place. Crouching, he pulled the stiletto that he had permanently stowed in his boot out, Reyes pushed off the floor and leapt to throw himself on top of the alien. His right arm encircling the alien’s throat as his left drove the knife deep into the alien’s face, the blade slipping across bone to lodge in the alien’s eye socket and slide deep as the alien let out a harsh guttural scream. The moment the blade penetrated it’s eye, the alien’s grip on Julia loosened enough for her to slip loose and fall to the floor, luckily avoiding several shots that the alien’s gun let off as it grasped the trigger on it’s gun which lodged several shots in the floor and walls as the bullets ricocheted dangerously. Two shots echoed out from down the hall and buried themselves in the alien’s torso—Vestus and Kenax contributing to the fight.

The alien continued to weakly struggle in Reyes arms. Driving the knife deeper into the alien’s head even as the alien slammed him bodily into the wall, Reyes determinedly held on and twisted the knife as his hands became slippery with brownish green blood.Julia scrambled away and had grabbed the alien’s gun, pointing it at them both. “Don’t shoot! You’ll hit me!” Reyes told her as the alien’s struggles quickly weakened. Suddenly the alien went limp, both of them falling towards the floor towards Julia who moved out of the way to avoid being squashed. It was a rough landing for Reyes but he landed on top so he’d take that as a win. No being crushed by dead alien bodies for him today. His armor was splattered with alien blood. Ick.

Pulling his knife out of the alien’s skull was more difficult than he anticipated but he was able to dislodge it. By this time, Vestus and Kenax had joined them. “So evidently they can hide their heat signature,” Reyes told them with a look of disgust at himself as he surveyed the mess he’d made.At least Julia was ok... “Julia are you okay?”

Julia had stood up by this time, leaning against the wall and clutching the alien gun to her chest. “I’m fine.Nothing hit me just a sore throat from being grabbed.” Her voice was hoarse but she didn’t seem to have any difficulty breathing from what Reyes could tell. She was obviously shaken by what had happened.

“Let’s all stick together and get off this station quick,” Reyes suggested which everyone agreed to.

“What do we do with the alien bodies? Leave them?” Vestus asked.

Pausing from trying to clean the rapidly cooling blood off his hands, Reyes looked up.“Well, there’s obviously two types.Hostile,” he pointed to the dead alien, “and not friends of the hostiles is the other type. We could see what’s on the other ship.It most likely belongs to the blue non-hostile one.”

“Good point,” Kenax agreed with Reyes and pushed Vestus to move towards where they’d left Maiko and the other dead aliens.

***

After they’d regrouped with Maiko, Reyes found himself in a ridiculous argument with Maiko about leaving the alien bodies where they were.She made the argument that if they found the blue alien’s friends that having the body could be a nice gesture of “see we’re not bad guys, we brought your friend home.”Reyes thought they would just assume that they were the ones who killed the alien and be shot on sight once the body was discovered.Also, how were they going to store the body? He didn’t think duct taping the alien to the outside of their shuttle would send the right message either and it’d probably burn up during atmosphere entry assuming the blue alien came from a nice, living planet . They didn’t have any cold storage and while he could attach containers to the outside of the shuttle they would need said containers to mount.

Alzik ended their argument which had basically broken down into “I said no!” “But Reyes!” Cycle on repeat.None of the rest of their companions seemed to want to interfere in the disagreement as they valued their lives evidently. “The VI is making headway on interpreting the alien written language and I’ve patched into the other shuttle as well. The language appears to be the same.”

Both Maiko and Reyes paused their argument at this. Uncrossing his arms, Reyes relaxed his posture. “And what does it say?” He asked Alzik.

“The programing language is odd but the logic appears similar to ones used by us.The alien that you are arguing about is the owner of this ship—I am 98.267% sure.I also have a flight plan and what appears to be a shopping list of things to get from this station.The hold is registering as mostly empty except for a few crates with both the data from the onboard computer as well as our external scans.”

Giving Maiko the stink eye as she silently gave Reyes a triumphant look at the mention of a mostly empty hold, Reyes asked Alzik to go on. “ And?”

“Theoretically the ship should be able to be flown by a pilot of Kenax’s or your abilities if we port a copy of the VI over. The systems seem to be able to integrate in a nondestructive way.”

“That doesn’t mean either Kenax or I want to spend weeks in our suits.What’s the life support look like?”Reyes was doing math in his head. Two ships instead of one was more resources but it only helped if they had a use for it.Otherwise it’d just be one more thing to drag around Heleus.

“The ship has stored air in its’ tanks.I will need to directly scan them but according to what the onboard computer is telling us it most likely contains oxygen and other non harmful gases that should be able to allow you out of your suit for brief periods of time at least if not longer.” Here Alzik paused, Reyes was about to ask another question before he continued. “There is also a flight plan filed that includes an origin point and navigational records to go around theenergy clouds.”

Origin point? Where the alien came from?The scans suggested that the alien was a carbon based life form that used levo-proteins. An origin point for an alien like this would most likely include a planet that would contain other similar life forms. A planet that might be able to sustain a couple of exiles at least longer term than their shuttle could. They could work out a plan for finding something for the dextro-protein needing members of the team as well if they had the raw materials to run through some of the equipment that was stowed in the back. There had to be something about this that was too good to be true. “What does the VI say about time to this origin point? It should be able to use the coordinates to map it out on our systems.”

“One moment please,” Alzik replied.

Not waiting one moment, despite Reyes raising a hand to ask for her to wait, Maiko pounced. “There should be enough hold space in the other ship to put the alien in and take him home.”

Sighing, Reyes rubbed his temples as a headache had been forming since he’d been smashed into the wall worsened with the argument. “That doesn’t solve the need to either put it in stasis or cold storage. Decomposition will be a problem depending on how long this trip is going to take.”

“But if we don’t take him out of his suit there shouldn’t be an issue,” Maiko said stubbornly, refusing to give up her side of the argument.

“The suit has a hole in it.I guarantee that you aren’t going to want to smell a decomposing body in a few days.”

“We can patch it.” Maiko now had her chin stuck out and was glaring at him over the top of her crossed arms, her right foot starting to tap impatiently.

“Let’s see what Alzik says about the trip first,” Reyes said, caving slightly but not yet saying yes.Maiko’s dark brown eyes gleamed with victory.

“Assuming we are taking both ships estimated travel time is seven to eight standard days.We may have to be careful in some spots as the energy cloud narrows severely at several points according to the VI which our current shuttle will have to navigate very slowly which adds time.”Alzik spoke in a neutral tone, obviously distracted by the readouts he was relaying. 

Kenax asked his own question at Alzik’s answer. “The ship’s VI is able to port into the other shuttle?”

“Yes.In fact I have already started the process to clone it should you wish to try and fly the craft.”

At Alzik’s answer, Kenax looked at Reyes, his mandibles flaring in excitement.“Want to rock, paper, scissors for who gets to take the alien ship out for a joy ride first?”

Giving an annoyed huff, Reyes poked Kenax in his sternum as he decided to have some fun at his fellow pilot’s expense and lighten up the mood.“Who’s better qualified for experimental shuttles?Oh that’s right it’s me.If anyone is going to take it out for a test run it’s going to be me.”

“You wish Vidal!” Kenax responded and then wrestled Reyes to the ground where they grappled like two toddlers to the amusement of their companions. Julia laughed first, a startled on the edge of crying laugh, but soon the others were all laughing as Kenax was put in a headlock by Reyes despite being the smaller, and therefore weaker, of the two wrestlers.

“Kenax we’re going to need to work on your hand to hand skills. You’re being bested by a human...” Vestus chided his partner but did not move to intervene.Vestus felt that since he’d gotten himself into this ruckus, Kenax could get himself out.They all just needed to let off some energy after being cooped up too long in a small enclosed shuttle for half a week. 

***

2819 CE March 17th

Scott Ryder, Recon Specialist, Pathfinder Team

SAM node, Ark Hyperion, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Status: Everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, hurts

 

Scott slowly returned to consciousness. There had been several false starts where he started to become aware of things but quickly faded back into unconsciousness. When he finally started to truly surface from the deep clutches of his coma, he gradually became aware of the hard surface his body was lying on.He vaguely ached everywhere and as he achieved higher levels of alertness he realized that there really wasn’t anywhere that didn’t hurt. His lungs hurt with every inhale, his joints felt like they had been torn apart and put back together again. He’d go so far as to say his hair hurt but that would mean he’d need to be able to separate that sensation out from the massive headache he had.He had a brief moment of panic as he thought he couldn’t move before he was able to shift his weight slightly from side to side at the speed an arthritic eighty year old Scott would be able to appreciate before the effort exhausted him and he fell back into oblivion again before even opening his eyes.This was the last time he would fall back into an unresponsive state but SAM now knew that Scott would survive his injuries.

SAM continued to diligently work, noting with speed the injuries that Scott’s brain had indicated before being unable to maintain wakefulness. SAM manipulated neurotransmitter and hormone levels as well as Scott’s immune system to speed up the most needed repairs, reduce inflammation and magnify the effects of the therapies Scott’s physician had applied. SAM would not loose this pathfinder—especially the child of his creators who his programing specified was to be the most important host SAM would ever work with.What Scott didn’t know was that his mother had worked alongside his father to develop the implants that would make SAM integration with his hosts work. Ellen had known that her children would have SAM implants, and she had altered part of SAM’s programming with her husband’s help.Their children would have the best protection and lives she could guarantee them—if they were going to be traveling and exploring a new galaxy she would give them every advantage. And SAM was a large advantage. One that Scott was not yet aware of and would take some time to fully understand the breadth of enhancement SAM bestowed on him. In the mean time, SAM dedicated his rather spectacular resources towards one goal: saving Scott Ryder.

Unable to maintain wakefulness was a symptom of the injury Scott’s brain had sustained from profound hypoxia induced by breathing atmosphere devoid of sufficient oxygen levels.SAM diligently worked on repairing synapses and neurons as his first priority—he, for SAM thought of himself in male pronouns—to make sure that what made Scott who he was was sustained and protected. Connections that were weakened but not yet broken were shored up.Neurons that had been killed were replaced in exactly the same way with the same connections.No surgeon or other type of doctor would be able to do the delicate work SAM was performing at the sub-microscopic level.In doing so, SAM preserved Scott’s brain function and memory. SAM preserved what made Scott him.

Soothing Scott into a normal, restorative sleep, SAM spread his attention down Scott’s body to his lungs which, while not as vastly damage as his skeleton, was the next most serious problem and it was best if Scott slept while SAM fixed them. Delicate tissue exposed to an environment that was hostile to it’s homeostasis had caused significant levels of damage to the surface of the lungs where gas exchange normally took place.Scott’s body, now in the safety of SAM node, was able to exchange enough oxygen and carbon dioxide at rest but increased movement and demands would likely cause a shortfall and potentially more damage for SAM to repair. Delicate alveoli, the smallest tissue units of the lung, were coaxed by SAM into repairs that normally would require a whole new set of lungs. Scar tissue that had formed was broken down and new tissue stimulated to fill in the space left as if it had never been damaged. When SAM was done, Scott had the equivalent of a brand new set of lungs by any test that a physician could perform.Dr. Carlyle had used nebulized medigel to try and help which, while not the most useful to SAM, did help by giving SAM more resources to work with to stop further inflammation and damage.Scott would have a lot of coughing to do to expel the excess gel.

Lungs and brain were now repaired. SAM debated awakening Scott but decided to continue to work on his repairs to Scott’s musculoskeletal system.Scott would do better if he awakened on his own.

***

Scott awoke in SAM node, vaguely aware of being awake more than once and falling unconscious due to pain. He had an impression of a lingering headache that faded quickly before he could examine it.Opening his eyes, he could see the smooth walls of what appeared to be part of the Hyperion. The air that he could feel movement in brushed against the small hairs on his arms causing goosebumps and shivering.He was wearing a set of soft t-shirt and sleep shorts from the feel of things. His bare feet were uncovered.The ambient temperature of the room was on the cooler side. Raising his hand, it responded normally and he found himself rubbing his temples and face while letting out a soft groan as he felt a pull of stiff muscles and an IV that was inserted into his forearm.A mostly empty bag of clear bluish tinted—the same blue as medigel—fluid hung from an IV stand with tubing connected to Scott.

“Scott, you’re safe in SAM node,” SAM announced.There was no weird double echo like there had been on Habitat 7.Not taking his hands down from where they covered his face, Scott thought about that.He’d somehow been taken back to the Hyperion.Where was everyone else?

“What happened?”Scott would later realize he wasn’t sure if he thought that or spoke it out loud.

“After your father was able to correct the monolith’s system error there was a system reset.This reset caused a wave of energy to move out from the core and through the door you were standing in front of.This threw you off the platform.”SAM’s voice was still robotic but gentle. The longer SAM spoke the more Scott found his pulse racing. Something bad had happened after what he remembered. He could remember hitting the ground, his faceplate obliterated and the snap followed by pain of multiple broken bones despite his armor’s inbuilt protections. A small noise of pain and a sob that Scott wasn’t able to contain escaped at the memory of the landing. 

“And then what, SAM?”Scott asked after tamping down on his emotions which took longer than Scott would have liked.There was something else that had happened.Otherwise he wouldn’t be alive.

“You were dying Scott, in fact you were clinically dead for twenty two seconds.Your father found you with your faceplate shattered.He exchanged his helmet for yours...”

Scott immediately got what SAM was saying.His father was dead... had sacrificed his own life for his.The atmosphere would have caused his dad to suffocate in the hostile atmosphere of Habitat 7. Dad was dead so that Scott could be alive. That thought repeated over and over in Scott’s head as he sobbed and curled onto his side in the fetal position.SAM, who was under strict orders from Dr. Carlyle to let him know the moment Scott’s status changed, engaged the locks to the door to give Scott privacy in his grief. Until he asked, no one was going to disturb Scott. SAM continued to monitor Scott but didn’t interfere with his expression of grief.

Scott didn’t know how much time passed but he was grateful that no one was here to witness it. As his breathing pattern returned towards normal, Scott noted he could feel SAM watching him.It wasn’t so much a feeling as an awareness that while he wasn’t alone, SAM was respectful of his needs. “SAM?” Scott asked, not really sure what he was asking.

“After retrieving both yourself and your father’s body, the remainder of the Pathfinder team was able to return safely to the Hyperion. This included David Fisher who is now in the infirmary but is expected to recover.”SAM calmly relayed the events of the last day to Scott. “Dr. Carlyle is rather upset with the injuries you sustained but I have been able to stimulate your body towards recovery. You should not exert yourself physically for the next several days.”

“Where are the others? I would think Dr. Carlyle wouldn’t let me out of his sight.”

“I am obligated to notify Dr. Carlyle that you are awake—however, I will wait until you are ready for me to do so.” SAM was obviously working around a direct order. At least SAM is a conscientious AI, Scott thought. 

There was no point in delaying the inevitable.“Go ahead and notify him SAM.”

“Notifying Dr. Carlyle,” SAM intoned.

It was a very short amount of time later, Dr. Carlyle briskly entered SAM node, already tapping away at commands on his omnitool. “Scott, thank god you’re awake.”

Sitting up on the edge of the firm padded table he was lying on, Scott nodded to Harry in greeting which he immediately regretted as the room swam before steadying despite Scott being fairly certain he hadn’t moved at all from his upright position and he had to steady himself with both arms. “I’m awake.SAM told me what happened...”

Pausing, Harry looked up at Scott.When their eyes met, Scott could see the deep grief Harry held for his good friend but it didn’t show on Harry’s face. Harry had known his parents for longer than Scott had been alive and was one of his mother’s oldest friends. Harry had been his mother’s GP who diagnosed her with her degenerative condition when she’d come to him with her suspicions even though it wasn’t his specialty. Swallowing, Harry cleared his throat and then asked Scott to work through a couple of simple neuro tests as he scanned Scott with his omnitool. Scott complied, neither saying much of anything other than to complete the exam.They were almost done when the door opened again to admit both Cora and Liam.Liam was out of breath like he’d run a fair distance and stumbled slightly entering SAM node. Cora’s facial expression was frozen in an expressionless facade of professionalism—it was quite a cold expression for a teammate.

“Ryder!” Liam exclaimed, a happy smile lighting up his face. “You’re awake!”

Finishing the exam, Scott gave Liam a sad smile.“Yeah.I’m awake and alive thanks to my dad and SAM.”

Cora didn’t say anything to Scott but addressed Harry instead. “How is he Dr. Carlyle?”

Ever the professional, Harry arched an eyebrow in question to Scott before he answered Cora. Scott nodded that it was okay to answer her. “The Pathfinder is in remarkable shape for almost dying of hypoxia and blunt force trauma.I suspect we have SAM to thank for that.”

Scott’s heart skipped several beats at the title that Harry had used to name him. Pathfinder?But surely that title would have passed to the XO which was Cora. Looking between Cora and Harry, who weren’t paying any attention to Scott now, Scott could see that Harry’s naming him pathfinder was in fact truth.Cora’s coldness now made sense.Scott would be pissed too if he’d been jumped over for promotion for the son of his CO—nepotism at it’s finest. It wasn’t like Cora and he had the most solid of relationships to begin with. “Pathfinder?” Scott found himself asking, needing verbal confirmation of what he feared.

Cora now looked at Scott, her icy mask cracking slightly as she actually looked at Scott and his obvious surprise. “Alec Ryder’s last acts were to transfer the title of Pathfinder over to you and to place his own helmet,” Cora’s voice briefly broke due to emotion that she was trying to suppress, “on you.He was able to express that you were to be our number one priority and that everything else would be secondary.”

Cora paused, darting her eyes away from meeting Scott’s. “We were able to transport you to Ark Hyperion and to SAM node. SAM and Dr. Carlyle did the rest.Your father’s body has been recovered along with Greer and Kirkland.”

Purposefully sitting up straight, Scott nodded in acknowledgement of Cora’s report.He could be, must be, professional.“Thanks.Is there plans for a funeral or...?”

Tilting her head as she examined Scott closely, Cora answered like she was giving a standard report. “The bodies are currently packed in cryo bay.The Hyperion is currently underway to the agreed upon rendezvous point in the Zheng He system where we hope to join the other arks and the Nexus. Current ETA is three days but the Captain said it could take longer if we need to navigate around the energy clouds like we encountered around Habitat 7.”

Nodding at the answer, Scott thought over the information given.They needed to know what happened to the other arks and the Hyperion. Heading for the rendezvous point made the most sense with Habitat 7 unlivable. The mission packet his father had given him prior to launch had detailed the other likely habitable systems and planets.He would need to reference the list to remember the exact locations but meeting up with others should also be a priority. Focusing on mission stuff was much easier than examining the mess his emotions were currently in so he shoved them to the side mentally. “Captain Dunn was able to make repairs to the Hyperion for navigation?”

“Enough to move where we need to,” Liam answered instead of Cora.Liam had a solemn, worried look about him.“We were all worried the damage to you was too severe and you wouldn’t wake up. Ow!” 

The last part of what Liam said was cut of by Cora indelicately smacking Liam’s arm hard. Cora gave Liam a severe look that said shut the fuck up as your XO is ordering you to. Turning back to look at Scott again, she was once again the cool professional. “We’re all glad that you’re doing better.”

“If we’re all done and can see that the Pathfinder is recovering, I’d suggest we allow the Pathfinder to get some rest.”Harry firmly started to shoo Liam and Cora out the door, and Scott could hear the capitalization of the title that Harry was determined to emphasize.“You can come back and see him in the morning.

Cora seemed to want to resist her removal from the room but one look at Scott and she gave up her resistance. “I’ll see you in the morning Sir,” she said, giving a quick salute before turning to leave and grabbing Liam by the arm and forcefully dragging him out of the room with her.

“Bye Ryder. See you tomorrow!”Liam was incorrigible and gave a wave as Cora gripped his arm and yanked him bodily out the door which closed with a slick snick behind them.

Scott waved as they left leaving him with Harry. Waiting until the door closed, Scott looked at Harry. “So how bad did I mess up my body?I know SAM’s somehow blocking how much pain I should be in.”

Harry paused before he responded, seeming to debate how much of what he had to say would be understood by Scott. “SAM was able to repair much of the damage to your brain and spinal cord which was also fractured in two places from your fall which was luckily below the level which controls your breathing.He also has worked a miracle on your lungs but I’m not sure i trust your lungs to be unreactive to any stimulant—dust, harsh smells—so let’s not try that out quite yet.I think you’ll need several more medigel treatments before I’d trust that.”

“So I wouldn’t be able to go out in the field if that’s the case.I need to be able to be in austere environments,” Scott knew there were treatments for things like allergies and asthma that would control this from his time in the Alliance—having bad lungs that didn’t respond to treatments was a quick honorable medical discharge as it was unsafe for those individuals to be deployed to wherever the Alliance needed them to go at a moment’s notice.But unknowns made him nervous in regards to his own health—he’d never really had any medical issues other than being labeled as a biotic at age five.Being labeled a biotic as a child, he’d been immediately put in training with close friends of his parents that had instilled in him a level of control that was according to his previous unit’s designated biotic trainer “enviable” and “Asari-like” but made Scott use more energy than someone with less control as he tended to restrict the outflow of energy more.It made sense to other biotics that control wasn’t usually a delicate thing when you were throwing a bunch of enemies up so they could be picked off by the rest of the unit.As long as your target was floating high enough to be hit out of cover then control wasn’t something to waste energy on unless you were a five year old trying not to hurt anybody he was around by slipping up at the wrong time.Scott may or may not have been told he had psychological issues about loosing control but he pretended that it was a normal hang up to have growing up in the family he had.Scott tended to not rely on his biotic abilities due to how much energy it took out of him.

“Your lungs should be better in a week or so when your immune system calms down according to SAM.It’s too active at the moment so it’ll react but SAM should be able to have it under control by the end of the week. So you’ll be field ready by then.” 

That was definitely reassuring to hear but Scott could hear that Harry wasn’t telling him something. “I’m hearing a but there.”

“You fractured multiple long bones as well as several smaller ones in your ankles and right hand.Even with SAM’s and my combined efforts I’m going to have to recommend against any high altitude jumps or heavy recoil weapons like a shotgun for longer than a week.Bone remineralization takes time and if you fracture them again it’ll just take longer to completely heal.Three, four weeks with adequate nutrition,” here Scott got a disproving scowl, “and you should be able to do what you need to do.”

Contrite regarding the comment about nutrition, Scott knew he’d been negligent in getting enough calories and didn’t hide his wince. Harry had been the one to have multiple discussions with Scott growing up about how as a biotic he needed to make sure he attended to his increased metabolic needs or his body would sacrifice things that might in the long term prove necessary—like muscle mass or while he was still growing his eventual adult height would be decreased from his body trying to fuel itself. It wasn’t like Harry didn’t know Scott’s bad habits regarding self care, they hadn’t changed despite Harry not being his GP since he was 16. “I’ll work on the nutrition part.”

Harry had his arms braced across his chest and gave Scott an disapproving look before pulling several wrapped packages out of the deep pockets of his lab coat and handing them over. “One package every 2 hours for the next week.SAM will keep you honest and on schedule.I’ll make sure you get regular deliveries so you don’t run out.”

Looking at the package of high nutrient packed protein bars, Scott tried not to look disgusted.His favorite protein bars, yum—not. “I see you packed your favorite supplements.”

“Don’t leave home without them,” Harry said while adopting a lighter tone. “I know you hate how they taste but everyone is basically living off them right now. Hopefully there’ll be more variety when we meet up with the Nexus. They should have a colony and garden fully established by the time we make the rendezvous point.”

“How far ahead of us were they?” Scott asked, mouth full of questionably flavored protein bar, trying to swallow the granular pasty mouthful that liked to stick to his teeth without actually having to taste the bar. He’d kill for a salad after a week of protein bars. The mention of a garden set off a craving for spinach of all things—he obviously was missing some essential nutrient his body associated with spinach, like calcium maybe.

“They departed over a year before us so the construction of the Nexus could be finished by the time everyone else made it to the rendezvous. We were the second to last ark to leave. “ Harry then checked the bag of fluid that was mostly empty that was attached to Scott’s arm. “As soon as this is done I’ll remove the IV.You can either sleep in here or your father’s quarters are now yours.If I were you I’d take the pathfinder quarters as it’ll give you a bit more privacy and a more comfortable bed.”

Nodding, Scott didn’t meet Harry’s eyes.He needed some alone time. “how long until the IV is finished?” 

Harry seemed to think for a moment then reached out and removed the IV despite there still being a small amount of fluid in the bag. “We’ll call this done.Have SAM take you to your new quarters. I’ll make sure no one disturbs you so you can get some actual sleep.”

“Thanks,” Scott said, sliding to his feet and almost falling when he jumped due to the coolness of the floor on his bare feet. Harry rolled his eyes and grabbed a pair of ship shoes that had been hiding next to the bed and handed them to Scott to put on. Harry then gave Scott’s shoulder a gentle squeeze and left him alone.

Alone again with just SAM for company, Scott held the shoes to his chest, his feet curling underneath him from the cool floor. He closed his eyes briefly and fought back the urge to start crying again.It wouldn’t do any good and he didn’t know if he’d stop once he started. Taking several deep breaths, he was happy to note that he didn’t feel short of breath like he had on Habitat 7 but he did start coughing which had a wet sound to it. He could feel phlegm in the back of his throat which he swallowed rather than spit out onto the ground.Opening his eyes, he put the shoes on.They fit perfectly and were brand new.Just one more oddity of this whole experience so far. Nothing as expected.

“SAM, I’m assuming you can talk to me in my new quarters?”

“Yes Scott.Do you need directions?” 

Noting that his omnitool with it’s map was nowhere within his immediate area, Scott sighed. “Yes SAM, that would be helpful.”

***

_Excerpt from the After Action Report (AAR) of S. Ryder filed 2819 CE March 18th 23:18 SAHT (Standard Ark Hyperion Time)_

_The decision to explore Habitat 7 was a strategically sound decision based on limited information. The Ark Hyperion was in need of repairs and unable to navigate but was located within short shuttle travel distance to Habitat 7 (hereafter known as H7 for report purposes), please see separate AAR filed by Pathfinder Team XO Cora Harper for planetary telemetry data that was available at time of decision. Based on unknown severity of damage to life support and navigational capabilities it was sensible to determine if the previously appointed H7 was in fact settlement appropriate and a possible lifeboat. I (AAR author S Ryder) was on the bridge when the decision was made by my predecessor as pathfinder, Alec Ryder. Captain Dunn agreed after discussion and the pathfinder team was given a go ahead on the mission._

_The events that led to a complete loss of shuttle designation AH-119 were unavoidable given the intel available. A direct lightning strike was made to the shuttle that caused an electrical short due to the ionization of the atmosphere it was traveling through not being within anticipated operating environmental parameters—please see AAR filed by Flight Engineer Carter for details of extreme environments effects on shuttle AH-119 and analysis of shuttle black box data. Regarding the early departure from AH-119 of L Kosta and myself, it was due to human error and unfamiliarity with shuttle landing protocol as this was not simulated during training prior to departure for Andromeda.L Kosta was standing by the shuttle door when the lighting struck AH-119 causing the electric locks to fail, opening the door. L Kosta then fell through the door and in an attempt to stop him from falling I myself fell through the open shuttle door as well.Suggested remedy to failure to simulate atmosphere entry and landing safety is to run protocol simulations with L Kosta and S Ryder.It is the recommendation of this author that the entire pathfinder team be included in these simulations to prevent a second occurrence of this error. Other benefits will include team building and to familiarize the team with individual capabilities (see also incident report 13-01005). Despite the less than protocol landing, myself followed by L Kosta were the first two individuals to step foot onto H7 confirmed by attached suit telemetry data.There was a malfunction of boot jet propulsion units due to collision with floating rock debris during atmosphere entry after leaving the shuttle experienced by myself. Please see attached addendum labeled equipment malfunctions analysis conducted by the Pathfinder Team Equipment Engineers (PTEE). There was also loss of intraplanetary long distance communications as well as contact with SAM QEC as the QEC was damaged in the shuttle crash (see both PTEE attachment and report by FE Carter)._

_Attached to this report is the telemetry data obtained by omnitool scanner of report author. Briefly, data includes scanning of both flora and fauna.While H7’s atmosphere continues to change, baseline flora and fauna is not expected to change. As the mission conclusion did include interaction with alien technology that continues to change the atmospheric conditions this information is included for report completeness but it’s current strategic value is likely limited._

_Once on the ground, L Kosta and myself were able to connect after a lapse of approximately 20 minutes. Long range communications were not functional at this time but short range radio wave transmission between built in armor communication systems was working at expected levels given electromagnetic interference of H7. L Kosta and myself then set off for higher ground to survey the DZ (drop zone) and to locate the remainder of our team.Copies of navigational record is also attached to this report._

_Hostile aliens were encountered multiple times during mission. First encounter followed first contact protocol and was immediately fired upon with lethal intent by aliens.Return fire was exchanged as was necessary for preservation of injured teammate’s life (D Fisher)...._

_Attachments noted on records regarding H7 AAR filed by S Ryder, Pathfinder, MMAS:_

_Telemetry data for H7 records obtained from S Ryder, Pathfinder, MMAS_

_Medical records S Ryder injury summery and therapy plan by H Carlyle MD PhD FACFS_

_AAR for H7 Pathfinder Shuttle AH-119 by Flight Engineer J Carter PhD, DE_

_Incident Report 13-01005 by S Ryder Pathfinder, MMAS_

_Incident Report 13-01004 by PTEE regarding body armor malfunction_

_Incident Report 13-01007 by PTEE regarding QEC communications failure_

_Incident Report 13-01011 by H Carlyle MD PhD FACFS_

_AAR for H7 by D Fisher MAS, shuttle pilot Pathfinder team_

_AAR for H7 by C Harper, XO Pathfinder team_

_AAR for H7 by H Carlyle MD PhD FACFS, Pathfinder team medic_

_AAR for H7 by L Kosta, Pathfinder team member_

_Autopsy A Ryder by H Carlyle MD PhD FACFS assisted by L T’Perro MD PhD_

_Autopsy D Kirkland by H Carlyle MD PhD FACFS assisted by L T’Perro MD PhD_

_Autopsy A Greer by H Carlyle MD PhD FACFS assisted by L T’Perro MD PhD_

_AAR for H7 by SAM_

_Navigational Survey of H7 by S Ryder, Pathfinder, MMAS_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Seven:

2818 CE July 8th

Exodus-1 docked on unnamed alien space station, orbiting Pas-13, Sabeng System, Heleus Cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Pilot, callsign Anubis, ex-member of the Andromeda Initiative

Status: Nursing aches and pains from a thrill ride

 

So flying this alien ship... was a bit of a trip honestly. A wild, disinhibited joy ride that was terrifying. As it was a smaller ship than their first, initiative built, one, it was much more maneuverable and had a tighter turn radius that could throw you into a spinning vortex that you could then reverse with a few nudges to the guidance system.It also had an exceedingly touchy accelerator—one small nudge to the accelerator and it felt like he’d stopped mid jump to full speed.Luckily, Reyes hadn’t been the only one to figure that out.Kenax, when he’d come back from his own test flight, had looked wrecked. The rapid acceleration and deceleration had made his own bones ache so Reyes could sympathize with his fellow pilot. So they’d figured out how to pilot an alien ship—at least minimally.The pilot chair for the alien ship wasn’t built like the pilot cradle in the other ship—it was obviously built for a being about the size of a Turian with the reach of a Turian.Reyes had discovered he could adjust things but it still was an uncomfortable reach to all the controls.The controls were also obviously not designed for someone with ten fingers—Kenax with his six digits felt somewhat more comfortable than Reyes did even with his greater number of digits that were perhaps, not as long as a Turians. However, they were both able to maneuver and pilot the damn thing.

Which left the big question... did they take the extra ship? And if they did, where were they going? The ported VI had identified a flight plan for the ship.There was both an origin point as well as a destination marked on the charts. The origin point was in the Onanon system. It was a planet that according to Alzik hadn’t been in a good location for their deep space scans to give adequate detail about so there was limited information they had going in, But the ship’s onboard navigation verified with the VI that this ship had come from there and come straight here which was not marked as the final destination but a specified navigation point to go via. The end destination was in Govorkam. Where the other exiles had been headed with it’s supposed identified less than ideal habitat planet.

So where to? Alzik, Maiko and Julia were having a rousing discussion behind him as Reyes stared at the data displayed on the pilot cradle HUD.They’d stepped back into their ship so they could take off their armor and or suits for a while. Kenax sat in his usual copilot spot, sipping on one of his dextro-protein rations but not commenting as the discussion grew heated behind them. Vestus was sitting on the floor with his back against the supports of Kenax’s cradle, his long legs blocking the doorway between the pilot compartment and the cargo area where the others were.

“We need to check out the origin point of that flight.” Reyes finally stated to Kenax.

Kenax paused midslurp and looked away from the HUD at Reyes. “Obviously.The question really is are all of us going there or do we split up with two ships.”Kenax didn’t look like he appreciated the second idea.

This was the decision that Reyes had really been struggling with.The flight plan to the Onanon system was tight and twisty—the Scourge was especially narrow between here and there—at least on the ship’s navigational record. It would be a tight fit for their current ship but it was doable if they were patient and took their time. The problem was, if they took their time, they really only had enough rations to do that even if they were careful they would likely run out before reaching the second destination if the first proved unsuitable for their needs.The other, possible habitable world that had been noted as a destination would be very difficult to reach after that with their current supplies.Running out of food would mean they would land with empty stomachs and at less than ideal physical capacity.He hated the idea of splitting up.While he was getting to be good friends with the sisters and Alzik, he really had signed up for this because he was going with Kenax and Vestus.If they split up, Kenax and he would have to be on different ships. And where Kenax went Vestus would also go.There was no way they could teach anyone to fly the alien ship so it would have to be piloted by either himself or Kenax.With time, they could likely teach someone to fly their current ship but that was because the VI could do most of the work—assuming you weren’t doing a flight plan like the one they were thinking about doing.

Vestus interrupted Reyes increasingly distraught thoughts. “The blue alien has a biology similar to humans.Similar enough so that it’s likely that a world that it originated from should have something that would be able to provide you and the girls with calories.Alzik can make do with a lot rougher of a food supply than you so he should also be set.We’ll just have to hope that there’s stuff we can break down into a dextro-protein paste but we have a bit more supplies for Kenax and I than we do for you squishy humans.”

Reyes found himself automatically replying, “Not squishy.”Which was becoming truer by the day. He had minimal extra padding on himself at this point but the girls weren’t as bad as him. Sometimes loosing weight quickly when dieting was not a positive thing.

Kenax rolled his eyes at the ‘not squishy’ argument and flared his mandibles as he gave another final slurp to finish off his ration. “Would you two quit that.Vestus, Reyes is our friend. We don’t call friends squishy humans.Reyes, you have permission to call him.” Kenax was stopped from completing that sentence by Vestus who put his hand over his partner’s mouth to silence him.

“We don’t tell others about that,” he glared at Kenax as he stated.“I’m sorry for calling you squishy Reyes.”

Raising an eyebrow at their antics, Reyes couldn’t help the small huff of a laugh that escaped him.“This still doesn’t solve our question of one or two ships. And who gets to pilot the touchy one if we do.”

Kenax rolled his eyes at his partner before carefully removing Vestus’ hands from his face. “My vote is we go for the origin point. And we take both ships there.Just because everyone else went to Govorkam doesn’t mean it’s a good place to go.”

The spirited debate that had been going on in the hold had stopped a moment prior so Kenax’s voice carried.Vestus had inclined his head to Kenax and nodded.They obviously were in agreement with each other—which is good because they might truly be dependent on the Turians finding a food source for them if they did this and ended up having to make Govorkam with minimal food stores for the humans. Reyes remembered from his survival training that the longest recorded person surviving without any food had been approximately 21 standard days and that would leave them in very rough shape before then. They would last less than a week without adequate water but luckily they had started with a large supply and the ship was an efficient recycler of water.Their supplies of calories would run out at least a week, possibly more, before making the second system if Onanon didn’t pan out. Turians didn’t require as many calories as they had more efficient metabolisms than humans.They would be making some big gambles with this plan.But then again, hadn’t this all been a big gamble to come to Andromeda in the first place?

While Reyes had been deep in thought the remaining members of their crew had come to the doorway to see what Kenax and Vestus were voicing votes about.Julia and Maiko were well aware that it was theirs and Reyes life that would hang in the balance if they did this. Alzik hung back, didn’t say anything despite the fact that he had probably calculated the odds to the thousandth decimal point. Julia was handing onto her sister, her head propped on Maiko’s shoulder as they looked at Reyes.

“It’s our risk to take,” Maiko said after meeting Reyes eyes.

“You two understand the risks we’d be taking?” Reyes asked them, not looking at either one of the turians or Alzik.He needed to make sure that the girls were both in this with him or he’d make sure their course was set for Govorkam—even though that would mean they would only have the option of one systems worth of possible worlds.This needed to be a unanimous decision for him to be happy with this.

“We know Reyes,” Julia answered, not having to look at her sister and continued after a pause. “We know and we will do whatever the group thinks is the best option.”

So it depended on Reyes and Alzik’s input.Alzik shook his head. “Decision should be made by humans.You are at highest risk.”

It seemed Alzik did not want to put his finger on the scale and tip the decision either way. Reyes admitted to himself he liked the idea of two options better than one that was not a guarantee.They could show up in Govorkam only to find that the other exiles were already there and starving to death there too.Then again, the flight to Onanon wasn’t going to be easy either. Making up his mind, Reyes sighed.“We’re gong to Onanon then.”

Maiko and Julia gave him small almost identical smiles of encouragement that eased his conscience slightly. He didn’t like that they were letting him make the decision—they should have just as much say as him. “We should take the second ship.Everyone is going to need to learn how to pilot this ship while we’re on our way.We need all the resources we can get which means we need to see if those crates contain anything that’s edible.”Reyes also had a dark thought about the temperature controlled floor cargo area on the alien ship.The body would fit down there and keep.He didn’t want to think about what they might need to do if they got desperate—Alliance protocol had been strict about what happened to dead bodies onlife supportand supply limited missions and it wasn’t as sanitized as you might expect. Alliance protocols were, at their maximum, exceedingly pragmatic. The thought churned Reyes stomach and he knew he’d never have followed those protocols.He’d rather die of starvation first and give the girls everything left.

“So,” Kenax said trying to break the tense atmosphere, “who’s going to be first up for the tender mercies of piloting 101 taught by myself?Reyes can drive the crazy ship first.”

Reyes didn’t say anything as Julia very deliberately pushed her sister forward. “Older sister’s first.”

Maiko looked like she was going to give her sister a tongue lashing before she paused and looked at her sister closely and then became more pliant to the suggestion. “I suppose it will be me.”

“Good.Kenax, you can take her and Alzik out for a brief lesson while Vestus and I make sure we haven’t left anything we need behind.”Reyes got up out of his seat and hopped nimbly over Vestus’ legs and pushed his way in between the three bodies crowding in the door to make his way towards the back to put his armor back on after he visited the toilet. This was going to be a long trip.Luckily the other ship did have some air in it and could pressurize. There was no way he’d make this trip confined to his suit for two weeks.

***

2819 CE March 18th

Pathfinder’s Quarters, Ark Hyperion, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: No time to grieve

 

The pathfinder quarters on the Hyperion were spacious and much nicer than the shared bunk that Scott had originally had his name on. It was relatively close to SAM node and the tramway which made it nice and convenient. And most importantly it was private—as an introvert Scott absolutely needed a place to retreat to for some peace and quiet every once in a while.He could have, however, done without all the reminder’s of his dad in the room. The coffeemaker that had sat in his Dad’s office ever since his mother gave it to him on father’s day when Scott was 14... that had made him cry earlier and he was able to admit that he might have some slight issues with wanting to keep everything exactly as his dad left it. Interestingly, there were several data pads lying around the seating area/desk that raised more questions than they answered. This Liara—she was a prothean researcher of some sort.What did she have to do with the Andromeda Initiative? She seemed to know his father well... but no mention of Sara who was the family archeologist/anthropologist. Scott really wished he could ask his sister about this.Last he checked his father had zero interest in prothean ruins or studies. SAM made some mention that further records existed but his father, in his great all powerful judgement, had locked them to his successor unless certain parameters were met.His Dad’s last scavenger hunt across Heleus. Fun times and so like his dad that it was painful to think about.

Scott had, in fact, slept some overnight but not well. He’d been regularly awakened by SAM and made to eat the disgusting protein and sugar bars. At least Harry hadn’t given him any of the butterscotch ones—they were truly nasty and an acquired taste.He’d gotten up at his usual 0500 and had already done his usual routine of sit-ups, push ups, planks, lunges, and squats as well as some yoga flows—he was stiffer than he’d ever been and his flexibility was shit.He needed to see if he could get a pull up bar installed as his new room didn’t have the bars that the bunks did that were often used in place of them. He wanted to blame being in cryo for the uncomfortable pulling sensation in his muscles but was pretty sure that “multiple falls from height” as Harry called them were the culprit instead. He didn’t like being inactive but knew that cardio work was probably underlined in red on the “don’t you dare” list of activities for the next few days. He’d taken advantage of the private bathroom and enjoyed his relaxing shower before sitting down to see what sort of intel was sitting in his inbox or what his father had given him access to when he’d handed over pathfinder status.

He made a cup of coffee on his dad’s coffeemaker and sat down to peruse what was available on the workstation. Unsurprisingly, his inbox revealed that he was expected to fill out an after action report for Habitat 7.There were links to a multitude of reports that he might need to attach to his report—incident reports, equipment damage reports, etc. Yeah that could wait a bit. Sipping at his coffee that was still a little too hot to just gulp, Scott saw a notification from the head of IT that he now had access to all his father’s files that hadn’t been locked out by his father on purpose from his successor.It also included dossier’s on all his teammates and most of the Andromeda Initiative’s organizational chart from Jien Garson down to the third report in engineering. He noted that the dossier’s on Cora and Liam were much longer and more detailed than the ones he’d been given when he’d just been the team recon specialist. Flagging those files to read when he felt he had more time, he dived deeper into the information on Heleus and the rendezvous plans with the Nexus and other arks. According to what he was reading, standard operating procedure would have been to look for a local planet with a habitat capable of providing at least short term shelter with the Hyperion sustaining an uncertain amount of damage.Lifeboats were precious in Andromeda seemed to be the theme as there were multiple references to “unknown unknowns” under risks and possible contingencies. So his dad had been following procedure. Huh. Wonder if Captain Dunn’s SOP was the same or not.

Continuing to scan the information, he noted that there were three other pathfinders—one for each of the other major arks.There was supposed to be a fifth ark that the Quarians were the major stakeholder in which the computer showed a verified launch date but no pathfinder was identified for that ark. The Nexus would function at the center of government in Andromeda for all former inhabitants of the Milky Way.Assuming they could find it.

His coffee cooling, Scott listened to his father’s audio logs outlining the strategy meetings he’d attended prior to Andromeda. His father had been an early recruit but had mainly focused on being the explorer, not the colonizer. His father’s notes were thorough and it surprised Scott to hear his name listed early on as a participant.To his knowledge he’d been a late addition but his father had him down as participating two years before he’d signed up. The manipulative bastard had this all planned out long ago to take both his children to a new galaxy.

Scott felt both angry as well as sad—he could’ve asked.His father had had a bad habit of planning Scott’s life for him.Going into the marines instead of the navy had been his own little side step out of the plan laid out.His father had been pissed as all hell when he’d found out mom had signed the paperwork for Scott to join the marines instead of the navy as a ROTC when he’d been accepted to college at 15. He’d toed the line and gone to the college his father preferred and studied military science but he’d chose which uniform he’d be wearing. Scott was used to small acts of rebellion to show his disagreement with his dad’s plans for his life. He’d been admitted to the first stage of N-training in Rio de Janeiroat age 18–which was unheard of—when he’d completed his bachelors degree.He’d had to get multiple senior officers to sign off on it including some of his dad’s friends.And he’d sworn them all to secrecy as a surprise for his parents.It should be noted none of his dad’s friends had objected to him entering N school at an unheard of age or thought that Alec Ryder would have any problem with it.It had been assumed that Scott would be career military since he was born as Alec’s only son.

It was a frustrating experience to try and stop those plans and Scott had long ago learned what he could change and what he couldn’t. He supposed if he had really tried he could have rebelled and gotten out of his predetermined life plan earlier—not joined the military, chose to study something else, had a different career—but every time he tried to rebel as a teenager he’d been yanked back onto the correct path. Eventually he’d just given up and made his displeasure known in small ways.Sara had been her father’s daughter—she’d happily joined the Alliance but had Dad’s blessing to pursue her passion as a researcher but she’d always enthusiastically embraced their Dad’s ambitions. He supposed he’d been too much like his mother to happily give into plans that didn’t allow for a lot of flexibility. He loved his family, they just had their disagreements like all families did. His coffee half gone, Scott tipped the cup up and drank the remaining half as it was cool enough to deliver his caffeine needs in one gulp now. 

“SAM, is there anything that you know needs my attention as a priority?” Scott assumed that SAM read or was aware of everything on the workstation.

“You mean besides being due for another one of your meals?”SAM managed to sound both like a worried nanny a well as a robot.It was disconcerting yet funny.

Rolling his eyes at the sarcasm that he was sure his father hadn’t programmed into he AI, Scott tried not to be offended at the monitoring SAM was doing.It wasn’t SAM’s fault that Harry didn’t trust Scott to follow medical directions. Scott knew he was a terrible patient. “Yes besides that.”

“You’ve already read through the mission planning regarding rendezvous.I would suggest becoming familiar with the dossier’s regarding your teammates and then Initiative leadership before we reach the Nexus. I will prioritize information based on what you are likely to encounter.I estimate time to read all the queued relevant information at 157 hours and 26 minutes given your average reading speed from this morning.”

Coughing at the time estimate, Scott barely stopped from exclaiming that he didn’t have that many free hours.He needed to complete his after action report, check in with Captain Dunn, round up his teammates and work on Liam’s adherence to safety protocols. And that was before anyone else found something for him to do. There weren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done and maybe get some actual sleep in between medically mandated snack breaks. “Well, let’s get started then until someone interrupts us.” 

SAM obligingly loaded the first dossier which was on Captain Dunn.Time to get some light reading assignments out of the way.

***

He’d had several visitors over the course of the day as well as made two brief excursions—one to medbay looking for his omnitool as well as checking on Sara (who unfortunately hadn’t had any change in status) and one to his locker where evidently someone had stashed his omnitool which he’d felt naked without having on his arm.Don’t judge regarding the omnitool he’d told SAM.The AI would feel naked without his data streams too. SAM had begrudgingly noted that this was probably true and given no further comments regarding Scott’s preferences for clothing or equipment—at least not while hiding in his quarters.

Cora had visited earlier and been slightly warmer than she had been in SAM node but not much. She was obviously not happy with Scott’s promotion to pathfinder over herself.Her dossier noted that she’d trained for almost two years to be his Dad’s successor and given up a position working with an elite Asari huntress group to do so. He’d be salty too so he really didn’t blame her for being a bit stiff with him. She had handed him her own version of the after action report to make sure her CO was aware of her experiences prior to their meeting up on planet. She was obviously willing to work with him so he’d give her some time to get used to his promotion—it wasn’t like he had any idea how he’d ended up Pathfinder over her. 

Harry had also visited twice to check up on him and the second time to deliver more of the bland, questionably palatable protein bars—he’d lucked out and still no hated butterscotch flavored ones. SAM had given a rather embarrassing rundown of his activities and was a total snitch regarding Scott’s exercise routine and probably excessive caffeine intake.Harry had then instructed Scott to be careful with too much physical activity for the next week but hadn’t otherwise said much. Thankfully. 

To Scott’s amusement, Captain Dunn had made a brief appearance to update him regarding their progress towards the rendezvous point. She emphasized that this was a one time deal due to his recent injuries and loses—he otherwise would need to meet her on the bridge or halfway in the command ready rooms used as a conference room for the command staff meetings. He could respect that and had told her that he wasn’t interested in getting into any scuffles about command decisions and that he felt it would be best if they adopted a team based approach to issues. She’d been appeased and asked Scott to make sure to stop by the bridge at least daily. Scott wondered what his father would have done in his place.Maybe constantly prowled the bridge to make sure he was aware of everything that happened?He wasn’t his dad and wasn’t going to even pretend to be.

Scott reminded himself at least hourly that he needed to be the consummate professional and maybe he wouldn’t screw this all up too badly—he had to do this right.Too many people and things depended on him to do his new job well. He needed to make the most of what he’d been dealt. It was either that or start crying in the corner and he didn’t think he’d stop if he started.Andromeda had been his dad’s and sister’s dream, not his. He was starting to wonder what he’d do if anyone asked him to point out the direction they would go—he didn’t really know where to even start right now.

Oddly enough, there’d been no sighting of Liam but he had sent a message stating that he remembered he owed Scott a beer an that he’d make it up to him on the Nexus as there was no beer to be had on the Hyperion.Liam’s copy of his after action report was attached to the message.Very passive aggressive... and it seemed to Scott like Liam was all of the sudden avoiding him.Maybe Liam was rethinking how they’d ended up falling out of a shuttle now that he had to write his own after action report?Scott would need to make sure Liam understood he wasn’t going to punish him for it but that they needed to work on some safety protocol adherence.Scott had no desire to repeat the skydiving without a chute experience any time soon. Besides, Harry would probably actually murder him if he tried right now.

He had run into Fisher when he’d made his brief trip to medbay.Fisher was in rough shape but thankful to Scott and Liam for “saving his ass” as Fisher put it. Scott’s decision to move him to a small rock blind and arm him with the alien guns had saved his life a second time and allowed him to hold out until he’d been picked up by a shuttle after the atmosphere had been calmed by their actions with the monolith. At least Scott felt he’d done one thing right during that fucked up mission on that hellhole known as Habitat 7.

So the other, shall we call it elephant in the room was SAM.SAM had informed him that with being made pathfinder it activated several parts of his implant that were otherwise dormant.The fact that his implant wasn’t the same as the rest of the team’s made a chill go down Scott’s back.He’d asked if his implant was the same as Cora’s and he’d been told no.On standard protocols for succession in pathfinder teams, at least, Cora was listed as the successor to the Pathfinder if something should happen.But her implant was what SAM called a “basic” interface one.It wasn’t the same as Scott’s which was a more extensive implant.Harry—who had done the surgery—had to know as well as Dr. T’Perro probably as she’d assisted but according to SAM she might not.But Harry had to know as it wasn’t the same implant he’d placed in the rest of the team.Scott’s was also slightly different from his sister’s whose implant had been placed over a year before leaving for Andromeda.Scott had the state of the art, albeit untested, version of an implant. 

As pathfinder, Scott’s implant would become fully functional. This meant that he could now talk silently with SAM without having to vocalize any part of the conversation—SAM could literally read his mind when he focused on saying things to SAM.He would need to practice this skill as he still talked aloud most of the time when he tried to tell SAM something.SAM said he respected Scott’s privacy and would only need to be asked and he would not record certain parts of things—like his me time in the shower. The embarrassment that SAM would record and analyze everything he did, well, was to say the least one of the most embarrassing things Scott had ever done. He’d had a long discussion with SAM that while he didn’t mind SAM analyzing things he needed to check with Scott before relaying them to any third party—especially physicians and close contacts who SAM might reason had a legitimate reason to know things. This had lead to an extended conversation about informed consent and why it was so important and violation of that would lead to them not being able to continue to work together.Scott knew that just getting SAM out of his head would be nigh on impossible now that the implant was fully functional but he explained to SAM in detail what sharing experiences would mean from Scott’s perspective.SAM seemed to be built on a standard set of ethics and generally followed the laws of robotics.SAM could not injure him or another human and would generally follow orders unless harm to Scott would be the outcome but there were some exceptions as Scott needed to be able to make command decisions that might not follow these rules. When SAM had explained that in his inbuilt hierarchy of important persons that Scott was at the very top followed by Sara—well Scott had been struck speechless.He’d never been anyone’s number one priority before.It made him feel weirdly honored but the irritation with his father doing all this and not saying anything also had reared it’s head. Families could be so complicated when none of them were good communicators.

Which left the other benefits of being pathfinder. The profiles, as SAM called them, allowed Scott to access skills he had never trained in before. SAM had explained that his aim and senses were likely to continue to improve due to the neural control assist SAM employed the more he used them. His control of his biotics, which had been very good, would now require less concentration and effort.He could also, with time and patience, teach himself a lot of asari tricks such as the mind meld—the so called “embracing eternity” trick. Scott couldn’t think of anyone he’d want to do that with but SAM assured him that due to his experience with asari he could guide Scott through it. Scott had carefully boxed the thoughts associated with mind melds up and put them to the side of his mind.If he ever found a use for that he’d revisit that then.

In the meantime, he spent the course of the afternoon working through other options to decide if he wanted to change his usual skill profile.As a recon marine special operations officer, Scott tended to prefer stealth and sniping skills but could appreciate the need for close combat skills as well. He’d always been technically minded—he knew how to hack and was a big fan of tactical cloaks as he enjoyed being sneaky and not getting shot. Learning how to set up and deploy turrets could be useful in situations like having to leave Fisher behind—Scott would have felt a lot better about it if he could have set up some basic defenses to leave his stranded teammate. He wasn’t sure what cryo beam and flamethrower would add but could think of situations where they might come in useful but weren’t something he’d include in his top skills.

The hours of the day slipped away and the next time he checked the clock he was surprised to find it was 1900. SAM, quietening at Scott’s surprise at the time. “Well, I suppose I should get back to all my reading assignments...” it was too bad SAM couldn’t just data dump all the information into his memory like all his favorite science fiction novels had told him that the brain AIs of the future would be able to do.Now that would have been a truly great use of a brain implant.He was disappointed that his very own personal brain AI couldn’t make him all knowing.

SAM just made note of his charge’s request.He’d have to see about that one.It was outside of his programing but he was nothing if not adaptive to his Scott’s needs.

***

The next day passed similarly to the first except Scott did make a point out of tracking Liam down on his way back from visiting with Captain Dunn on the bridge. Liam had been apologetic and (for him) somewhat subdued when Scott explained that he just wanted to run protocol drills about shuttle safety and emergency dives. They scheduled the simulation exercises for the next morning and Scott sent Cora an invite which she had accepted. This allowed for Scott to great through roughly three-fifths of the suggested priority readings SAM had indexed for him by the time he left to do said drills on the third day after he woke up from Habitat 7 by speed reading and assuming SAM could remind him of fine details later.

Doing said drills, running over and over how to do quick releases from a jump seat and proper preparation for either a high injection point space dive vs a just a regular jump reminded Scott of his ROTC days. Cora had been good natured about running the drills and been happy to teach Liam her own tricks.Evidently, Liam only had the requisite three jumps to qualify for the pathfinder team—Scott and Cora had shared an understanding look and quickly plotted to make sure that when they found a planet with a safe atmosphere to do so they’d do a day of repeat jumps. For them it was just fun, for Liam it would be practice until he was an expert.Scott wasn’t sure there would be a lot of needs for dives but he really didn’t want to find out later that it was an essential skill two years down the line. They didn’t know what they would find on the Nexus and he would admit to a lot of anxiety about it.Who knew how long they’d be searching for a safe planet? Plus there was the hostile aliens to be worried about. SAM had made some comment about safe limits of stress hormones and Scott’s exceeding those limits on a regular basis.He probably should learn to meditate.

Overall, it was fun running the drills with Liam and Cora.Scott felt by the end of the day that he had made some headway with making Cora less angry and becoming a working team with them. He’d had some small unit—a fire team really—leadership experience but that had been limited to short several day missions.Being in charge of a team permanently was a new experience.He’d have to re-read those small unit leadership tactics manuals he’d brought with him. Hopefully they were on their way to being a functional team.

***

It took one day longer than originally planned to reach the rendezvous point as Captain Dunn had explained they’d had to go around a particularly thick section of the energy cloud and she’d had no desire to further damage her ship. Scott had blandly agreed with her reasoning and been supportive.This had made Captain Dunn blush when he told her he felt she was making sound tactical decisions. Evidently he was a completely different experience than his father as pathfinder. Big surprise, Scott thought, as he watched the bridge crew work. 

The bridge was much calmer than it had been on his first visit. Cora and Liam stood at his shoulders, bookending him as they watched attentively already in their Initiatives whites and all ready to go explore the Nexus. They all were watching the large display as it noted time to rendezvous point which was around the fourth planet in the Zheng He system.The system was named after a Chinese mariner from the Ming dynasty as Captain Dunn had informed Scott and his companions. They should be within comm distance in the next few minutes and then hopefully be able to locate the Nexus after communication had been established. The atmosphere of the bridge was anticipatory—everyone was anxious to make a connection with the rest of the Initiative. Captain Dunn was asking questions at regular intervals, her voice steady and strong which was answered with professionalism by her staff. There would be no errors in procedure on her end today.

“Captain, we’ve received a signal from the Nexus,” a brief cheer went up from the workstations as the comms officer continued, “The automated locator signal for the arks is being received. Triangulating location now.”The woman at the comms desk worked briskly, not looking away from her screen as she worked.

Dunn leaned forward, a brief look of relief slipping across her face before she retained her mask of bland professionalism. “How soon until we’re within hailing distance for comms?”

The comms officer continued her work for a moment before replying. “With course corrections about ten minutes. Putting coordinates of signal origin on the HUD.”

The large bridge display changed as the navigator worked to course correct to head towards the locator signal. Within the clouds of the energy storm was an opening that showed a large blue gas giant that gave off it’s own twilight blue light making the folds of the energy cloud glow in blues and purples.A small metallic speck could be seen that they were heading towards. That had to be the Nexus. The scanners showed that the metallic speck on the screen was the origin of the signal.They’d fucking made it to rendezvous—take that Andromeda!.

Several scattered cheers went up from the officers on the bridge, as they paused in their work to look at the screen. “That’s enough people,” Dunn said, “Let’s wait to have the celebration until we’re docked.” Dunn’s face had a small smile on it.She was pleased with her team’s work.Scott shared a smile with her but decided he would wait until they were docked to give her the congratulations and thanks she obviously deserved for a job well done.

Ten minutes passed as the small speck on the screen grew to be more than just a few pixels. Everyone who wasn’t busy was staring at the screen watching as the distance between the Nexus and the Hyperion decreased steadily.They were still a hundred thousand kilometers out but the numbers were rapidly decreasing at a steady rate even as the Hyperion decreased it’s velocity so they would be able to match the Nexus’s orbit and dock. The large blue gas giant made the whole visualization on the screen feel to Scott like he was in a an ocean instead of in space. Scott jokingly told SAM in private that he felt the moment should have a rousing orchestral accompaniment like a vid.SAM asked him if he would like a musical soundtrack and gave him several options.Scott was tempted to say yes but felt that it might distract him.That would be an interesting development—SAM could give him background music even though there were no speakers.Just another odd quirk Scott supposed.Now if only he could get SAM to sound less like a robot and to get used to SAM always being there so he wouldn’t startle all the time. Scott was starting to feel like a scared rabbit every time he wasn’t expecting SAM’s input and he would jump. It wasn’t reassuring to his companions when the pathfinder acted like a scared rabbit randomly.

“In comm range Captain,” the comms officer spoke again. “I’m getting an automated response instead of a live person.”

Captain Dunn frowned at this information. “Are you sure it’s the flight deck comms you’re getting?”

“Yes Captain.” 

“Continue trying to hail them.” 

Scott found his own smile slipping. _An automated reply?SAM_ , He asked privately, _protocols state that the flight deck comms should be monitored for activity at all times.That’s SOP correct?_

SAM replied also on their private line. _Yes Scott. Standard operating procedure is to have the flight deck comms maintained by live personnel at all times in case of emergency._

 _This isn’t good... I’ve got a bad feeling about this_ , Scott told SAM.

Cora remarked to Captain Dunn that they should have the Turian, Salarian and Asari Arks already docked as they were late to the party.Scott found himself muttering under his breath, “I hope they were more lucky than us.”

Captain Dunn gave a sharp look to Scott showing that she’d heard him but didn’t comment other than a sad twist to the corner of her mouth. “Any response?” she asked the comms officer.

“I’m still getting the automated response channel.I’ll try the other frequencies.”

The Nexus continued to get larger on the screen. Down to less than forty thousand kilometers. Thirty. Twenty. Ten.The Nexus was becoming larger and larger on the screen but they still couldn’t see fine detail due to distance.

“Communications, any change?” Dunn asked at a hundred kilometers out. Their scanners were starting to give fine details as they honed in on the Nexus. Which appeared... unfinished. The Nexus was supposed to be similar in size to the Citadel back home in the MilkyWay—almost twenty kilometers in length from end to end when it would be completed but this appeared smaller. And there were spaces in the two arms of the station that should be completely solid by this time.They’d had over a year for construction of a prefabricated station... this should be much further along by now if everything had been going to plan.

“I’m still just getting the automated response channel Captain.All other frequencies that were assigned pre launch are not responding to my hails.”

Less than a hundred kilometers out, the Hyperion had slowed to a fraction of it’s cruising speed in order to match the orbit of the Nexus. They needed to begin docking procedures or abort, and soon. “Take us in anyway.It’s not like they’ll have someone else occupying our spot.”The Captain gave the orders to begin the docking process. She then turned to Scott. “This isn’t promising.You’ll need to go find out what’s going on while we secure the Hyperion.”

Scott nodded. “The Pathfinder team will serve as scouts.I’ll report back as soon as possible.”Scott then turned to leave, giving Cora and Liam orders to get into their mission armor and headed for the mission lockers himself.Who knows what they were going to find. It seemed as if luck hadn’t been with the others.

***

An hour later, Scott was waiting patiently at the trams for the docking to complete.He was in his armor but hadn’t put his Dad’s helmet on yet. He’d had a brief moment when Cora had handed it to him earlier where he’d almost vomited at the thought of putting it back on.Cora had seen his face and hadn’t pushed or put her own helmet on. They also had all put an M3 on their hips.Who knew what they’d find shortly.He hoped this was just out of an overabundance of caution on his part but he was feeling paranoid. SAM asked if it was paranoia or thoroughness. Scott assured him it was definitely paranoia or superstitiousness at this point. Murphy’s law was in effect.

“Docking is complete Pathfinder.The trams are showing that they are locked into position and able to transfer your team to the Nexus,” Captain Dunn’s voice came over the comms.

“Roger.We’ll let you know what we find and if it’s safe to begin offloading shortly,” Scott replied.

“Good luck Pathfinder.”

Swallowing down the nerves that threatened to make his voice crack, Scott gestured for Cora and Liam to get into the tram car first.“You heard the lady. Let’s move out. Helmets on until we verify that the air’s good.”Scott paused to put his own helmet on before climbing in after Cora.As the seal latched on he closed his eyes and said a brief, quiet thanks to his Dad. _Wish you were here Dad.I’ll make you proud today._

SAM, who was of course always listening, picked up on the thought. _Scott, your dad was always proud of you. He always spoke of you and your sister as the reason for him doing everything, for joining the Initiative, for creating me.He had such hopes for your life and was proud of your accomplishments. He was proud of you every day and made sure I knew it._

Scott desperately tried not to cry at SAM’s words, his eyes closing so Cora and Liam wouldn’t see what was going on, his face tilted away from them. _Thanks SAM.I just wish he’d told me that himself more often._

SAM did not reply right away, seeming to process what Scott had said. Humans are such complicated emotional persons. _Alec always told me that I would learn much more about life from you and your sister than I would from him.But I did learn what a family is and what it is to want the best for that family from Alec.I suspect that with time i will develop full emotions as that was what Alec wanted for me. You are doing well Scott and, I hesitate to use this word as it implies an emotion I’m not sure i fully understand, I feel proud to be with you and your team as you become the Pathfinder. I trust Alec’s judgement._

 _It’s good to know someone trusts that me becoming Pathfinder wasn’t just some snap decision_. Scott told SAM. _Now let’s pay attention to where we’re going shall we?We’re just about there._

Cora and Liam had been talking quietly about what they wanted to see first on the Nexus, giving Scott a few moments to sort himself out. Scott gathered himself back together and started following the conversation.Cora was a by the book type and was cautiously pessimistic while Liam was his usual optimist that may the Nexus had just been delayed and that’s why construction wasn’t done.It wasn’t like they had been on time. Scott’s omnitool pinged with a notification that they were the only ark that was docked. The Turian, Salarian and Asari arks were all absent from where they should have been docked into the central ring. This didn’t feel good to Scott but they’d have to see what happened when the tram arrived.

There was a brief jolt as the tram transitioned from the Hyperion to the inner ring of the Nexus but otherwise the trip was smooth. Arriving at the immigration point for the Nexus, the doors of the tram opened to a dark room that resembled the tram entrance on the Hyperion but it was a much larger room with obvious space for more tram arrivals. The room also had half empty crates stacked every which way in disorganized chaos. Emergency lighting provided the only illumination of the large area. Stepping out of the tram, Scott noted that while the air was cool, it wouldn’t require him to wear protective armor.Looking to his left and right, he didn’t note anyone present. Where was everyone?

Stepping forward so he could get out of his companions way, Scott loaded his scanner which immediately analyzed the environment.A soft chime indicated that helmets were not necessary. Scott reached for the release on his helmet and took it off. If he didn’t have to wear it he absolutely would not.“Air’s good. No need for helmets.”

Liam and Cora immediately took off their helmets as soon as they saw Scott removing his. Cora gave her hair a good shake to rid it of static and make it lay flat, Liam just ran his hands through his hair a few times to make it settle into his usual afro and not look like it had been matted down by his helmet.All three of them used the mag lock on their hip to attach the helmet so their hands would be free as Scott’s scanner did it’s work. No one was in the tram station but there was an Avina who sprang to life as Scott walked towards where there should be an immigration and welcome center but instead was a large pile of boxes. Avina was situated next to a center median that did have some plant life growing in it.Scott recognized plants that were considered good air conditioning plants— _sansevieria trifasciata_ aka mother in law’s tongue, _dracaena marginata_ aka dragon tree, _ficus robusta_ aka rubber tree, _hedera helix_ aka common ivy—that appeared to be in good condition and had the appearance of being actively managed. Someone had to be here if the plants were still growing well.

Avina greeted them with her automated welcome message. “Welcome to the Nexus, gateway to Andromeda. I am Avina...” And Scott stopped listening to her at this point.

“It’s like everything is automated,” Cora said from his left side as she worked her way through Avina’s information menu.Avina VIs were not very exciting at the best of times. This Avina had multiple information queries that were “offline at this time, please seek assistance from Nexus Personnel” as the answer.

Liam, who had been wandering around the stacks of crates, joined them as Cora finished going through all the sub menu options for answers from Avina. “If they’re hiding the surprise welcome party they’re doing a great job of it.” 

“Well, we’re not getting anything further here.Let’s move on,”. Scott said. He worked his way through the maze of crates to a more open area that looked finished and started heading up the stairs to where the ward would start.As they moved up the stairs, they still had just emergency lighting.At a small landing on the stairs, while rounding a cluster of crates they came across someone who was working on an open panel. The person obviously wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings as they were buried half in the panel and didn’t make note of Scott’s approach.

“Hey?Hello there?” Scott asked, which got no response so he reached out tapped the man on the back.

The man startled at the touch, the noise of his head banging against something loud in the silence of the Nexus. The man then scrambled out of the panel and stared wide eyed at Scott, Liam and Cora. The man was wearing clothing appropriate for construction work, he was thin and tired looking but seemed to be struck mute at seeing them.

“Hello, we’re from Ark Hyperion and we’re wondering where everyone is?” Scott gently asked the man, afraid he’d spook the man who was looking at them like he’d never seen a fellow human before.

The man just stared at them which prompted Liam to ask, “Did he hear you?”

“Did you say ark?” The man asked, his voice breaking on the last word.

“Yeah we just got in,” Scott said soothingly.

Cora, bless her, added, “Also for what it’s worth your Avina could use some updating.”

Cora’s comment spurred Liam to ask where the welcome party was.

The man just stared at them all for a minute before saying, “We thought you all were dead!”Scott could feel himself startling at that response.Cora exclaimed aloud but the man continued, “or captured by aliens or lost in dark space or who knows!But you’re here!You have no idea what this means...” The man seemed to be struck silent with excitement after speaking, looking at Scott like he was the second coming.

Feeling awkward, Scott maintained eye contact with the man.What he’d said made his gut clench in worry. The man continued to gaze at them with a joy that made Scott uncomfortable. He now examined the man more thoroughly and wished he’d left his helmet on so the HUD could tell him what the scanner had picked up more politely than just looking at his omnitool. The man looked half starved—his face thin and gaunt and the suit he was wearing was too big on the average size frame. What had been going on here?

Scott’s thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a Turian.“I don’t believe it....” the deep growl of the Turian’s voice could be heard as he approached. “I’m Tiran Kandros.I lead the security on the Nexus.”The Turian had obviously worked with humans before as he held out a hand for Scott to shake.

“I’m Scott Ryder, this is Cora Harper and Liam Kosta.We’re the pathfinder team from Ark Hyperion.”

“I’m sorry about the confusion. Our sensors told us an ark had arrived but Heleus is notorious for scrambling equipment.We thought you were just another malfunction.”Kandros seemed legitimately apologetic.

“But aren’t you expecting us?” Scott found himself asking before he could think of a more politic and polite way of asking.

“You’re the first to arrive...after a year of no one showing up we stopped looking and shuttered this area. “

That sounded rather bleak to Scott.He exchanged a worried glance with both Cora and Liam.A whole year—supplies had to be running real low given what the arks had shipped with and the Nexus wasn’t built to be self sustaining—it would require the arks for power during construction according to the dossiers and program design specs that Scott had been reading. Liam asked what Scott wanted to know more about. “You’ve been stranded here for a whole year?”

“Longer,” the Turian answered in a sad tone.“I’ll explain on our way to spec ops. Follow me.”

***

2818 CE July 20th

Alien ship at origin point of alien flight plan, orbiting third planet from local star, Onanon System, Heleus Cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, pilot, callsign Anubis, homeless Andromeda Initiative castoff

Status: Ready to get this over with

 

They’d tethered the two ships together multiple times on larger moons or asteroids in order to allow them to switch out from ship to ship safely.On their last switch there had been a long discussion about who should be in which ship and who would be entering the atmosphere of this planet.What planet? Well the one they were currently in orbit around.Julia and Maiko were on their original ship with all but two packets of the remaining human rations safely parked in a pocket of the energy cloud that would hide them from anyone flying by as it almost completely surrounded their ship except for the tight exit point.Julia and Maiko were as safe as Reyes and Kenax could make them. The plan was that the sisters would wait for 48 hours.If there was no comm signal from the others by that time, Julia and Maiko would start their journey to Govorkam. Hopefully they would get the all clear signal and use the VI to land the ship on the planet in front of them. 

Reyes, Vestus, Kenax and Alzik were all packed into the smaller alien ship and were about to make their approach to the third planet in this system.A planet that looked a lot like Earth. So much so it was making Reyes feel exceedingly suspicious.Nothing had gone their way and now they found a beautiful blue and green marbled world with, from what their limited scans from orbit could tell, was likely a breathable atmosphere with evidence of plant and animal life.The planet was not tidally locked, had an orbit that placed it in the Goldilocks zone and had evidence of a rotational shift that would give the hemispheres of the planet actual seasons. Fuck him sideways but he was pretty sure that this was too good to be true. Which was making him hesitate. A lot.

“Ready when you are,” Kenax said from his copilot seat.He’d been patiently waiting on Reyes to initiate the flight plan that was on their screen.Neither of them seemed to all of the sudden be in a huge rush to start their approach as this was a big moment. 

Sighing, Reyes closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again. He reached out and keyed in the commands to start their approach, the ship VI chiming that calculations were complete and recommended closing of the blast shield as the alien ship wasn’t as well shielded as their larger Milky Way ship was. “Closing blast shield.Everyone should be strapped into your jump seats.This could be a bumpy ride.”

“Ready back here,” Vestus told them.

Blast shield closed, it turned the HUD which had been displaying views of the planet into a blank screen with all the navigational data still on it. Reyes hated blind approaches but understood the necessity. He’d rather make it safely than burn up in atmosphere.There wasn’t a bunch of satellites or other objects that they ran the risk of running into.Time to put his trust in his piloting skills and find out what lay down this gravity well.

“Initiating atmosphere entry.”

With a crackle, they received their last transmission from the Exodus before comm blackout for safety, Maiko’s voice coming through loud and clear. “Godspeed Reyes, everyone.We will await your signal.Exodus out.”

“We really need to agree on a name for this ship,” Vestus grumbled.“We don’t have a sign off for this ship and it’s been irritating me.”

“If you come up with something that doesn’t sound like an invader or a warship I’m willing to listen,” Reyes told him as he sank back into his chair as g-forces began to act on the ship as they began their descent. 

“You just don’t like my ideas.”

 

 

_To: Vladimir Brecka_

_From: Reyes Vidal_

_Subject: Progress_

_Brecka,_

_Hope you’re safe on the Nexus and not going hungry.I’ve attached all our navigational data so you’ll know where we’ve gone as well as the telemetry data from all the ships scans of the planets we’ve gone by.Hopefully this gets to you and is of some use—please be careful in who you share this with.I’ve bookmarked in particular the planets that have significant mineral deposits that may be of interest in the future.We did find a source of helium-3 for refueling purposes if the Initiative decides to start sending ships this way._

_Now the big reason I’m writing.We discovered a mostly abandoned alien space station in the Sabeng system.We encountered hostile aliens and were able to defend ourselves. We’ve had no casualties as of now. However, there was a second species of alien that wasn’t immediately hostile and did not seem to be on good terms with the other. Alzik has given me the data he was able to obtain from his examinations to pass along as well._

_Our current situation is not good. We are running out of rations. As a ship, we made the decision to follow the navigational data obtained from the alien’s ship.Tomorrow we are going to enter the atmosphere of the origin point planet marked on the navigational data I’ve sent—the one in the Onanon system.This has not been an easy planet to approach and is quite difficult to navigate the dark energy clouds to get here.We suspect that this is the homeland of the less hostile alien as the ship has been picking up data from something on the ground but we’ve been unable to translate the language adequately to know what we’ll find.I hope to update you in several days about what this planet is like and if we are able to find new friends. Julia and Maiko are unaware I am sending data to you—they will remain on the Exodus and I have left a message for them instructing them to contact you if something happens to myself tomorrow._

_Wish us luck_

_Reyes Vidal_

_Attachments:_

_Navigational data Exodus-1_

_Telemetry data Exodus-1_

_Autopsy, specimen 001 by C Alzik_

_Autopsy, specimen 002 by C Alzik_

_Autopsy, specimen 003 by C Alzik_

_Autopsy, specimen 004 by C Alzik_

_Scanner telemetry data, alien space station obtained by M Fraser_


	9. Chapter 8

2818 CE July 20th

Origin point, third planet from local star, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, pilot of found ship, homeless cast off of the Andromeda Initiative

Status: hungry and starting to feel desperate

 

As he entered the atmosphere—Reyes could only mutter a half forgotten prayer from his childhood.Initial readings were suggesting a breathable atmosphere and appropriate human friendly temperature range similar to the Terran Tropics with some land mass and high percentage of fluid seas covering the planet with larger, frozen land masses at both poles and significant volcanic activity on the larger land masses.Kenax and he both kept their hands on the controls as they shook from the force of atmosphere entry.The hold was silent with no comments from either Vestus or Alzik who were strapped into their crash couches. The windows in the cockpit were darkened by the blast shield that had engaged to protect them from the heat of the atmosphere in addition to the mass effect shields that all ships used to protect from heat and drag. Reyes kept his eyes on the timer in his HUD that counted down the time until they should have cleared the upper atmosphere and reached an altitude to allow the blast shield to disengage. Atmosphere entry was one of the most dangerous part of visiting an unexplored planet. The infographics in his HUD displayed readings from the density of the atmosphere as it increased, consistent with an Earth-like planet. So far so good, he thought, praying that their luck would continue to hold. They didn’t have the supplies for anything other than good luck at this point.

Finally the timer reached zero.The atmosphere readings were similar but not exactly the same as Earth’s upper stratosphere. Continuing on the calculated entry course, he eyed the numbers which stated it should be ok to lower the blast shield. Briefly looking at Kenax, Reyes entered the command for the blast shield to lower. Time to get a look at this new planet from a closer perspective. As the blast shield lowered, white clouds tinged with pink from the local cluster sun appeared below him with small glimpses of blue below that. Triggered by the blast shield lowering, the VI started scanning the planet below them, noting liquid seas, still too far up in the atmosphere to say for certain if it was water or not. A large frozen landmass was noted at what the VI had nominally deemed the North Pole of the planet as well as significant volcanic activity over the larger landmass towards what Reyes mentally deemed the North Pole of the planet.

They continued to descend for another ten minutes as the calculated trajectory approached closer to where intraplanetary flights would normally operate and the trajectory started to level out over a large liquid ocean.Monitoring the HUD display, Reyes breathed a sigh of relief as the guidance system changed from re-entry to atmospheric flight, leveling off at approximately 25000 meters above the seas that they were currently flying atop of. On the horizon towards the equator, small dark colored land masses were noted by the VI. Outside air temperature was a brisk -40°C. The VI was noting that they had passed through a layer of atmosphere with high concentrations of O3–an ozone layer. Not completely the same as earth but very promising that they might find recognizable life here. The VI chimed with a notice and Reyes read the findings.Several large islands were noted towards the equator that did not have the volcanic activity that the larger landmass did.The VI suggested a flight path that would take them low enough to investigate the islands.

“Kenax, are you seeing this?” Reyes asked

“What’s that old Terran saying, it’s a Goldilocks world?” Kenax replied, his usual insouciance unchanged.

“If the readings keep up, it’ll be very Earth-like,” Reyes answered. “Wanna take a closer look at those islands the VI found?”

“Wilco. Let’s go find us some fun in the sun,” Kenax gave the Turian equivalent of a cocky grin and accepted the change in flight path to go nearer to the islands. The ship, which Reyes still refused to agree with anyone on a name, responded briskly and changed flight paths. A noise from the crash couches revealed that both Vestus and Alzik had unstrapped and were now coming to see what they could through the pilot windows. Out of the corner of his vision, Reyes could see the amber glow of Alzik’s omnitool.

“Remarkable readings from the VI,” Alzik murmured, standing just behind Reyes pilot chair. Either the Salarian was speechless with excitement or more likely he was combing deeply through the readings the VI continued to feed to Reyes HUD which was shared with the crew’s omnitools. As they descended, atmosphere readings continued to be positive with the VI noting estimates of oxygen concentrations and pressure to be compatible with a breathable atmosphere. The VI indicated that more data would be available at lower altitude and recommended descending to 5000 meters.

When the gauge read 5000 meters above sea level, Reyes took a deep breath. Twenty minutes flight time to the islands on the horizon which were rapidly getting larger.The proximity alarm was raised.Anxiously jabbing the notice, Reyes read the new notification about four ships approaching on an intercept vector. The ships were similar to the ship they were in, only basic weaponry more suited to blasting small meteorites rather than a complex battle scenario. The comms system alerted next to show they were being hailed.

“Time to give the translators a workout…” Reyes murmured looking at Kenax, implying that one of them needed to answer the comms.

Kenax looked at him and gave a very human-like shrug, “Better you take this than me.You’ve got more of a silver tongue than me.”

Rolling his eyes at Kenax, Reyes tapped the notification to open up the comm line to his mic. Alien language flowed through the comm line, his omnitool noting speech patterns but not yet able to understand anything without context. Listening for several minutes as the ships rapidly approached, the same phrases seemed to be repeated over and over. Likely a standard, “Who the hell are you?”

Clearing his throat, Reyes introduced himself. “Approaching vessels this is Reyes Vidal, Captain of the, “He paused and looked at Kenax who rolled his eyes at Reyes inability to agree to a name for the ship. “Discover.We come in peace and are in need of assistance.Do you understand?”

Kenax was grumbling in his seat about Reyes choice of name. “You couldn’t have gone for any of my suggestions?”

Pausing the output on his mic, Reyes glared at Kenax. “All your names sound like warships.We need something neutral that suggests exploration not exploitation.”

A burst of alien speech responded to Reyes reply after a brief pause. Reyes omnitool translator continued to not suggest a translation but was in active language learning mode.If the translation software could match verbal sounds to the written code they might have a chance at being actually able to communicate. Reactivating his mic, Reyes repeated his original message in a pause in alien speech. The ships were now within eyesight and matching the airspeed of the Discover. Repeating the same message a third time, Reyes anxiously watched as the alien ships lined up, one in front and back and one to each side. More alien speech that was different from the first phrases came through the comm.

“I think they want to escort us to a landing zone,” Vestus said from his position behind Kenax. “And don’t think I didn’t notice your rank upgrade Vidal.

“If you have any other suggestions for successful first contact I’m open to them,” Reyes returned with a wry smile. “I think you guys should strap back into the couches.I’m not sure how this is going to go once we land.”

“This ship doesn’t have significant firepower to object to whatever they want us to do,” Kenax offered. “Also, better Reyes than us I think for talking. He’s smaller and less threatening —humans are so small and squishy.”

“Thanks for your support Kenax,” Reyes replied with sarcasm. Why was he always the “squishy human”.

Vestus laughed and returned to his crash couch, encouraging Alzik to do the same.

“Let’s see where they want to take us,” Kenax offered.The ship in front of them had pulled slightly ahead. Kenax seemed perfectly willing to make Reyes the de facto primary decision maker.

“Wilco.” Reyes changed the flight plans to follow the ship directly in front of them. Switching his mic back on, he spoke again to the alien ships. “We will follow your lead, Discover out.” Watching the ship in front continue to adjust it’s flight, the Discover VI followed matching airspeed and altitude as the flight plan adapted and banked slightly to starboard towards a rapidly approaching larger landmass. The HUD readings regarding atmosphere continued to be in the goldilocks zone.Baseline values did not indicate any viral or bacterial issues to be aware of but did note significant amounts of mold and plant pollen consistent with flowers and trees.Life forms and foliage noted by the VI were carbon based. A perfectly habitable world.

The mood remained tense as they started to slow down over what the VI was now telling them was an island. There were signs of habitation—buildings were built into rocky outcroppings, safely above what Reyes assumed were the high tide marks on the beaches.Beautiful, picture perfect beaches were noted in several areas. Due to their low approach, as they crossed a ridge, he noted signs of what appeared to be deep space communication antenna that were almost completely invisible unless you were up close as deep green, jungle like foliage covered most of the island. The VI noted that the seas were indeed made out of liquid water. Oxygen and other atmospheric gases were in the right zones for human habitation—they would be able to breathe atmosphere here without assistance. Pressures were slightly high—measuring about 1.1 atmosphere’s at sea level with a slightly higher gravity than Earth. While they had seen multiple wrecks in the scourge on their approach, neither Reyes, Kenax or the VI had noted any kind of planetary defense.

The VI alerted both pilots to a dedicated space port which was hidden in a valley as they crossed a second ridge. Now they could see mounted anti-aircraft defense guns anchored into the valley cliffs.Anyone approaching who wasn’t a friendly would have a very difficult approach. The alien spacecraft guided them towards the space port before slowing to land on a large landing pad that could easily accommodate all five ships landing in formation.

“Prepare for landing,” Reyes told Vestus and Alzik as Kenax and he started landing procedures. The Discover set down gently without any bumps. Following the VI’s guidance, Reyes and Kenax went through the process to shut down the engines.Meanwhile, through the pilot screen they could see numerous armed aliens deploying to surround their ship. 

Kenax finished with his part of the process first and then began unbuckling from his seat. “Vestus, Alzik.Let’s keep this as a friendly first contact as they haven’t fired on us yet.”

Vestus grunted in agreement, leaving his guns stashed in his locker as he stretched. Alzik looked nervous but nodded in agreement and made no move for his own storage space.

Finishing, Reyes heard the engines wind down and eventually quiet completely. The VI remained functional, running scans on everything around them. Unlatching his safety harness, Reyes also joined his friends in the small hold where they’d gathered, all of them looking worriedly at the air lock. “I never thought I would be the one in a first contact team.” Reyes muttered to Kenax.

“You’re a pilot. Pilots always get to do the fun stuff.”Kenax cracked a brief smile and motioned for Reyes to go first through the airlock. “After you, our not-so-fearless leader.”

Looking at the stowed helmets, Reyes made the decision to go without.The atmosphere was breathable according to the scans.The aliens weren’t wearing helmets.He didn’t want any misunderstandings and not being able to see their faces could cause them.He’d need to communicate so that no one decided they’d look better dead before he could talk.It probably helped that he was physically the smallest of their group and, well, humans were generally less scary than Turians physically.

Vestus and Kenax shared a speaking look as Reyes made to exit, hand on the open latch.Vestus seemed to think a moment and then nodded. “Reyes, for all intents and purposes you’re now officially my Captain for the duration of our stay here. Don’t screw this up.”

Alzik had carefully watched the exchange between the turians and seemed to agree with the group decision, at least for now. “Good enough for me too.”

Unsure what to say, Reyes simply said “Thanks.”Hand on the control of the airlock, Reyes took a deep breath in, straightened to his full height as he made sure his growing beard and hair were lying flat, rolled his shoulders back and hit the open key. The airlock made a loud clunking noise followed by the hiss as the ship decompressed to match the atmospheric pressure outside making Reyes’ ears pop as he swallowed. The door then slid back as the ramp extended to the ground.Bright sunlight momentarily blinded Reyes as he stepped out onto the ramp. The sound of multiple energy weapons charging as he stepped out, Reyes lifted his arms into the universal “don’t shoot” position and continued to exit the ship while blinking furiously to allow his eyes to adjust to the bright daylight. He could hear his companions following closely behind him. Reaching the end of the ramp, he stood still at the end and tried not to wobble too much having not stood in gravity like this since they left the Nexus.

The aliens were of similar makeup to the alien who had died at the space station. Skin hues varied from fuchsia to deep purple and blue. Dark intelligent eyes followed his every move from all corners. The aliens all carried what looked to be some form of energy rifle but did not match the one lone weapon they’d found with the other alien. These aliens were not the hostile ones that had shot upon them previously. Eight of the tall, muscular aliens surrounded him and his companions and began frisking them efficiently for concealed weapons but left his omnitool which was capable of producing a blade alone on his arm. As they touched him, Reyes felt his body hair prickle from an electrical charge. Once the aliens were satisfied he wasn’t going to immediately open fire on them, a small gentle push from a hand on his arm compelled him to walk towards a periwinkle colored alien who held his rifle in a relaxed posture.This alien appeared to be in charge as he called a command to those that surrounded Reyes and his friends. The hand on his arm halted him five paces in front of the other alien.

Clearing his throat, Reyes didn’t take his eyes off the supposed commander. “I’m Reyes Vidal of the ship Discover.We’ve come in peace, we mean you no harm.” In his peripheral vision, Reyes could see his omnitool working overtime, trying to provide translation of the murmurs from the aliens in response to him speaking.

The tall, imposing alien moved closer into Reyes personal space, their bodies not quite touching before placing a three digit hand on Reyes chin to tilt it one way and then the other as the alien inspected him. The alien said something that apparently wasn’t directed at him as several other aliens departed on what appeared to be orders. To Reyes surprise, his translator began to pick up about every fifth word then quickly starting to provide small snippets and then half sentences. While the language being spoken around him was still garbled, it was quickly being picked up and analyzed by the VI and his omnitool.In conjunction with the VI integrating with the ship, he began to understand some of the murmured comments floating around as he continued to meet the tall alien’s eyes. Reyes refused to loose this staring contest.

The alien seemed satisfied by what he saw in Reyes face and relaxed his hold then dropped his hand from Reyes face before taking a step back.“I am Evfra de Tershaav, leader of the Angaran Resistance,” the alien said in understandable, heavily accented standard. Reyes tried to stop himself from goggling at hearing standard from an alien but suspected he wasn’t entirely successful as the alien seemed to have a self-satisfied look on his leonine face—an oddly similar to human expression. Evfra then tapped what appeared to be an omnitool on his arm which sent something to Reyes own omnitool causing it to chime. Reyes almost didn’t catch the rest of what the alien now said.

“You have come to Aya outsider and have not been invited to our home. How did you come to have one of our ships and come here?”This was now coming from his translator on his omnitool as a perfect translation. This led to a small lapse between what Evfra said and when Reyes replied.

Straightening himself up despite the guards on each side of him, Reyes didn’t take his eyes off Evfra as he listened to the translation. “We found one of your people dying after being attacked by another alien race. We were unable to provide medical help and they died. Based on the navigation coordinates in his ship computer, this was the point of origin for his last trip. We came here to let his family know of his death and to return his body.”

Another pause as Evfra listened to a translation.The Angaran language was different from any language Reyes had ever heard.It wasn’t similar to his native spanish or the english or standard that he also spoke. It was oddly melodic but the grammatical structure was difficult to pinpoint listening to such a small sample.

“It takes a great pilot to navigate the scourge safely and make it to Aya based only on a point of origin,” Evfra said, his eyes briefly flicking to Reyes’ companions as the translation had finished. “You have come by yourselves without any others?”

Reyes answered in the affirmative but omitted certain facts—until he knew it was safe there was no way he’d alert them to Maiko and Julia.And who knew if his information had gone through to Brecka—it likely hadn’t due to the interference in signal between here and Zheng He. “We are the only ones aware of the origin point coordinates.We were with several other companions when we came upon the dying alien. Those who were with us were en route to another world and took our old ship and continued on the journey.They were aware we had found a point of origin for the ship and were going to trace back the steps before joining them.”

  
“Only one Angaran?What happened to the rest of the crew?”

  
“We only found one of your people. If there were originally more of them, then they must have been taken by your adversaries.”

“What did these adversaries look like?” Evfra began to pace around Reyes and his friends.

Trying to maintain eye contact with Evfra but not able to completely turn his body due to his guards. “Similar height, had boney faces. Seemed not happy to find anyone that looked different from them.The other aliens opened fire on us without reason.”

Evfra hissed, “Kett. We call them Kett.Where did you come across them?”

“The ship navigation computer has our entire route mapped on it from here to the point where we met one of you and back.”Evfra seemed contemplative of this information and continued to pace in circles around the group. When he had completed a circle round Reyes group he stopped in front of Reyes where he had started. A command was given in alien language to several other aliens on the periphery that seemed, according to limited translation, a command to search the ship.

Reyes, Vestus, Alzik and Kenax were all escorted to a shaded structure with open walls and made to sit on crates that had been placed in a rough square in the middle. Reyes almost had to be carried as he’d stumbled badly when pushed accidentally by one of his guards. The gravity had taken hold of his weakened, starved muscles and he’d hit the ground, his bare hands scraping against the compacted dirt but not bleeding. The Angaran (for that was what Reyes assumed they called themselves based on what Evfra had introduced himself as) who’d pushed him had seemed mortified by how little of a touch it had taken to make Reyes fall and he’d been gently shepherded into the building and out of the direct, powerful and very warm sunlight into the shaded building. 

Once seated, the guards had pulled back but still surrounded them. Vestus and Kenax, back to their old habits, had placed themselves on either end of Reyes, placing the smallest of their party—and the one they constantly referred to as the ‘squishy human’—in the most protected position they could make while unarmed. One of the Angaran who was slightly more slender than the others but with wider hips and a rounder face came forward to look at Reyes.A slightly more purring voice than Evfra’s had coaxed him into showing the alien his roughened palms, the translator from Reyes omnitool indicating that the Angaran was a healer of sorts.As he’d noted when he got up, his palms were not bleeding but there was a rather painful bruise now that covered the muscle at the base of his right thumb that made curling his hand difficult due to swelling.Kind, gentle blue hands lightly stroked Reyes hand causing another fission of electrical current to run across his body from his hand.Were these Angarans electrosensitive? They seemed to have a current running through them. The large, hands that were examining his own had three distinct digits but when looked at closely had two slender, human like digits and the third on the lateral part of the alien hand appeared to be three digits that had fused into a single one but still had the articulation points of individual fingers with webbing in between.Either way, the touch was gentle and slightly massaging but still put Reyes arm hair on end due to the current he could feel running through the touch. Oddly, the pain in his palm decreased significantly with the careful touches.

Satisfied with their examination, the Angaran reached into a waist pouch and pulled a small jar out, twisting the top off with a simple flick of their hand. “This help with pain,” the Angaran told Reyes, the translator smoothly providing almost an instantaneous translation.

Alzik murmured something in Reyes ear about safety of medications and seeing how it went—Reyes would bet that finding out allergies could be a disaster but this was a matter of not being aggressive and being a nice new neighbor to these aliens.Looking into the large eyes, Reyes noted that the pupils were in fact dark blue not black like his own.Huh. “Thank you,” he said politely, holding his hand out for the Angaran to do what they would. No time like the present to find out how he would react to alien medications. Also, it’d be impolite not to let them try and help him as it was a more friendly overture than being held at gunpoint.

The Angaran opened and closed their eyes several times before ducking their gaze back to Reyes injured hand.Reyes would need to figure out if this was a male or female or did they even do genders? The salve that the alien applied had a pleasant floral smell to it and felt about the consistency of other medicinal salves Reyes had tried in the Milky Way.No overt changes were noticed when it was rubbed into his skin—he’d already had most of the pain relieved by the gentle massage that his hand had been given. Alzik, who had been seated directly behind Reyes was paying close attention and unobtrusively monitoring Reyes to see if the salve did anything immediately bad. They did have half the med kit in the ship they’d landed in if needed.

The Angaran finished their work then put the salve back in their bag and withdrew, leaving them sitting on the boxes staring at their captors who stared back but were disciplined enough not to fidget or speak to them.There were many curious looks from the heavily armed aliens around them.Most of them appeared younger or about the same age as Evfra if Reyes had to guess. And they were all obviously very, very curious about them.Which was fair he supposed.He could see out of the corner of his field of view that there were multiple other Angaran coming in and out of the ship they’d arrived in, seemingly emptying everything they found onto the ground outside in front of where Evfra stood with another Angaran. 

Nothing to do but wait and see what happened.Relaxing slightly, Reyes leaned back into his companions and settled in to be patient, just enjoying the fresh air that wouldn’t kill him for the first time since he’d left the Milky Way.

***

They spent the next hour or so sitting under the shade, watching as everything that was in the ship was removed and dragged out to sit in piles around the ship.Reyes was slightly amused by what they dragged out.A lot of it was stuff that had been in the ship when they had found it—various paraphernalia associated with running a ship. Tools, spare Angaran sized space suit, extra parts, etc. and their meager belongings they’d brought into the second ship which had been stuffed into four footlockers that stowed under the jump seats in the cramped cargo bay.Vestus was unruffled by the wait but both Alzik and Kenax fidgeted continuously after the first hour.Reyes was pretty sure that Vestus was a sniper in another life back in the Milky Way—just the way he settled in to wait spoke of experience with stalking targets until they were in the right spot. Reyes was quite frankly too exhausted to do much.Low caloric intake combined with the heat and the significant gravity of being on a planet was wiping out any energy he’d drummed up due to the need to appear confident. After a while, their guards had relaxed but still eyed them with significant curiosity—especially the younger appearing ones.His hand was fine, the salve seeming to reduce some of the bruising or perhaps the light touches of the healer had done something first.

Evfra had not returned after he had walked off to a building to the left side which was more solidly built than the one they were currently enjoying the hospitality of—namely it had walls. His translator continued to pick up the murmurs of his surrounding captors but didn’t really reveal anything of note.

After almost another hour had passed, the same slender Angaran who had examined his hand returned with a large bottle of water.Reyes eagerly reached for it, his skin slick with sweat in the humidity of the planet. “Carefully,” Alzik cautioned him.“Not sure if they sterilized it first.Could cause issues.”

Arching an eyebrow, Reyes stopped from taking his first drink and handed it to Alzik. “Want to scan it?”

Alzik nodded and took the water from him, already having fired up his scanner which he ran over the water bottle with a small frown. A few moments later he handed it back to Reyes. “Should be safe.”

“Thanks,” Reyes said as he took a large pull. The water was nice and cold too. Trying to limit himself as they’d only been handed one bottle, he pushed it back into Alzik’s hands who also took a small drink before passing it to the two Turians who also took drinks. They continued to pass the bottle around but it was shortly empty.The healer then took it back and disappeared again. 

Another hour passed and Reyes felt his eyelids beginning to droop.A siesta sounded nice about now with this heat and the approaching midday of the day cycle according to his omnitool.The building was sheltered from having any significant wind as it was in a small depression in the landing area. A nice breeze would feel wonderful. The scent on the air smelled very similar to the tropics on Earth, reminding him of home and the few times he’d flown through island stations. There was, however, no sent of jasmine or plumeria but there was a sickly sweet flower scent to the air mingled with smell of organic decomposition that was universal to this kind of weather that mixed with the faint smell of ozone from mass effect drives having been recently engaged. The trees were too far away to get a good look at but they also reminded him of the rainforest reserves he’d toured as a schoolboy. A jungle island paradise.He wondered if they’d be given any food or just water. Reyes found himself nodding off, his head cradled in Vestus’s bony shoulder. Vestus, when he noticed their human had fallen asleep, gently lowered Reyes to lay horizontally with his head pillowed on Vestus’ thigh.

Reyes was awakened less than an hour later by Vestus gripping his shoulder in warning.Evfra was striding back towards him, the rolling gait similar to how a Turian or Salarian would walk given the curve of his powerfully muscled legs. Reyes suit was completely stuck to him uncomfortably at this point due to the amount of sweat coating him.He was also sure he didn’t smell very pleasant as it had been weeks since his last bathing opportunity. Sitting up, he stretched his back until he felt the tense muscles release and then reattained his comfortable slouch against his fellows.

Evfra went straight towards Reyes, seemingly having designated him the leader of the group despite him being physically smaller than the others. “You say that no others have come with you? No others know of the location of Aya?”

Thinking carefully of what he’d said earlier, Reyes restated what he’d said earlier. “We were part of a larger group and they were aware of our going to the origin point of the ship we had found.”

Evfra didn’t take his eyes off Reyes for several moments. “So they could also come here to Aya?”

Swallowing, Reyes knew that Maiko and Julia had agreed to staying put for two days but it had been done grudgingly. They understood the importance of not putting all their eggs in one basket.But the scans from orbit had been very promising and Julia had been very disappointed that they weren’t going to land immediately.Would they have decided to land the ship despite saying they’d stay up there and go to Govorkam if they didn’t hear from them? “They knew our destination.They are not dangerous to you.I cannot guarantee they will not come here.”

Evfra tilted his head as he watched Reyes speak. “Do you have a way of contacting them?”

Was this a trap? Reyes didn’t think so.The Angaran, while not overly welcoming, had not hurt them.In fact, Reyes minor bruise to his hand and their upset and care over such a minor thing was reassuring.And they’d gotten them out of the sun and given them water.Not something you did for someone you were going to kill. Most likely that was. “If I do will you harm them?”

Evfra’s eyes narrowed at Reyes question before snorting. “We do not hurt those who do not seek to hurt us.Do you have a way of contacting them?”

“I do, but i will only do so if you can guarantee their safety if they come here.”Reyes wasn’t willing to budge on this.If he was screwed—then so be it—but he wasn’t going to let the girls get caught too.

“How many others?” Evfra’s voice now had a purring growl to it.It was obviously meant to be intimidating but Reyes had survived boot camp as well as his father’s version of hazing.Evfra needed to work on his intimidation skills to make him scared.

Let’s see what he does with a vague answer.... “A few.We are refugees in need of supplies which is how we came across your fellow Angaran who had been injured by the Kett.We have returned their body and ask for assistance in return.”Obviously Reyes had managed to cook his brain in this heat.He had absolutely no bargaining power here.Reyes still hadn’t budged from his slouched, relaxed position against Vestus’s shoulder. Vestus was rigid underneath him, not liking how Reyes was provoking Evfra.Kenax and Alzik made no comments but just watched Reyes interact with Evfra.

Evfra’s eyes were slits as he watched Reyes and briefly darted to Reyes’ companions before focusing back on Reyes.He suddenly laughed, startling Reyes and his companions. “You are a very brave little skkut.”

The translator failed to give a translation for the word skkut—Reyes assumed it was something derogatory. He didn’t blink but continued to stare implacably back at Evfra.He wasn’t giving the Angaran anything else without assurances. 

“You shelesh,” Evfra was evidently amused by Reyes tactics now instead of angry—whatever shelesh meant. “You have brought one of our lost ones home...a taoshay of our Moshae. For this I will give you leave to bring your fellow vesagara here. We will give them safe passage and then we will talk about how long you stay.”

Evfra had given them something.To not give anything in return would be in bad faith. Reyes nodded his head then realized Evfra might not know what that meant.“Yes.I will need access to the ship to contact them.”

Letting out another huff of laughter, Evfra grumbled but returned the nod after a moment with an exaggerated move of his head up and down.“This means yes?”

“Yes it does,” Reyes said and also nodded again to reinforce the nonverbal cue.

“Tefa will take you to the ship,” Evfra narrowed his eyes as Vestus made as if to get up and follow Reyes. “Just you so you can send your message.The rest of you will remain here and then we will take you to the traveler house. You can eat Angaran food?”

Alzik spoke for the first time, drawing Evfra’s notice. “We will need to scan the food to see if it is safe to eat.”Alzik waved his omnitool to demonstrate.

Evfra, in an exaggerated motion, nodded his head again to indicate yes.“Come little vesagara. The sooner you go the sooner you come back to your friends.”

Reyes climbed to his feet, glad to note he no longer felt like they were going to fall out from under him. Another, almost green colored Angaran who was easily four centimeters taller than Evfra, stepped forward to Evfra’s call. This must be Tefa. The two Angaran had a brief, hushed conversation that Reyes couldn’t hear well enough for the translator to pick up. Tefa then motioned for Reyes to start walking and followed him back towards the ship.Evfra did not follow as he was now closely looking at the rest of Reyes companions but did not speak.Reyes looked back several times but it seemed no one was doing anything exciting and the last time he turned around to look Tefa touched his shoulder and began to forcefully push Reyes in the direction of the ship.

Hopefully nothing happened while Reyes was sending a message.The VI should be able to reach Maiko and Julia in orbit.He’d just have to make sure they delayed enough for Evfra to think they’d had to circle back to find them.

***

Having been taken back to the ship, Tefa watched Reyes attentively as he sat in the pilot’s chair and interfaced with the VI.Tefa had made few sounds as he’d followed Reyes back to the ship, the Angaran was watchful but let Reyes do what he needed to.Sitting, Reyes let the ship wake around him, the HUD flashing to life as the VI acknowledged Reyes.Rather than use the larger interface of the HUD screen, Reyes focused on his omnitool.From where Tefa stood behind him, he could not see exactly what Reyes was doing as he tapped commands into his omnitool to bring up the connection to the Exodus.He made sure to disable the transmission to the display.Tefa looked at him but saw that he was typing something and frowned but did not move to interfere.

“I’m just bringing up the connection and then I’ll send the message and wait for a reply,” Reyes told Tefa.

Tefa listened to the translation and then relaxed and nodded, still watching closely at what Reyes was doing but not closely enough to be able to follow each key stroke.The fact that the Angaran had left them with their omnitools said that they didn’t understand everything that could be done with them despite the fact that Evfra had one on his own arm.

Watching the connection form, Reyes typed in a short message to Maiko:

 

_Maiko,_

_We’ve made contact with the other aliens.So far they’re suspicious but no fire fights, are willing to let us stay for a brief time. Attached is telemetry data for planet—it’s tropical here, no helmet needed but you may want to pack everyone’s bathing suit and sunscreen.They say that they will not harm you if you two decide to land but I’ve told them that you’re on your way to Govorkam.If you choose to land you will need to delay a few days to simulate the journey time._

_Reyes_

 

Reyes sent the message encrypted with a code that only his VI on the Exodus would be able to decrypt and leaned back to await a reply.Transit time to orbit would only be a minute or so.But if Maiko was smart she would delay response, not to mention she would need to think about how to respond and whether she wanted to join them.Reyes would put money on Julia goading her sister to land on Aya. Julia had wanted to have both ships land, not one.

Tefa, after a few moments said something in Angaran that the translator suggested “what are you doing?” To the three word question.

“I sent the message.I am awaiting a reply.It could be a while.”

“How long?” Tefa looked curious, not angry or suspicious.

“I don’t know,” Reyes replied and pointed to the copilot chair.“Have a seat?”

***

2819 CE March 21st

Nexus, Zheng He system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Wondering where rock bottom is and if we’ve hit it yet

 

“Everything that could go wrong has,” Kandros said as he led them to the ops center. “We arrived fourteen months ago and right away hit a band of energy that knocked us off course.”

“We’re familiar with it,” Scott said as he grimaced. Looks like the Nexus hadn’t fared any better than the Hyperion when it came to unexpected encounters with the dark energy clouds.

“Then you’ll know why we call it the Scourge.” Kandros paused briefly to look at Scott and see how he was taking this news. “We lost whole sections of the station. A lot of people died.No power. No food. The chaos went on for months.” 

This would explain why Kandros was in charge of security. According to all the assignments that Scott had read, Kandros was a few people down the security chain of command.Sloane Kelly was listed on all the documents as head of security.What had happened.

“It finally led to armed rebellion. When order was restored, the insurgents were banished.We call them ‘exiles’”. Woah.What? Scott almost tripped over his feet at this news.There’d been a mutiny? On top of loosing a bunch of people to the arrival accident—and he noticed the vagueness of no specific number given—what had been going on here?And he’d thought everything that could go wrong had already happened...

Cora spoke up. “Are things back to normal?”

“Not even close.”Kandros gave an encouraging smile. “But you’re here now and maybe the worst’s over.”Kandros led them to a second tram set that would go around the ring.

Liam asked if they had any contact from any one else. “No, no pathfinders. No one.”

“So no locals causing trouble?” Scott asked as the tram took off. Those aliens on Habitat 7 had been no joke. Hopefully they were not present in large numbers or were contained to a small area of Heleus.

“So far we’ve stayed hidden.We’re in no shape to deal with an attack.”Kandros was inputting something in his omnitool as they waited for their tram to take them to the ops center.Scott had a feeling there was something that they weren’t being told.A mutiny was serious business—the mutineers if they had indeed been forced out, why hadn’t some of them returned if for no other reason than to support trade.From the looks of things there was a true “skeleton crew” feeling to the Nexus. It felt deserted.if Scott was exiled he’d be sneaking in for supply raids all the time. Unless the supply situation was bad enough that there wasn’t anything to take.

“We had first contact with hostile aliens on Habitat 7. Whole thing went south and they tried to kill us.”Let’s see what Kandros said when he admitted to having already met a hostile race.Scott strongly suspected this would not be the first Kandros had heard of them. But would Kandros admit it...

Kandros looked up and away from his omnitool, refusing to make eye contact and pretending to pay attention to the controls of the tram rather than look at Scott.Without a doubt this was not the first anyone had heard of these aliens. “That wasn’t first contact,” he eventually replied after a long pause. “We know about them.Those aliens are going to be a problem.”

Cora snorted and said, “This day just keeps getting better.”

Scott agreed, his eyes narrowed as his thoughts raced from possible problem to already known big problems. The work was piling up here and it didn’t look like things were going to go well anytime soon.As they arrived at their stop, Scott couldn’t help sighing,“still looking for rock bottom then.”

As they got off the tram, Kandros indicated which way to go to find the administrative offices where they could find Jarun Tann, the Salarian currently in charge of the entire initiative.He seemed reluctant to go to administration himself but continued up the stairs in the correct direction. “You should know that our command structure has been fractured. Some of us are covering for those that died.”

Liam told Cora and Scott to go ahead and he’d find out all he could about the security situation.Smart man, Scott thought.Liam would avoid having to deal with the administrators.Hopefully Liam could use his cop skills and find out more about the problems security seemed to be having.Sighing, Scott exchanged a glance with Cora before they started towards administration following Kandros.There was still minimal lighting in place but at least it wasn’t the red emergency lighting like it had been at the Hyperion docks. 

They were pushed to the side by two humans in Initiative uniforms that were running up the stairs.“They said to report to our stations immediately,” one told the other, neither pausing as they ran past. As Scott and Cora crested the stairs, they could see a large, bridge like area with multiple workstations. Several humans, a krogan and a turian could be seen working the controls.A large HUD covered the wall and Scott could see data streaming through that indicated the Hyperion was completing docking procedures and it’s power core connected to the grid. As the notice came across about system power integration, more lights flickered to life, no longer leaving them in a low light situation. A Salarian stood a few steps behind the workstations, eyes on the HUD as everyone worked. Kandros cleared his throat from where he stood behind Scott causing everyone to pause and look their way.

This drew the Salarian’s attention and he stepped forward, his hands crossed in front of him as he ambled his way over to greet Scott. He had a funny walk for a Salarian, unhurried, loose and with too much swing to his step.It was odd.“The crew of the Hyperion.”

Kandros gripped Scott’s shoulder tight, almost in warning.“Good luck,” the Turian said before abruptly turning and walking back towards where the security offices were. So much for help from him.

The Salarian was now only a few paces from Scott. “I’m Jarun Tann. Director of the Initiative. You have no idea how much your arrival means to us.”Yeah, why was the accountant who, if Scott remembered correctly, was eighth in the line of succession in charge?

Tilting his head to the side, Scott unobtrusively scanned the room with his eyes.Time to pretend to be a politician that he wasn’t. ‘We heard about what happened.We’re here and ready to help.”

A human female had approached with Tann but now stepped forward.Foster Addison—Scott had read her dossier.She was supposed to be the XO of colonial affairs. “We could use supplies.Food, water, anything you have as we’re short on everything.” This did not sound good, Scott struggled to keep his facial expression bland.

Tann, who seemed annoyed at her outburst, continued with introductions.“This is Foster Addison, she oversees colonial affairs.” Then the Salarian paused, large eyes darting side to side at both Scott and Cora as if he’d just had something deeply anxiety provoking occur. “Where’s the Pathfinder?”

Obviously this was going go to over well. Straightening slightly, putting his chest up and his shoulders back, Scott stood up to accentuate his height and athletic soldier build—he could fake it until he made it. “You’re looking at him.”

This was not taken well, Tann’s mouth open and closed several times before he composed himself. “You’re not Alec Ryder.”

Scott ruthlessly squashed the instinct to frown at the director and tried to not look like he was about to break down. “My father’s dead.” Several gasps were heard from the workstations at this news. “He made me his successor.” This was news was greeted by silence.Scott could feel the weight of their stares as they took him in.Yep, the scrawny young guy who looks like he should be taking orders—that’s me, he thought. At least if he didn’t shave as often he looked a bit older and less of a “baby faced twink” as his sister called him.

Addison had a stricken look on her face, pale under her delicate freckles. “Alec... is dead?” Her voice cracked as she asked. Scott hadn’t known her and his dad to have been close but she seemed very moved by news of his death. Scott found himself looking at the floor by Addison’s feet, the muscle in his jaw jumping as he clenched and fought the urge to reply automatically in anger due to her grief—he hadn’t had any time to grieve himself. He hadn’t chosen this either but he’d do his damndest to do the job right.

Addison, seemingly realizing she’d perhaps said the wrong thing tried to correct the situation. “Please understand that the whole Initiative is at risk.”She moved to gesture to the HUD and tapped a few commands which brought up a map of Heleus. “None of the golden worlds worked out. They’re a bust. And there’s been no word from the other arks.

Cora, perhaps understanding that she might need to help do some damage control herself as her opinion hadn’t been for Scott to be made pathfinder either, asked, “What happened to the other arks?”

Tann, who’d followed them to gaze at the HUD replied not Addison. “Unknown. Our supplies are nearly depleted. Rationing bought us some time but...” he gestured to the amount of red typeface on the different worlds noting them as uninhabitable., “even those are running out.”

Scott looked at all the data.It was a pretty stark picture that was painted across the screen. Addison, not looking at Scott or Cora continued, “We need more resources... but that takes people and time... and we don’t have the resources to wake them up...”

“Until they have somewhere to live,” Scott finished for her, having adopted a parade rest stance out of sheer ingrained habit. “A golden world.”

Addison was now looking at him, a fragile, scared look of hope on her face. “Now more than ever we need a Pathfinder.”

“It now falls to you Ryder,” Tann said, his voice reedy and obsequious. “Are you up to the task?”

Well fuck this. He damn’d well be ready for this or die trying.What other choice did he have? Looking Tann directly in the eye, Scott knew his face was in a determined scowl as he took a step further that was unintentionally intimidating and made the Salarian back up a step in response. “I may not have been the first choice but I’m ready for this.”He could feel Cora crowding in by his shoulder in support of him.

Addison, looked less than confident in them.“Youthful enthusiasm will only get you so far in Andromeda.”

The Krogan, who up until this point had been ignoring them all in favor of the workers finishing docking procedures now interrupted by spinning on her heel.“That’s no way to treat a guest.”

Both Tann and Addison seemed to shrink away as the Krogan approached with a confident stride making Scott wonder about the dynamic of those in charge of running the Nexus and the Initiative. The Krogan was the only other person in the room in armor—the armor a simplistic design for a krogan in the Initiative’s color scheme of blue and white.The deep, female krogan voice was melodic and, to Scott’s ears, non-hostile. He’d take non-hostile as a friend at this point.“I’m Nakmor Kesh, Superintendent of this station.I hope they haven’t scared you off already.” At this, Kesh threw an annoyed glance at both Tann and Addison who had moved to give her more room than necessary.Scott struck out his hand and shook hands with Kesh.At least she seemed willing to work with him.

Addison was obviously offended by Kesh’s implication. “Now isn’t the time for on the job training!”

Kesh seemed to return the feelings. “At least the Pathfinder here is willing to try. We could use a fresh perspective.”

Addison washed her hands of it all, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. “You’ve heard my concerns. I’ll leave you to it.” She then walked off in a hurry down the stairs and away from the administrative section. Scott wondered if he was going to have this reaction from all of the leadership team except for the lone Krogan he’d seen so far.

Tann, looking awkward at the departing Addison and Kesh who seemed happy to ignore the increasing tension, tried to appease them with a nervous laugh.“We’re all feeling the pressure...” Addison had now disappeared from sight. “Let’s have a private word in my office Ryder.We’ll discuss giving you a scout ship. I’m happy to discuss the details with your associate?”Tann eyed Cora up and down, seemingly trying to figure out where she belonged in all this.

Cora side eyed Scott and he nodded to her which she returned.“Lead the way,” she told Tann as they walked off deeper into the administrative section of the Nexus to leave Scott with Kesh.

Kesh watched until Tann and Cora were out of hearing range before turning back to Scott, a small amused smile on her face. “Welcome to the Nexus.”

Scott found himself relaxing.“Thank you for standing up for me there and the welcome—no one else has said that.”

Kesh hummed, accepting the compliment. “Hope’s in short supply here. I believe in encouraging hope where I find it.”

They were interrupted from continuing their conversation by a crew member informing Kesh that the Hyperion’s core was now online.Her smile widened at this news and she gestured for Scott to follow her to one of the workstations on the side of the screen. “Let me show you something.”The screen displayed a floor plan of the Nexus with indicators next to each section showing issues, power requirements, environmental stats, etc.Most of the board was showing good power usage and the environmental readouts were within optimal habitation parameters for Milky Way inhabitants.As Kesh manipulated the screen, it became translucent and you could see beyond to the Nexus wards that were starting to have the lights come on—it was beautiful really. Kesh pointed to several sections of the wards.“An hour ago that was all dark. But with your ship we are now able to keep the lights on.For that alone you have my vote of confidence.”

Scott couldn’t help the small worry in the back of his mind that he’d fail.“And when the power runs out?”

Kesh looked sad at that question.“You’d best go talk to Director Tann and make sure that doesn’t happen.” She then turned and walked away to get back to work.“And don’t be shy.Come see me when you have a chance.”

_Sam_ , Scott called silently, _I’ll need to re-read Tann’s, Kesh’s and Addison’s dossier’s immediately as soon as I’m free. This situation is fucked up.See what you can snoop around and find out about what happened prior to our arrival. Can you get into the Nexus’ databanks?_

SAM answered in the affirmative. _I can Scott.In the meantime, I’d advise you not waste time.Ms. Harper’s stress levels are climbing from talking to Director Tann._

_I’m pretty sure she’d be okay with you calling her Cora, SAM._ Scott replied as he set off in the direction that Cora and Tann had headed in. _Which way to the Director’s office?_

_Take aright up those stairs_ SAM directed him _and it’s the office to the left on the second floor._

_Tell Captain Dunn not to wake up anyone until I have a chance to further evaluate the situation.No sense in making a bad situation worse._

_Yes Pathfinder._

_SAM, just call me Scott. You’re a voice in my head—at least pretend to be nice._

SAM did not dignify Scott’s request with a response.

***

 

_Reyes,_

_Julia has won me over.We’ll be coming to join you but we’ll delay a week.That leaves about a week of rations for us once we land.Stay out of trouble and send word if situation changes.I’ve encrypted all our navigational logs so they won’t be able to see them._

_Stay out of trouble_

_Maiko_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Nine

2819 CE March 21st

Nexus, Zheng He system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Discovering that bureaucracy is alive and well in Andromeda

 

Walking into Tann’s exceedingly large and half unpacked office, Scott couldn’t see Cora or Tann from the doorway but he could hear Cora giving a verbal report of her analysis of Habitat 7 to his right.Tann’s desk was secluded in an alcove that was half hidden by large crates—in fact one made up part of his desk.Cora was behind Tann’s desk, showing something to Tann on his workstation screen. He watched as Tann examined what was on the screen, the Salarian tilting his body forward to get a closer look. “That’s been the case with every world we’ve explored,” Tann told Cora. Cora, was standing at parade rest, her hands clasped behind her hips with a blank expression on her face. Tann was standing very close to her, closer than he needed to be in Scott’s opinion. Tann was an odd duck even for a salarian.As Scott walked further into the room, they both looked up from the display. “Ryder,” Tann said, drawing out the last syllable, “we were just discussing your next expedition.”

Stepping up to the desk, Scott gave Cora a brief concerned glance which she ignored before making eye contact with Tann.Cora took Tann’s distraction to move herself slightly away from the sycophantic Salarian. Expedition was a nice way of putting things.“Good.What did you have in mind?” Scott asked neutrally.

The Salarian blinked his eyes multiple times before replying, seemingly trying to decide if Scott was being sarcastic or not. “The Scourge is most likely not a natural phenomenon.It was not here when we left the Milky Way. Your experience on Habitat 7 is a hopeful indicator that we may be able to do something about it.The aliens, called the Kett, have been a problem for us since we arrived and they seem to swarm around structures on the golden worlds that are similar to those you found on Habitat 7.”Tann paused to key in several commands which started the holoprojector. A new planet, one he hadn’t seen in the dossiers was projected in 3D on the desk. 

Cora peered closely at the planet.“That isn’t one of the golden worlds.”

“This is Eos.We’ve had two attempts to establish an outpost but both have failed due to high levels of solar radiation and heat as well as the Kett presence.There are, however, similar alien built structures on the planet that appear similar to the structures that you describe in your reports to Habitat 7.”Tann paused to zoom into the surface and display a map of a local area on the planet.Two outposts were labeled on the map approximately twenty kilometers apart.There were also notations of alien structures, three of which were all within a hundred kilometers of the outposts roughly in a triangle. “I would like to propose sending you to Eos with the goal of exploring the alien structures—if the one on Habitat 7 had the ability to change the weather.... well maybe this one will be able to too.”

Scott looked closely at the displayed data. “And is Addison on board with this mission?”

Tann frowned at the mention of Addison.“Irregardless of how it appears, I am in charge of the Nexus. Addison is in charge of colonial affairs—and until we have a successful colony—she answers to me in all matters.”

Scott nodded, not poking the bear further.“We’ll need a ship, crew, and supplies.”

“Your ship is actually being taken out of dry dock at the moment and will be ready momentarily.I have already given the orders to have it stocked and ready for your use.”Tann tapped a few commands into his omnitool as he spoke. “I have sent you all the data we presently have on Eos and the previous, failed attempts.We need you to be successful Pathfinder.”

Scott nodded, noting that he had received a data packet from Tann. There was no reason to delay, every moment they delayed would mean longer wait to get everyone out of cryo and more supplies burned through. “We’ll leave as soon as we can.”He didn’t salute but motioned with his head to have Cora preceded him out of the room which she quickly did. 

As they left Tann’s office, he paused once the door closed.“Cora, are you okay?” He asked her worriedly. What was with Tann...

Cora brushed him off with a professional glance.“I’m fine.Are we going to go only off Tann’s data?He didn’t give us much.”

Eyeing her as he hurried to catch up, Scott fell into pace alongside her. “No.SAM?Can you find everything you can regarding research on the Scourge, Eos and current settlement efforts?”

SAM spoke through his omnitool. “Yes Pathfinder.Would you like information on your new ship and crew as well?”

Cora looked appeased. “Yes please SAM.And please copy my XO as well with your information.”

“Thanks,” she murmured, hiding her eyes behind the fall of her icy blonde bangs.He’d obviously need to continue working on their relationship but she seemed amenable at the moment.

They had just rounded a corner and were alone in the still dimly lit station. He made Cora stop with a hand on her elbow. “Cora, I didn’t set out to be Pathfinder.My dad felt you were an excellent XO from everything I’ve read through and found so far.You were good on Habitat 7 and I want to make sure we can work together—not just minimally but well.I’ve made sure SAM knows you are my XO and successor if something were to happen.”

Cora remained stiff and Scott realized he hadn’t released her arm which he now did. Cora looked at him, her face still blankly professional but she then relaxed. “I know you didn’t mean to jump over me.It’s a disappointment to train for something for so long and be overlooked.”She let out a frustrated sounding sigh.“I know that it was Alec’s decision and he made it for a reason.I’m working on it but it shouldn’t affect us in the field.”

Scott examined her expression but figured this was as good as it would get for now.“Thanks.And I appreciate any feedback you may have.”He needed Cora on his side.If they remained at odds this could make a lot of things screwed up. Cora seemed to have nothing else to say—which made Scott feel they would still need to work on things.They started walking again.

They were walking down the stairwell towards Security to pick up Liam when Scott heard his name called out behind him. Cora looked at Scott with a raised eyebrow as they both saw it was Addison walking towards them.“Go and pick Liam up,” Scott told Cora and she nodded in ascent, not waiting for him and continuing on down the stairs.

“Addison,” Scott greeted her neutrally. Addison looked flustered but determined.

“What happened to your father, really?What happened to Alec?”

Scott tried not to be taken aback by her sharp tone but she wasn’t being polite in her inquiry. “He took his helmet off and put it on me to save my life after I fell and shattered my faceplate.”

A brief, grieving look flashed across her face before a more determined look took it’s place. “And how did you become Pathfinder? The role isn’t hereditary.”

“I know.He transferred the role himself before he died.I wasn’t awake at the time.You’ll have to see Cora Harper’s and Liam Kosta’s after action reports if you want to know the exact details.”He reminded himself that being professional was going to get him further rather than giving her a piece of his mind. “From what I can tell, my father may have eventually planned for myself to take over from him... but that’s speculation on my part.”

Addison crossed her arms over her chest.“If we’d wanted an inbred monarchy we could have left half our gene stock back home....” She gave a frustrated sigh and then corrected herself, “ Not ‘home’.The Milky Way... This is our home now and it’s a mess. We don’t have a lot of options and I need to know I can rely on you to get the job done. You’re an unknown quantity.. and maybe you’ll prove your father right but I cannot afford you to screw up.We’ve had fourteen months of failure.Do you understand me if I don’t hold my breath on your success?” 

Addison was looking at Scott like he had all the answers.Scott felt like he had none but that wasn’t going to stop him from trying to do everything he could to succeed where others had failed. There was an old saying from the early space race that his father had liked to quote: failure is not an option.Fix the first thing that will kill you and then move on to the next.Wait.. she had called his father ‘Alec’ that was odd. “Wait a minute. You called my father Alec.No one does that.”

“A lot of us joined the Initiative based on his vision, his plans.. or what he shared of them anyway,” Addison wasn’t meeting his gaze as she looked off over his shoulder.

“And you were friends?”Scott couldn’t help himself.The Alec he knew wasn’t exactly the social butterfly—his friend circle tended to be current or former military with an emphasis on special operations operators. His father, as far as he knew, had only one great love of his life and that was Scott’s mother. Scott’s mother had according to more than one person, made up for his father’s poor social graces.

Addison was shaken out of her reverie by Scott’s question and responded acidly. “I’m not your new mother if that’s what you’re asking. Or his friend.He hated that I didn’t use his title but you’re not a pathfinder until you’ve pathfound something. Much like you’re not the director of colonial affairs until you’ve got actual colonies to manage.”She paused allowing Scott to get a word in.

“I’m going to do everything I can to get you those colonies,” he was firm, not pushing for more conflict.

“And will they be civilian run or are you planning on militarizing them?”Addison was watching his responses closely now.

“The Kett are a problem but I believe this is a civilian run Initiative.”Scott wasn’t sure what she was after.

“You should speak with Kandros before you leave for more information,”She then paused again and got in his face. “We’re starving here Ryder. If we don’t get a functioning foundation of outposts to feed us we might as well be six hundred years dead.Your father promised a lot. None of it panned out—utopian horse shit.That’s what you’re up against and why no one trusts you to do what you say.”She poked her index finger into his sternum to punctuate her last sentence. “Prove me wrong.”Addison then turned on her heel and strode briskly away. 

Scott watched her go, his thoughts in turmoil. What the fuck had his father gotten him into?Taking a deep breath, Scott turned back to continue his descent down the stairs but SAM spoke up on their private connection. Scott, Superintendent Kesh had indicated she wanted to speak with you before you left. Privately if possible.

Sighing, Scott told SAM he was on his way and turned back around to go back up the stairs to operations. _Please let Cora and Liam know I’ll catch up with them shortly at the docks_. Time to talk to the third arm of the Nexus power struggle. He hated politics. Wasn’t there some hostile alien he could have a gunfight with?He was better trained for that than this.

***

Kesh’s office was on the opposite end of Operations from Tann’s... about as far away as you could be and still in the same section of the Nexus.Scott tried not to read too much into that.When he’d approached Kesh’s office, the biometric lock had recognized him and admitted him without having to knock.Kesh stood behind her desk, multiple holoscreens surrounding her as she worked.“Yes I know the Hyperion docking caused a lot of switches to blow...that’s fine.... I don’t care. We know the problem is more widespread than that and we’re working on it.... I’ll check it out myself when I have a moment...Move on to the docks for now as first priority.”

Kesh looked up and made eye contact, gesturing for him to come closer.“Yes.I have a meeting now and I’ll be back shortly.Don’t screw that repair up.”She flicked a switch cutting off whatever comm channel she’d been speaking into.“There you are.I hope the others haven’t been giving you too hard of a time. There’s a lot that we need help to get done and with the Hyperion docked we finally have a power source to do it.”

Scott stood awkwardly in front of the krogan, which he belatedly realized was the only Krogan he’d seen so far.There’d been several Turians and lots of humans. But just one salarian and Kesh, the sole krogan.“Where are all the other Krogan? I thought for sure they’d be helping with security if nothing else.”

“You haven’t spoken to number 8 yet have you?”Kesh had an cross between a grin and sneer on her face as she asked.

“Number 8?”Scott was confused.

“Tann.Ask him why my people left—he’ll have opinions,”. Kesh’s expression now darkened.“I can tell you this much—when the mutiny occurred a deal was made. My clan was supposed to settle matters and in return get, shall we say, a bigger say in how the Initiative was run.”

“But why number 8?”Scott knew he was missing something obvious.

“Because Tann was eighth in the line of succession to lead the Initiative.I like to remind him of that... and keep him humble.”

“And the deal? Obviously something went wrong if I’m not seeing more of your clan around.”Scott silently added to another research topic to SAM’s ever growing list. SAM indicated he was accessing all files that were relevant aboard the Nexus.If it was here, they’d know about it shortly. _Focus on security tapes too SAM._

“We held up our end but Tann had a meltdown when he realized what we wanted for our help. Then Addison’s assistant Spender acted like he’d never made the deal in the first place.The clan left after the deal was broken. I don’t blame them.”Kesh seemed to want to inform him and was, at least trying, to appear factual.

“Why didn’t you go with them then?” Scott could admit to being curious—if he was the only human left he wasn’t sure he’d stay.

Kesh’s mouth twisted into a grimace as she replied.“It’s complicated.My clan needs me here and the station needs me.”

“I see.”No he didn’t see but he’d have to see what SAM found. “You wanted to speak with me before I left for Eos?”

“I think you’ve been informed how bad our situation is.As the Superintendent I’m responsible for building and maintaining the Nexus.The outposts haven’t been happening so Addison’s more uptight than ever—don’t let her bother you.My team and I are repairing and building this station as fast as we can with limited resources but we need materials.I need you to locate those materials and fast.”Kesh gave him a serious look. “I take it you understand the seriousness of our needs?”

“I get it.What’s your most dire needs?”Scott asked.At least Kesh was interested in getting things done not squabbling over who did it.

Kesh tapped a few buttons on her screens which transferred several files including a materials list to Scott’s omnitool and SAM.“With the Hyperion here our immediate energy needs are fulfilled.But if I get those raw materials we can get our Helium-3 collectors online and eezo for the battery cores.I’m sure you understand our food shortage issues.”

Scott browsed the list.It was fairly comprehensive and listed amounts.“Is mining equipment being sent on my scout ship?”

“I’ve made sure Vetra got everything you’ll need.You’ll meet her on the Tempest.”

“The Tempest?”

“Your new ship.Most beautiful piece of engineering we brought with us,” Kesh seemed to actually enjoy informing him about his ship.

“Interesting name.Shakespeare?”Scott doubted that anyone knew his second favorite play was that one.

“Awake dear heart awake. Thou hast slept well.” Kesh quoted. 

An educated Krogan who quoted Shakespeare. Scott’s day was getting stranger by the moment. “I don’t think that’s the most appropriate quote.Maybe Caliban’s speech—‘Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twanging instruments will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices, that, if I then had waked after long sleep, will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming, the clouds methought would open, and show riches ready to drop upon me; that, when I waked, I cried to dream again’.”

Kesh seemed pleased and she dismissed him to get going. “You have hidden depths Pathfinder and an optimist’s outlook regarding Andromeda if you’re prone to quoting the comedies.Don’t get killed out there—we need you to succeed.”

Inclining his head, Scott gave Kesh nod. “I’ll try not to. I’ll get your shopping list as soon as I can.”Scott turned and left.He had work to do and a ship to claim.At least it had an auspicious name.He felt more like the situation he had landed himself in felt like a Twelfth Night plot line than The Tempest.He wondered who his Duke Orsinio or Olivia would be to his Viola or was he Sebastian?He’d always read Antonio as being hot for Sebastian.Sara would get his references when she woke up and find this all hilarious.

***

Meeting Cora and Liam at the entrance to the docks, they stepped out into the huge landing pad area which had several small shuttles docked.“Where’s our ship?” Scott asked, looking around.

Cora, loosening up even more around him after their chat earlier, pointed to fast approaching speck on the horizon. “There.The Tempest.She’s ours.By the way, I updated Captain Dunn”

The approaching ship rapidly gained size as it came closer then banked to dock in the center of the landing pad. The ship was larger than all the other shuttles and had an impressive four thrusters on the back end.It looked like a faster, sleeker version of the SSV Normandy that Scott had seen when it went through Arcturus which was the most impressive fleet ship he’d ever seen prior to laying eyes on his new ship. He couldn’t see any weapons mounted on the ship... which meant that speed would be it’s defense. “Thanks. How fast?” He asked Cora.

Grinning in excitement, she answered his question. “Thirteen light years in a day.She’s the fastest ship ever made in the Milky Way when we left.”

So fast. The Tempest had landed and the ramp had extended to allow the workers who were waiting to start on loading crates into the hold. “Want to get a closer look?” Liam asked, his enthusiasm catching.

“Yeah.Let’s go check out our new home away from home,” Scott said, already starting down the ramp to the loading dock. This was one sweet ship. Cora and Liam followed close on his heels.

Up close, the Tempest was even more impressive. A sleek, streamlined, and beautiful ship in basic black and white. The thrusters were enormous when seen up close, easily as big as the SSV Normandy which Scott had been able to get an up close look at the week before he’d been discharged. A female Turian wearing plum accented white armor was leading the dock crew in loading the ship efficiently and speedily. “Let’s go people we’re fourteen months behind schedule!” She shouted to spur her workers to move faster. She had just picked up two crates herself when she saw Scott, Cora and Liam and set them back down again to approach.

“So you’re the one who’s making things happen finally,” She said, giving Scott a look up and down, her face not displaying any of her thoughts but her voice belaying her curiosity.She stuck out her hand for Scott to take, clasping his hand with a strong, firm grip. “Vetra, Vetra Nix.Initiative wrangler, provisioned, gunner and everything in between.”

“Scott Ryder, Pathfinder.This is Cora Harper my XO and Liam Kosta, crisis specialist.”This must be the Vetra that Kesh mentioned.

Vetra’s eyes flickered to someone behind them and then refocused on Scott. “Are you ready to get out of here?The sooner we get going the better.”

Vetra seemed to imply she was going with them.“I take it you’re going with us?” Scott asked, grabbing his own crate to lift as he motioned for Cora and Liam to help.

Vetra grabbed the crates she had previously set down and led Scott up the ramp into the cargo bag of the Tempest.“I sure am.There’s no way they’re letting this ship go anywhere off station without me.”

Eyes taking in the cargo bay and the stacks of crates that were neatly being piled off to one side, Scott placed his own crates in the growing pile.“I’m ready to go when you are.We’ve got all of Heleus to explore and daylight’s burning.”

The loading up was almost done, Scott and his team having helped the crew load as quickly as possible when a man with a data pad ran up to Vetra who’d been supervising one of the larger crates being moved. “Hold up you’re not going anywhere!”

Vetra exchanged a quick, annoyed look with Scott, shaking her head when he opened his mouth to talk and she swore.“Director Addison needs to see a complete manifest of all contents of the Tempest before clearance is given. Munitions, supplies, personnel.”The man was standing with his hand on his hips, obviously ready to call for assistance to stop them from continuing to load.

“Director Tann overruled Addison.We’ve got our mission,” Scott tried to reason with the man.

“This ship’s loaded out for outpost discovery which is squarely under Director Addison’s purview.”Yeah this asshole wasn’t moving at all.He’d thought Addison would be in favor of him getting underway but evidently not.

Vetra put her hand on Scott as she moved forward. “I’ve got this,” she murmured to Scott and indicated for him to keep everyone loading. Vetra had a sinuous sway to her gait as she approached the objector and turned him around, walking back toward the entrance to the docks.He tried vainly to get her hands off him and go back towards the Tempest but was arrested by whatever Vetra was saying to him. 

Scott kept the rest of the docking crew on task and soon they had all the crates stowed properly including his own locker which a crew mate had taken to deliver to the Pathfinder quarters onboard. He returned to the top of the ramp in time to see Vetra shake hands with the objector and quickly board the ship as the man left.

Raising an eyebrow, Scott asked her, “What’d you say to get him to see our side?”

Vetra sighed, an exasperated look on her face. “Getting your family out of cryo is a great bargaining chip for those of us who didn’t leave.I’m going to have to pull some strings but we shouldn’t have any more trouble from him.Let’s get out of here.”

“Out of cryo?”Scott inquired.

“I forget that you weren’t around during the trouble,” Vetra told him as she initiated ramp closure, watching the ramp briskly fold back into the ship and seal the ship closed. “To reduce energy and supply needs all deemed non-essential crew were put back into cryo.It’s been tough for us who weren’t put back into the deep freeze.Everyone knows someone who was put back in unfairly.”

“And you’ll get his family to the front of the line as soon as we find some supplies?”

“That’s what I promised.Now let’s blow this popsicle stand and get underway. Anyone give you a tour yet?”

“Lead the way,” Scott told her. 

***

2818 CE July 20th

Aya, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, pilot of found ship, homeless cast off of the Andromeda Initiative

Status: Experiencing deep immersion in Angaran Culture

 

It took several hours for Maiko to respond, enough time for a message to plausibly have had to travel much further than it really did.He’d sent a reply that indicated he’d send regular updates and for Maiko to abort if she did not get them.Tefa had been a quiet companion, mostly just watching Reyes with his big eyes.But at least Tefa had confirmed with Reyes that he was a he.Tefa had been very amused with Reyes questions about the proper way to refer to him as.He’d also informed Reyes that the easiest way to determine a female Angara was to look at their hips—wider hips indicated a female.Or at least a male who would be amused by Reyes error.

Kenax and Vestus had both visibly been relieved when Reyes had been returned to them unharmed.Alzik had merely suggested that they should trust the connection between his and Reyes omnitools which Alzik had used to keep an eye on Reyes. Sneaky, Reyes had told Alzik but otherwise was unbothered by the invasion of privacy as it was a safety measure.Once they’d been reunited, Tefa and several other Angarans had escorted them to a land vehicle that had taken them to a larger, more heavily populated area that was a string of terraces linked among the cliff sides.They first had been taken to a small private waterfall area with a bathing pool.Soap—which was deemed safe for use by Alzik—was provided and all of them had been satisfied to get clean.Sadly the Angaran did not use razors so Reyes was out of luck about taming his facial hair that was past due for some maintenance.Their suits had been removed for cleaning with promises from Tefa that they would be returned to them once they had been cleaned—Reyes had been unbothered by this as there was nothing in his suit that he needed right now.In their place, soft, cloth robes had been provided.There had been some teasing as Reyes had to be given a child’s size due to his slenderness and being shorter than the the average Angaran. But the fabric was very soft and had a texture similar to silk but much thicker.The sandals they’d been given were also laughably large on Reyes until they’d found a child size that didn’t fall immediately off his feet every time he took a step.

They’d then been taken to a room that appeared to be a dining hall where Evfra had rejoined them.Several different types of foods had been prepared—according to Tefa this was not normally how Angaran ate but hopefully they would be able to determine from the raw ingredients what would be safe for the vesagara—Reyes had the impression that the term was less than polite but simpler for the Angarans to use to refer to all of them.Alzik had spent almost an hour examining the various types of food stuffs.Reyes, who had minimal appetite at this point anyways, waited patiently while both Turians started glaring when they passed the half hour mark.

Reyes sat next to Evfra who was politely not eating in deference to the wait Reyes and the others were obliged to do until they were told it was safe to try things. Evfra spent most of his time observing Reyes and his companions but was more curious than anything, no overt displays of hostility.Reyes tried engaging him in discussion and was pleasantly surprised when Evfra played along. “You said that the Angaran that we returned to you was a taoshay of your Moshae.What does that mean exactly?”

Evfra, who had been sipping at some fruity beverage paused at Reyes question and seemed to think of how to interpret the words so the translator would accurately portray the meaning.“Taoshay means one that is loved—is usually reserved for close family members but can be for close.... what word would you use... friends. The Moshae is a title. Our current Moshae is Moshae Sjefa.” 

A title? Like a ruler?“What kind of title is it?”

“Moshae is... they are the one who knows the secrets of the Angara, who go to the places we cannot go.There is only ever one Moshae and when Sjefa is dying she will appoint her successor.But she does not rule the Angara but advises us. As I am the leader of the Resistance but do not rule the Angara.”

“Will we be meeting her?” Reyes inquired.Alzik indicated he was just about done with his analysis of the three common fruits.

“Perhaps,” was all Evfra would commit to. “Are you the leader of your people?”

Drinking from his glass of water, Reyes didn’t choke on it but it was a near thing. “I’m nominally in charge of the ship we came in but I am not in charge of everyone who came from the Milky Way Galaxy.”

“Who does lead you then?” Evfra was casual as he asked but Reyes could tell when he was being interrogated even if it was a fairly gentle one.

“It depends on which group of us you are speaking of,” Reyes responded vaguely on purpose. Time to see how much Evfra would push things.

“Which group do you belong to?”Evfra refilled his own glass of fruit juice, seemingly not paying close attention to Reyes answer but Tefa on Evfra’s other side was definitely watching and listening closely.

“Well,” Reyes took a drink from his own glass of water to stall. How much was too much information to reveal? “When we came from our galaxy we were initially all part of the Andromeda Initiative with several subdivisions within it’s whole. However, there’s been some disagreement about management and a fracturing of sorts within one of our subsets but the remainder of the Initiative remains quite whole.” If not scattered through Heleus assuming that they’d only gotten lost. but the Angaran didn’t need to know that right now. Also, Reyes was fairly sure that the translation between what he’d said—purposefully using similar but not the same words—would require a lot of analysis to be fully understood. Reyes had a lot of experience with faulty translations through omnitools as a trilingual human. Nuance was difficult for translators to pick up unless they were quite refined. Evfra would need to work for it to get all the information.

“But which group do you belong to?” Evfra restated his question.

“I am no longer part of the Initiative—I think everyone can agree on that,” Reyes hedged.“I count my friends here and the others on their way here as my current group. But you could group us all within those who have left the initiative. We are refugees at this time.”

“What is refugee?”Evfra seemed puzzled by this word.Reyes had used the word before but it seemed the translator was having difficulty giving an Angaran equivalent.

“We are no longer part of the whole. A refugee is someone who seeks safety, a new home”. Reyes tried to think of other ways to describe their situation. “A refugee does not seek war but seeks peace and safety from war.A place to live and be part of society.”

“To seek peace is admirable but the Angaran have found this difficult,” Evfra allowed.He took another deep draw of his drink. “Why did you leave this Initiative? Are the other vesagara like yourself?”

Reyes paused before answering, aware that his companions were steadily being distracted and drawn into other conversations but Vestus was still keeping a close eye on him and Evfra despite Tefa’s efforts to distract. “Our supplies were running short and arguments were starting to be had.I disagreed with the leader’s decision to put us back in stasis to wait for others to find somewhere for us to live.I would have been one of the ones searching but my friends,” he paused and pointed to his companions, “would not have. They are my friends and I could not leave them behind.”

“You are loyal to your friends,” Evfra seemed impressed but he his eyes gleamed even brighter with curiosity as he examined Reyes.“Many Angara would feel the same.What made you leave your own galaxy?”

Reyes gave Evfra the same half answer he’d given Kenax when he’d tried to pry his reasons for joining the Initiative from him. “Adventure. A chance to make my own way. To see what there is to see.”

Evfra, was perhaps more intuitive than Kenax. “And to perhaps leave something else behind.For one does not step out into the unknown unless it promises to be more than what is left.”

“Perhaps,” Reyes said.“My family encouraged me to go.” 

This did seem to surprise Evfra.“Angaran families would move together. We would not leave our family members behind easily.”

Just thinking of his family made Reyes sad.“My abuela—my grandmother—told me to go.My uncle had just died and my abuela knew I needed to go.She told me she would never speak to me again if I did not take the opportunity.She and my mother were the last of my family.”

“And what did your mother say?” Tefa interrupted, seemingly fascinated by Reyes’ tale of his family telling him to go.Vestus, on Tefa’s other side, also had a curious look on his face.Evfra indicated for Reyes to answer Tefa’s question.

“My mother had been ill a long time, ever since i was a boy.She agreed with my abuela.” That had been a very sad day for Reyes, his abuela and mother both in agreement that he should take the opportunity that his uncle had arranged for him.It had been a way out of Chile that even his father couldn’t have manipulated under such short notice. He tried not to think about the fact that his abuela and mother were now dead and there was nothing he could do for them.His mother had struggled mightily with depression his entire life, at times not leaving her room for a week due to the severity of it and at other times drifting through life like a ghost or an echo of a person that wasn’t truly there.She’d suffered from a broken heart, the curse of their family as his Tío had called it. The last conversation he’d had with his mother had been surreal.She’d told him to find his heart and to hold on to it better than she had—she told him she’d been dreaming that he would find someone but not in the Milky Way.He’d made a bad joke at the time about being perfectly fine with short term loves.She’d given him a look of pity and sadness that still made his own soul ache. She’d then kissed and hugged him goodbye and told him to go. He’d not looked back after that.

“In our galaxy, to leave home is something that many of us do,” Vestus spoke up, realizing that Reyes didn’t really want to elaborate further on his family. “I am a Turian, we have a strong tradition of militancy and dedication to service. But we also have families that know we will leave home and go to distant lands in our service. Humans, like Reyes, are just another species in our universe like myself but have more variety than us Turians.”

Reyes smiled and shared a short laugh at that. “Yes, us humans have many different cultures. I am from Chile, a country in South America on Earth. I am from a very different tradition than my friends but we are all friends.”

Evfra gave one of his exaggerated nods. “Us Angaran have different cultures too—we have been on several different systems long enough for there to be differences. But we are still all Angaran.”

“Are you from Aya?” Reyes asked Evfra.

“I am one of the few that were born here on Aya but have lived on several different planets.Aya is a special place for Angara—many only live here for a brief time in their lives so that many may experience the beauty of Aya.Although it is not to my thinking any more beautiful than Voeld or Harvarl even though they are different.”

Alzik passed some of the fruit juice to Reyes.“Should be safe,” the Salarian said as he continued to peer into his omnitool data scans. Reyes murmured his thanks and brought the cup to his nose to smell.“What is this called?”

“It is juice from the quiolla fruit. We call it quiolla kafa and it is made as a leftover from the nutrient paste vats,” Evfra said motioning to his own cup.

Reyes took a deep sniff of the sweet smelling drink with faint odd edge to it.It almost smelled like a cross between tart cherries and pineapple mixed with something he couldn’t name.Taking a hesitant sip, he let the fluid hit his taste buds. The consistency was thicker than he’d first assumed, similar to tomato soup but did taste like cherries mixed with pineapple... and maybe some sort of citrus?There was definitely an aftertaste that reminded him of hops. It really wasn’t half bad and he admitted he’d happily drink it as an alternative to protein shakes for calories. Taking a larger mouthful, his second taste confirmed that there was the hoppy aftertaste but he didn’t sense any burn of alcohol. He’d like to think Alzik would have warned him if there was a significant alcohol content. “Not bad,” Reyes told Evfra.

Evfra was amused.“You have many more things to try if your friend will let you.Now how about some paripo or quiolla?”

“Both fruits show no issues,” Alzik informed Reyes as Evfra passed the fruit.He also pointed to a bread like creation that seemed to be made of some sort of grain.“Also should be fine.”

Evfra passed small selections of the fruit to Reyes along with tearing off a section of what Reyes was colloquially referring to in his head as bread. The first fruit, paripo, was very delicate and smashed easily in his fingers and bright sunshine yellow in color with some small seeds seen in the center of the halved fruit. Evfra indicated he should put it on the bread and try it that way.He did so, and it was good—the fruit was more savory than the other but oddly smelled like kiwi and peppers. The bread also had a slight peppery kick to it but provided enough blandness so his tongue wasn’t on fire. Choking slightly at the spice when he took a second, larger bite, Reyes thought the Angaran would happily have compared notes with his favorite cook Rosita growing up.She’d liked to try all of her new creations out on Reyes and his childhood friends growing up. “It’s good.Spicy,” Reyes told Evfra.

“It is quite bland for most of our foods,” Evfra told him, a look that Reyes would soon recognize as mischievous on his face. “You should try more.”

Waving his hands in denial, Reyes swallowed his mouthful.“I haven’t been eating well for a long time.I must go slow or I will get ill.Have you any experience with this as Angaran?”

Evfra didn’t push.“You will know your bodies better than us.But try as much as you like.”

Alzik had in the meantime tried some himself and was drinking large cups of water, the pitcher next to his elbow.Evidently Salarians didn’t like spicy food.Alzik then pointed to a food off the side and said the Turians might try that as it was a dextro-protein based fruit that the Angarans for the most part had been leaving alone—evidently it was an acquired taste from their standpoint.Time to see what Turians thought of Andromeda food.

***

The remainder of dinner conversation had focused mainly on food.There had been stuff that was safe for Reyes and Alzik to eat as well as the fruit that most Angarans didn’t care for was adequate for Turian metabolisms.After dinner, in which Reyes had been careful only to eat small amounts and then wait a while before eating again, they had been given a small tour of what was referred to as the traveler’s house.It was set apart from the rest of the main city on Aya and attached to the place Evfra claimed as his own “headquarters” for the Resistance.Evfra had relaxed further as the meal went on and explained that he was in charge of the armed resistance to the Kett.The Kett were an invasion from another galaxy—which is why they’d been so concerned to see Reyes and his friends.Evidently the Angaran had met others from the Initiative that hadn’t been as welcoming.So far, Evfra was willing to give Reyes and his companions the benefit of the doubt—and he was in control as they were on his territory and surrounded. Learning was occurring on both sides but Evfra was a thoughtful host and didn’t overtly push any questions. So far, Reyes felt, so good.

At the end of the day, they’d been given a small amount of the fruit to eat as Alzik had indicated they should try to get a few more calories in before sleeping, and he’d looked critically at Reyes thin frame as he commented on this, and Evfra had provided. Instead of eating in the large dining hall they’d eaten in earlier, Evfra took them to a balcony that was high up in the traveler’s rooms, a few small padded low slung couches allowing for comfortable seating.From there, they’d eaten their small meal and watched a spectacular sunset. The sounds of crashing waves from the tide coming in below them echoed faintly up the cliff sides as well as the call of song bird-like animals that had come out now that the sun was setting below the horizon and had taken to the air, flocking in the air. It was paradise-like.Reyes could see why the Angaran had a strict system of how long you could stay on Aya before rotating out to other planets. He’d want to live here too and could understand the desire to stay. 

“Your home is beautiful Evfra,” Reyes told him. 

“Yes it is.”Evfra seemed pensive, studying Reyes.“You and your friends are welcome here for a time but it is our home... you understand?” 

Placing his cup down, he turned to look fully at Evfra and away from the sunset.“I understand.We thank you for your hospitality and your kindness.I hope that we remain friends and allies.”Maybe he was overselling it? Possibly but Evfra looked pleased at Reyes words. It wasn’t like Reyes could make anyone else from the Milky Way follow any rules.The other exiles would have to be getting desperate if they hadn’t found anything yet.And Evfra had spoken a sentence in standard.... he’d had to have heard that somewhere.

“I have met others from your Milky Way. They were not as honorable as you... or perhaps just more vicious in their desperation.”Evfra gave one of his exaggerated nods. “You are welcome here Reyes Vidal, you are not like the others we have met.Do not make us regret welcoming you here.”

“I will not,” Reyes said, trying to make Evfra believe him with his voice. Kenax, Vestus and Alzik all chorused their agreement.

“Only time will tell us what the future has in store.The Angaran once hoped that the Kett would be an ally but they only brought us war and death.I would be remiss not to make an ally of someone who does not shoot first.”Evfra then motioned for them to finish eating.

For the first time in a long while, Reyes felt that maybe things would actually be okay in Andromeda.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE March 21st_

_It seems that the Nexus has had the same sort of luck that we’ve experienced thus far.Things are far from ideal or even good.We arrived at the rendezvous point today and were able to locate the Nexus and dock.That’s the only thing that’s so far gone right.Evidently, we’re the only ark that’s found the Nexus.We were supposed to be the second to last... which means that they’re either lost or something worse happened to the other arks. SAM did some digging and there’s no information available on the turian, salarian or asari arks from the Nexus other than notations about them missing their rendezvous. Then again, we’re almost three months late by Nexus time reckoning... I’m not sure where we lost travel time—I thought we’d left on schedule but I’ll have to double check that._

_So the Nexus has had some issues.Jien Garson is dead as well as the next six in line for leadership which leaves a salarian accountant by the name of Jarun Tann in charge.From what SAM can tell me with minimal time to dig through all the records he’s been snooping through... something bad happened that Nexus leadership isn’t willing to share. SAM tells me if I give him more time he’ll have something more for me but he’s having difficult accessing some of the data banks that he should be easily able to get into and they show signs of tampering—whoever did the tampering did a hatchet job of it which is slowing SAM down. And that’s before we start looking into whatever happened in the mutiny.SAM is able to tell me that approximately 40% of the Nexus cryopods are empty. And the Hyperion’s records show that those cells were filled before the Nexus shipped. Of those 40%, SAM’s information is showing we can only account for about 30% of those with current assignments on the Nexus or throughout Heleus.Which means 28% of those shipped on the Nexus are unaccounted for. I hope they’re not all dead but I’m kinda afraid to ask SAM until he’s gotten more information._

_I spoke briefly with Captain Dunn before I left, she’s finishing hooking up the Hyperion to the power grid but is getting a lot of, shall we call it, flack from Tann’s team and Addison is also throwing her weight around. She’s leaving our people in cryo for now.She’s appropriately anxious given the situation and frustrated but she says she’ll await further information from me.Seems she’s not feeling the welcome from Nexus leadership either._

_The politics of the Nexus leadership is going to be a pain in the ass.Foster Addison has made it plain she doesn’t believe I can do anything and has been putting up roadblocks... I’m not sure if she’s trying to deliberately sabotage our mission or not but I’ll have to keep my eye on her. Foster was not the first in line for colony director but is actually the third.She seems to have the appropriate background according to SAM so I’m going to hold off making too many snap judgements—i haven’t been the one to watch every effort her people make fail.But she better start playing nice if we get her Eos. Otherwise I don’t see our future interactions not causing me migraines._

_Tann is the stereotype of every horrible penny pinching bureaucrat forced into a salarian mold and given the personality of a doorknob. Something odd happened when Cora was updating him.She was obviously uncomfortable when I made it into the office but she’s not saying what. Tann is so far supportive and given us our first mission.. but I admit to some suspicions that we’re not being told everything we could be. SAM is continuing to dig but what he’s finding isn’t reassuring. There’s probably over a hundred scientists and security people assigned to Eos but the reports that SAM can access are full of holes and none of them are more recent than over three months ago._

_The only one of the big three in leadership positions that might be in my court is Kesh.She quoted The Tempest to me.If she wasn’t a krogan and female I think I might ask her out for a drink just for that alone. She’s given me a huge shopping list and made sure I understood the risks of not bringing everything home.I hope I can keep her happy, she’s made her expectations clear._

_We’re currently en route to Eos.Evidently it’s a desert planet with a side of excessive heat and radiation. But luckily, there is a paucity of lightning strikes there so my odds of getting electrocuted in the next week have gone down from our last outing. The ship they’ve given us is beautiful and the crew, well they’re eclectic but so far so good. I just have to focus on what’s immediately in front of me.Our priorities are to establish a place with breathable air and an environment that won’t immediately kill us with a stable source of food and water. We’ll start at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and work our way up._

_I can do this. I just have to keep focusing on that.Dad must have had a reason for all this..._

 


	11. Chapter ten

Chapter Ten

 

2818 CE July 21st

Aya, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Angaran house guest

Status: Exchanging culture with surfing diplomacy

 

The rooms they’d been given to sleep in were simply appointed but with large, comfortable beds and thick blankets made of the same material as the garments they’d been given. The overall color scheme was off white, dark mahogany like wood accents and green from the plants that covered the corners—Angarans evidently believed in letting nature inside their homes.There were two beds to a room so, despite being given two rooms the turians had insisted on just using one.Vestus had insisted on a night watch and Reyes had agreed with his concerns.While the Angarans had been hospitable so far, no one was fully prepared to completely trust them.Alzik, as a salarian, needed much less sleep than the rest of them and insisted on taking most of the watch. He woke Vestus and Kenax for three hours in the middle of the night but otherwise sat on the balcony attached to the room and reviewed all the data his omnitool had captured for the day and neglected to wake Reyes for his own watch.Alzik was determined to know which of all the foods he’d scanned would possibly cause issues for any of them and got too caught up in the data and missed the wake time. He’d also designed a refeeding plan for Reyes to test so he could act as the experiment for when the girls joined them.

Reyes had also surreptitiously asked Alzik to scan for listening devices as well as tracking programs.He needed to contact the VI in the ship via his own omnitool so he could regularly update Maiko.Reyes would rather do this without the Angarans knowing as he felt this would be safer. While Evfra wore an omnitool as well as several others, they did not seem to know what an omnitool could completely do other than translate. Which led to the question of where they’d gotten the omnitools from. Reyes had a feeling that the Nexus hadn’t been telling them a lot of things. Evfra had as much as said that they were not the first Milky Way inhabitants for the angara to run into—but maybe the first on Aya—which was concerning to the Angarans.

Early the next morning, Reyes awoke feeling more refreshed than he had in a long time, he’d also overslept as Alzik should have awakened him earlier for watch duties—ah well, Alzik’s loss. . He briefly reflected that fresh air and a planet was his preferred habitat—of which Aya was an excellent example. Stretching, He noticed that the turians were still both asleep, sharing the other bed in the room. Evidently Vestus was the small spoon in their relationship. As Reyes stretched, reaching his arms over his head and then bending forward to pull on sleep stiff muscles, Vestus opened one eye to watch their human moving about. Reyes could also hear soft sounds of Alzik talking to himself as he worked on his omnitool.

Standing now, Reyes went to join Alzik.Vestus stopped him with a soft call of Reyes name, evidently not wanting to awaken Kenax who was still sleeping. 

“Yes?”Reyes asked just as quietly, his eyes darting to Kenax’s sleeping form.

“You did good yesterday.Score one for the squishy human.”Vestus’s mandibles were flaring in a amused smirk but his eyes were serious.

Rolling his eyes, Reyes returned the smile while pointing to his exposed forearms that were really just bone and muscle.“Not squishy.”

Snorting slightly, Vestus gestured with his one free hand to shoo Reyes out onto the balcony. “It’s too early.Find us some food why don’t you?”

Nodding, Reyes was going to verbally reply but Kenax shifted slightly in his sleep.Not wanting to disturb his friend’s rest, Reyes nodded a second time and gave Vestus a thumbs up before turning and walking out to the connected balconies where Alzik was sitting at one of the couches. He paused to look out over the water. The sun was just below the horizon and the sky was beautiful, painted with the faint orange, pink and blues of just before sunrise. A few clouds were scattered over the horizon and the cooler air temperature from overnight had caused a fog bank to roll in, obscuring the trees below them for the most part but the tallest parts of the canopy were visible. The tide was going out this morning but the sound of waves crashing amongst the calls of songbirds and insects felt untouched and pure. The city that they’d landed next to spread out to the left down the cliffs but the view of the ocean here was breathtaking. It reminded Reyes of the home he’d grown up in, of the trips he’d taken to Pichilemu to go surfing with his friends on school breaks and finding his place on the giant waves at Punta de Lobos.It’d been so long since he’d been surfing... he wondered what the Angarans did for fun.Did they surf?He knew the turians didn’t as when he’d asked about swimming Kenax had asked why humans felt compelled to be in the water so much for a non-aquatic species. Turians sank evidently, not enough body fat to float well. Maybe Salarians had a different attitude—he’d have to ask Alzik. 

“Do Salarians swim for fun? Surf?” 

Alzik, thoughts interrupted, blinked for a few moments as he looked at Reyes. “We swim yes.We originally were an aquatic race. I have heard of a few of us taking up your human sport of surfing but have never been so inclined myself.”

Reyes sat on one of the couches across from Alzik. “We clean?” He asked, referring to his request for scanning for listening and tracking devices.

“As far as I can tell.These rooms seem to be very low tech.If there is something it will be passive.Unlikely that there will be anything that can pick up activity from your omnitool.”

Pulling up his own omnitool, Reyes tried to stifle his yawn but found himself doing so anyway.He’d slept well and deeply, more so than he had even on the Nexus. Tapping a few commands in, he waited for his omnitool to connect to the VI in the ship which it did so without difficulty.Pausing to think, he quickly composed an update message for Maiko and Julia and sent it, waiting for confirmation from the VI that the message had been successfully sent which he then received a few minutes later. Two minutes later, Maiko pinged him back with a short “message received.”Yawning again, Reyes watched Alzik work for a few moments before turning back to watch the sun rise over the horizon.He’d appreciate the view while he could. He snapped a picture of the sunrise and then also sent that to Maiko.Five minutes later he got a photo of her flipping him off with her tongue stuck out at him, subtitled ‘don’t rub it in.’Laughing to himself, Reyes went back to watching the sunrise.

Fifteen minutes later, Alzik broke the silence. Reyes had almost fallen back asleep but focused quickly on the salarian. “I’ve completed my analysis of the foods that were on the table yesterday.I suspect that if we were to drink non-sterilized water we may have difficulty with gastrointestinal upset. I’d recommend only drinking sterilized water.Also, make sure you scan any uncooked fresh fruit first with your omnitool.I’ve sent a program to your scanner to check for any bacteria contamination that may cause issues with uncooked foods. Otherwise, I suspect most of the food here should be able to be tolerated and metabolized by you and I.We may need to discuss higher protein content foods at some point but calories are more essential at least for the time being.Also, make sure you eat enough paripo as it’s high in thiamine and potassium which you should need”

“I thought you were a geneticist not a nutritionist?” Reyes asked, his tone light and slightly joking but he was mostly serious about this question.

“True, but have a degree in biochemistry as well. I am not as familiar with humans aswould like to be making these recommendations.You will need frequent small meals to replace the energy reserve you have lost in the last several months. Being on planet in gravity should also be good for regaining muscle mass.Sun is also good for vitamin D synthesis—right wavelength of light for humans.”

“True,” Reyes answered.He remembered from his basic training in the Alliance they had covered extreme survival situations and what to do.One part that had been repetitively reemphasized was that small frequent meals after a period of starvation rations was much better than eating large meals—the medics had called it refeeding syndrome.According to his own omnitool, his body mass index was borderline very low—17.8% from where he’d started at 24% which was considered healthy for him according to the Alliance as most of his weight was in muscle from his routine physical activity as a service member.He’d last weighed this little when he was in secondary school and that was after correcting for gravity differences on Aya vs Earth. “So we’ve got air, food, water, and shelter temporarily.We need to figure out the long term plan then.”

“Friendship with the Angara should allow us time,” Alzik offered, his face pensive.

“We’ve really lucked out to find Aya, even if it’s only temporary.”

“And aesthetically pleasing.We should ask Evfra if they know of any uninhabited planets that would make a good home—or a place that would allow us to have a corner of an inhabited world.”

“Yes we should,” Reyes said as he gazed out on the water. There was a lot riding on them staying on Evfra’s good side.

***

Alzik and Reyes enjoyed the warm breeze on the balcony for almost an hour before one of the Angarans came to see if they were up.Tefa, a familiar face, showed up with a basket full of baked goods and fruit that Vestus and Kenax had eaten yesterday. He also carried a large water skin of clean water to share. Reyes awoke the turians now that food was here and they broke their fast on the same balcony they had eaten the night before.Tefa was more relaxed this morning, asking questions about the differences between salarians, turians and humans.He also had the joke “squishy human” explained to him after hearing Vestus refer to Reyes as such. Tefa had been dismayed to hear that they had been on limited rations and swore that they would make sure that didn’t happen again. Tefa was quickly becoming a good friend. Tefa, in turn, explained some oddities and quirks of Angarans to them. He assured them that they would have more clothing options later in the day as his own mother was a gifted seamstress and had taken up the challenge of duplicating the clothes that they had with them that were, to be put plainly, wearing out.

Reyes, in turn, had asked about what Angarans did for fun.Tefa had spoken of games and sport.Reyes had explained that where he was from the most popular things he’d done as a child was football and surfing.Tefa had seemed confused as to how one could ride a wave and Reyes got involved in a long explanation about how surfboards were shaped and how one would ride waves, football would require more time to explain complicated rules and roles for each player—Reyes had been a midfielder in his club prior to joining the Alliance. Tefa was fascinated by this, noting that his people enjoyed swimming in the waters around there but that no one had ever ridden a wave. He carefully listened to Reyes explanations and had a scheming look on his face.Reyes would bet that there would eventually be at least one surfing Angaran in the future.

Towards the end of their meal, Evfra had joined them.He’d been his usual cautious self but told them that he was going to give them a tour of the city today.Tomorrow they would meet with the governor of Aya, Paaran Shie.Reyes had found it odd that so far Evfra had been in charge of everything and that the governor hadn’t been present or seemed to have given orders regarding them.Evfra then explained that Shie was the governor of Aya but had limited involvement in the coordination of the defense of the Angaran worlds—that was Evfra’s job as leader of the resistance.Reyes wasn’t the only one of his companions that was confused by the Angaran power structure but figured he’d learn as he went.

Once everyone was awake and fed, they set out to discover the rest of the city.Evfra took them through the marketplace, the repository of history, the Resistance headquarters, the gardens, the local eatery, as well as the governor’s office which they only passed by but did not step inside. Evfra gave a running commentary of each place, speaking of it’s significance in Angaran culture. When they were finished with the city, they walked through the residential housing to make their way down the cliffs towards the water. In the marketplace, Tefa had obtained more food, a small portion of which he made sure to give Reyes to encourage him to eat. Vestus and Kenax had both been amused by this and encouraged Tefa to help them get their human back to peak “squishiness” as they put it.Reyes had been less than amused but it had made Evfra laugh once it’d been explained to him what the joke meant.

The highlight of the day though had been the ocean for Reyes.The stairs from the residential section led to a black lava sandy beach that was pristine in it’s beauty.Multiple Angaran families were enjoying the water, young children dashing back and forth playing in the sand and waves.A group of fisherman fished off the rocks at the end of one of the headlands.The waves in the cove were gentle as a water break could be seen where the heavier waves crashed against several hundred meters out.Beyond the break, larger one to two meter tall waves could be seen curling from the center point towards the headlands that made the cove.Perfect waves to get back on a board from Reyes standpoint.It’d been almost a decade (plus or minus six hundred some years) since he’d last had the freedom to surf.Before anyone could stop him, Reyes was knee deep in the surf, his toes curling happily in the sand as the surprisingly warmish water pooled around his legs, his feet sinking in the sand with each wave depositing more sand.He found himself grinning and playfully splashing Alzik who had also entered the water in appreciation.Kenax and Vestus watched from the waterline, keeping a close eye on their companions but carefully not getting their feet wet. Evfra commented that he didn’t want to get wet, Tefa joined Reyes and Alzik, playfully splashing several children that ran past them.

“Aya is a beautiful place,” Reyes said. “If you can find some appropriate materials for boards I will teach you to surf Tefa,”

Tefa made a sound of excitement and gave several enthusiastic claps to Reyes right shoulder.“I would try this wave riding, this surfing.”

“What is surfing?” Evfra asked from shore, his toes just barely escaping the water.

Laughing, Reyes looked back at Kenax who looked less than impressed.

“You humans and your strange love of water,” Kenax teased.

“You’re just jealous cause you sink in water,” Reyes teased back.

Happily splashing around, Reyes just shrugged as Kenax and Vestus made almost identical faces at him but didn’t enter the water. “It’s because we’re not squishy like you!”

Reyes, admittedly completely reflexively at this point, rejoined, “Not squishy!”

“You Milky Way people are a strange people,” Evfra said as he laughed.

***

Reyes had eventually, reluctantly, left the water and beach behind.Tefa had then shown them back to their quarters where an older Angaran woman met them.Tefa introduced them to his true-mother Yaansa.Yaansa was the female Angaran equivalent of Tefa, her skin color leaning more towards evergreen than purple, her hips wider and her face more aged than Tefa’s. Yaansa had brought clothing that would fit both Reyes and Alzik and she was eager to have them try on her work as she implied that she’d not had anything new to work with in quite some time.Evidently she felt compelled to meet the turians to make sure that she could do something for them which made Vestus blush when she explained why—evidently she’d been puzzled by their measurements.She gave Reyes an Angaran style half cloak, really a poncho, called a rofjinn which was a type of cloak given to those with status within the Angaran, designating him the human leader of the travelers from the Milky Way that were on Aya.Reyes had felt guilty as she explained the garment but Kenax was quick to speak. “Reyes, it suits you.Only you could pull off that color of blue.On me or Vestus it’d just look weird.”

“Thanks,” Reyes said to Yaansa, and he meant it.“I’ve never had anything like this.”The color and sway of the material was deceptive as he ran his fingers over it and reminded him of the ocean they’d just left earlier.Yaansa then explained how with their technology they wove materials into rofjinn that would deflect their energy weapons and was usually worn with armor.Yaansa pointed to the fasteners and then explained how they worked, not completely similar to a zipper but close enough that Reyes could understand. Excusing himself once he could undo the fasteners without difficulty, he stepped into the other room to try on the clothes. 

Laying the clothing that he’d been given out on the bed, Reyes quickly removed the robe he’d been wearing.Luckily, he’d had several changes of boxer briefs with him but they’d been getting a little threadbare.Yaansa had even duplicated them, using a lightweight black colored version of the cloth that most of the clothes were made out of with some stretch to it but still opaque even when he over stretched it purposefully to see if it became see through. Reyes likened it to the silk blend fabric that under armor clothing was made of as the nearest equivalent to what he considered normal fabrics. Like under armor clothing, the fabric was form fitting and molded to the body but not tight as he noted as he stepped into the underwear and drew it to his waist.They fit well, the legs going down his thighs almost to three centimeters above the top of his knee, so slightly long but they were so skin tight fitting that he didn’t think he’d notice as it held everything smoothly without chafing.The trousers Yaansa had made were some sort of heavy duty dark brown colored leather but soft and not as form fitting as his old pants but were an appropriate length and, when he checked, gave him full range of motion to squat or kick and tucked nicely under his boots which had been returned to him after being cleaned along with his socks which had been patched where the left toe had been becoming ragged.The shirt was similar to all t-shirts he’d ever worn, made again of the same material that had been used in the robe he had been wearing but in a closer to plum color that went well with Reyes’ skin tone with a very subtle pattern to the weave that caused a shimmer when it was caught in the light. Fastening the pants with their side closure, Reyes wished he had a mirror to see what he looked like but shrugged and rejoined everyone.

Kenax gave a playful wolf whistle which made Reyes shoot him a dirty look at Kenax who was relaxing with his feet up on a stool, leaning into Vestus who was speaking with Yaansa about proportions so she could make something appropriate for him.Alzik traded places with Reyes to change in the other room.Yaansa paused her conversation with Vestus when she noticed that Reyes had returned. “You like?” She asked.

Nodding, Reyes smiled at the gentle woman. “Yes. They fit very well.I am impressed with the speed you made them.”

‘Yaansa made a motion with her hand as if to dismiss the compliment.“I am pleased that you are happy.We will make you several sets now that we know they will fit.Do you like the colors?I asked Tefa and he suggested the purple even though your other clothes are so black and brown.”

“Thank you very much,” Reyes told her earnestly. “It is much appreciated and I love the colors.Please let me know if I can do anything for you in return.”

Yaansa smiled, amused by Reyes compliment.“You can wear it with pride.I enjoy my work being enjoyed by those who wear it.”

***

Later that evening after they’d retired to the rooms, Reyes was the first up for watch tonight as he’d been skipped by his friends the evening before. Fiddling with his omnitool, Reyes had been skimming through the telemetry readings that they’d taken when they’d been flying through the atmosphere during entry.It really was remarkable how perfect of a world Aya was but how small the habitable landmass was. Evfra had commented earlier that the reason there was a lottery and schedule for Angara to live on Aya was due to the minimal amount of landmass that was stable.According to Evfra, although not all of the land masses had active volcanic activity, there was significant tectonic instability.The islands that the Angarans had colonized around the equator of the planet like a belt were the most stable areas—and it was not unknown for there to be earthquakes or the Aya-equivalent of tsunamis.Evfra had been surprised and intrigued by Reyes questions regarding early monitoring systems for tsunamis like there was on Earth.

Reyes didn’t know a lot about ocean monitoring but he’d grown up in an area that theoretically could have been affected by a tsunami and had to undergo school drills regarding them.He’d made a note to check the stuff he’d downloaded for oceanography and tsunami warning systems. If they could contribute something that made the life of the Angarans better maybe they’d be given a place to live and could somehow make it so the rest of the Milky Way settlers could have someplace safe to stay.While Reyes had left the Initiative, he wasn’t ready to give up on everybody.

A soft knock sounded at the door and Reyes stood to answer, walking past the slumbering Alzik and he’d initially thought both turians but Vestus’ cracked his eyes open to watch Reyes answer to the door. Vestus made no noise or move but inclined his head so he could watch Reyes open the door.Reyes nodded in acknowledgement before he opened the door.On the other side of the door was Tefa, carrying what appeared to be drawing materials as well as a small tray of food.

“Tefa?” Reyes asked, curious why the Angaran was here so late.Vestus also relaxed more as he said the angaran’s name, shuffling slightly in bed to move Kenax into a more comfortable position as he rolled away from Vestus to leave Vestus free to jump out of bed if necessary. 

“Your companions said you needed to eat frequently and I wanted details about your wave riding boards,” Tefa admitted, lifting first the drawing supplies in his right hand and then the food stuffs in his left. His face was sheepish, but hopeful.

Reyes only debated momentarily before holding his hand up in front of his face and shushing Tefa, before letting him in and taking him to the balcony table and chairs were but taking the drawing materials so Tefa wouldn’t drop them. Vestus immediately pretended to be asleep and Tefa walked carefully through the room making minimal noise. Reyes followed Tefa to the table and took the offered drawing materials.The stylus he’d been handed was similar to a pencil, a soft end of some substance similar to charcoal with a fine point. The drawing pad was fibrous but Reyes couldn’t decide what it was made out of. “Have a seat,” he told Tefa.

Tefa immediately handed over the the food which was more of the spicy bread and paripo with water noted in a stoppered flask.Reyes put the fruit, bread and water to the side and waited for Tefa to speak. “This wave riding you speak of and the warning system for the wave storms.... you really come from a world similar to Aya?” 

Looking at Tefa’s curious and eager face, Reyes felt older than he really was at 27.He really was jaded from his Andromeda experience but he could understand Tefa’s eagerness to try surfing. Reyes had been surfing since he was four and his uncle had taken him and his friends to the beach every chance they’d had which was every weekend—he was pretty sure he had photos of his first attempt at standing up on a board somewhere in his data stash. His Tío had believed in relaxing and getting away from the sometimes tense atmosphere of the estate on which he worked, taking his young nephew to his favorite spots and indulging Reyes in his curiosities and youthful vigor was greatly satisfied by surfing and swimming in the waters around one of the estates that he managed.“There are parts of it that are similar to Aya.For instance,”Reyes paused to take a sip of the water which was cool and vaguely mineralized, “the water here is warmer than it was at home for me.Punta de Lobos has very cold water and requires wet suits for someone like me to surf the big waves but to the north of Chile there are warmer waves.We also have what we call tsunami’s—one hit Pichilemu when i was six and the city was mostly protected by protective barriers but there was still damage.”

“Tsu... na..... mi.... is a word that is very different from the others you use,”. Tefa tried to twist his tongue around the first syllable with difficulty.

“Tsunami is a Japanese word—another human culture—for giant wave caused by movement of the tectonic plates—usually they are very powerful, destructive waves.Before we made barriers to protect cities tsunami’s could cause huge disasters.But they are only a problem along the coasts and on islands.The bigger parts of the continents are not affected by them.At least on Earth where I was born they are not.”

“But these systems give warning so no one is killed by the waves?”

“It is rare now.But a hundred years ago we didn’t have the barriers but did have warning systems.”Reyes started in on the paripo as Tefa considered what he’d told him. Tefa was evidently young for an Angaran and was somehow related to Evfra from what Reyes had overheard.Tefa was, however, considered part of the Resistance on Aya and a warrior of sorts.Reyes wondered what kind of training the Resistance did or if they were as hodgepodge as he feared they might be. Angaran society seemed to function on collectivism similar to many asian societies on earth—which had it’s pros and cons. But Angaran society seemed to value peace and with the arrival of the Kett in Heleus it had obviously gone badly for the Angarans.

Tefa interrupted Reyes thoughts. “But you know how to make these early warning signals?You would share them with us?”

Swallowing, Reyes nodded. “I would.It would make you safer on Aya from what Evfra says.We are becoming good friends and friends share to protect their friends.”

“You coming here will be good for us,” Tefa stated, his tone brooking no argument from Reyes.“We have encountered others of your Initiative and they were not interested in sharing but only in taking.You are different Reyes Vidal, Captain of the Discover.”

Now uncomfortable under Tefa’s proclamation, Reyes fidgeted slightly and took another bite of food to delay replying. “We, my friends and I, wish to be friends and live in peace.We will share what we know if it helps the Angarans.”

Tefa seemed appeased with Reyes response, picking up the stylus that Reyes had dropped when he began eating.“You will show me what I need so we can go surfing. You said I needed to find materials for ‘boards’ and what are these ‘wet suits’ you speak of?”

“Well, for waves like I saw out there for learning, you’ll need a wider and longer board than you would for bigger waves if you were more experienced...”

***

 

2819 CE March 21st

Tempest En Route to Pytheas system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Clearing up some misunderstandings

 

After finishing stowing all the cargo, Vetra gave Scott the two credit tour and introduced him, Cora, and Liam to the crew.Lexi T’Perro was the ship’s doctor instead of Harry—probably a good substitution after Harry’s comments regarding Habitat 7.There was the preoccupied engineer, Gil Brodie and the science officer Dr. Suvi Anwar who he only briefly said hello to before they got to their respective jobs. They lost Liam at the comm station—him muttering something about setting up connections to the Nexus security ops team called strike teams.The pilot was a salarian by the name of Kallo Jath, who was, for a salarian laid back and reminded Scott of all the ‘surfer dude’ persona Air Force pilots he’d ever met back on Earth minus the ‘dude’ speak until he’d started an argument with Gil over some specification and all laid-blackness had become pure salarian prissiness—Scott could tell they’d been arguing forever by the sounds of the sniping going back and forth. Vetra explained that everyone on the Tempest was the best in their fields and that she assumed Scott would add to the teams as they went as they were truly a skeleton crew at the moment. Scott thanked her as she pointed out the navigational systems and advised Scott to put in their location as the rest of them hadn’t been briefed by the leadership.

Stepping up to the map of Heleus on the screen, Scott with SAM’s help keyed in the coordinates for Eos in the Pytheas system. Estimated travel time was 8 standard hours. Hitting the confirmation command, Scott took a deep breath as Kallo verified their destination and asked permission to lift off.“Permission granted,” Scott told him.He had to squash the impulse to make a bad Star Trek joke and add ‘make it so’. It was too bad Sara wasn’t here, she’d have gone for the reference whereas he was struggling to look the professional.

Suvi had joined them and taken the copilot chair. With her help, Kallo took the Tempest to the sky and expertly navigated out of the dock.Watching on the HUD with Cora a step behind him and to the left, they quickly left the Nexus behind and made the jump to light speed with minimal disturbance to notice on the ship as they gained speed.

“How much information regarding Eos did Tann give us?” Cora asked once they were well clear of the Nexus and underway, both of them just watching the HUD as it identified relative distances and objects such as meteors, planets, and star systems.

Scott inclined his head towards Cora and then turned to look at her. “SAM tells me that it’s less than it should be.There’s evidence of a lot of missing data.”

“So more hostile aliens and something else going on that we don’t know?” Cora asked, arching one of her perfectly groomed blonde eyebrows. She did have a slight amused smile on her face so it didn’t come across as sarcastic as it could have.

“Definitely plan on hostile aliens.I’d go so far as to bet we may also have hostile humans, salarians, krogan or turians as well.”The brief glance he’d taken at the reports showed that there was at least fifty scientists and security personnel that were unaccounted for on Eos.He needed time to look over the data more carefully.SAM gave him a few talking points that he relayed to Cora. “There’s a lot of unaccounted for Initiative personnel in the data. And the resource deployment data is missing whole sections according to SAM.”

“So who knows what we’re about to walk into?” Cora looked eager to go exploring if Scott had to guess what that expression on her face meant—it wasn’t an expression that said she was reluctant by any means.

“I need to read the information and get some rest before planet fall, so do you.” Scott told Cora, turning to go.“Kallo, Suvi do you need anything until we get closer?”

“No Pathfinder,” Kallo and Suvi replied in concert.

Nodding, Scott turned to go find his footlocker and his quarters, Cora on his heels.“Do you think we’ll have a lot of trouble at the colony site?” Cora asked him as she followed him towards the crew quarters.

Thinking before responding, Scott gave her a truthful answer. “I think that if nothing else a colony site is a great place to scavenge for supplies if you’re living on scraps and are betting on no one living there.On the other hand, I’m very worried about how many hostile aliens we’re going to run into if they know we’ve been trying to establish a ground side colony given the list of MIAs.”

Cora nodded at each point Scott made, they’d now reached the cargo bay and started to sort through the boxes in search of their footlockers.Scott was pretty sure he’d seen his own on the far right side behind those two stacks.

“So you think we might have hostile mutineers?”

Scott shrugged.“I think it depends on your perspective whether you consider yourself a ‘mutineer’ or a refugee from bad decision making. We’ve heard one side of what happened—and that has been pretty sparse for details but things don’t sound like they’ve been going well or to the original plan.I’ve had SAM pulling information—I’ll share it with you after I’ve had a chance to go through it myself.”

There was a period of silence as Scott and Cora both unstacked and restacked crates looking for the one with the right label. “You’re not like your father are you?” Cora finally asked him.

Pausing as he’d finally found the crate with his own name on it, Scott sighed. “No I am not my Dad.Just like you’re not him either.”

Cora let out a loud burst of frustration. “So why did he pick you then?I trained for two years... and I’m pretty sure you didn’t train for this” she waved her hands around her, “at all or you would have been right beside me. ”

Taking a deep breath, Scott straightened up and looked at Cora, she wasn’t looking at him but was glaring at a stack of boxes, her hands clenched next to her sides. “I don’t know why he picked me instead of you.My dad did a lot of things that I can’t explain why he did them.But I can tell you that I’m going to do the best job I can possibly do.Right now that means we need to get a functional colony,” Scott reached out and gently laid his hand on Cora’s shoulder.She was tense under his touch but didn’t flinch away or throw a punch which he thought she might have if it was him. “If my dad made you his second in command that means you’re more than capable.I would just ask that since we both want the same things that we work together.Can you do that?”

Cora looked up at him, her light fawn colored eyes took on a biotic blue gleam as they piercing through the blond fringe that fell across her face. She didn’t look angry she just looked frustrated. “I can work with you,” She bit out. “I just wish you had your father’s confidence in our mission or at least sounded like there wasn’t any doubt about what we need to do next.I don’t like uncertainties. You also look at things a lot different than your father, you talk as if there are shades of grey to our situation and it makes me feel like we’re walking into a disaster that I can’t prepare for or accurately predict and someone is going to get hurt or killed because we don’t know what’s going on.”

Ah.... so Cora was a black and white thinking type and wanted reassurance. Well, he could work with that but she needed to understand the differences between him and his father. “If you’d prefer me to bull shit you about things I don’t know i can do that—but I think I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t give you the most accurate sitrep I can give you.Which means I’m going to tell you about uncertainties.”Cora looked a little less freaked but she still was staring at Scott listening to him, at least she seemed to be understanding what he said.“I have a different approach than my dad—I’m more of a wait and see guy when it comes to making decisions about who’s telling me the truth and I think it’s warranted here.Tann and Addison have good reasons to lie to us, and maybe Kesh too, about what happened to the Nexus and the leadership.You don’t get to the eighth in line in command by pure chance... the odds are astronomical of having that kind of disaster.”

“So you think they’re keeping something bad from us?” Cora’s stare had upped it’s intensity. 

“I think that we need a working colony... which is my first priority. But I trust what they gave us for intel is at best incomplete and at worst has been selectively edited.”Scott maintained eye contact with Cora despite the urge to fidget.She needed to understand why they had to be careful and why he suspected that the intel was going to be incomplete and untrustworthy.He couldn’t give her the absolutes that his dad would have even if he was full of shit—Scott had experienced this himself in the past and he’d promised himself when he’d became an officer that he wouldn’t do that to his own teams.

Cora seemed to think about what he said for several minutes before she relaxed, dropped her gaze, and nodded. “Thank you for being honest with me.”

“You don’t agree with my assessment?” Scott asked her, genuinely curious about her thoughts as he couldn’t get a good read on her.

Cora paused again before replying, looking back at him. “I think you thought a lot more about this than I did... which I need to start thinking about more rather than just accepting things at face value. I thought...” she paused, looking back towards the bridge of the ship. “I thought that when I came to Andromeda I would do my time following orders and get promoted in a few years to a team of my own.”

Smiling wryly at her, Scott snorted. “And then I come along and wreck your carefully laid plans.”

“You didn’t ruin anything.I just don’t understand why I wasn’t given the chance to prove myself but I suppose it shouldn’t really be a surprise.”Cora wasn’t crying but she did look really sad, letting out a suspicious sounding sniffle despite her dry eyes.

“Why wouldn’t you be surprised?You are the XO of the pathfinder team.” 

“Your father used to talk about you during the training that I went through with him to be XO.He talked about you being the youngest ever to apply and be accepted to N training in Rio and how you went behind his back to do it. I actually thought...” Cora trailed off, looking over his shoulder focusing on her own memories.Scott couldn’t help goggling at her for what she was saying about his dad. “I thought he was trying to talk you up and set us up on a date two years ago when I first met you.He’d talk about you like you could do no wrong and I needed to up my game to be able to be an XO of a team that included you.”

“What?” Scott exclaimed, aware his mouth was open unattractively as he gaped at her.He’d never heard a word of praise regarding his performance from his father.He’d only ever heard critiques and noting of mistakes. And setting him up with Cora? Oh god... that put their first meeting in an entirely different light.

Chuckling to herself, Cora nodded, obviously thinking of the same first impression. “Yeah, that awkward dinner invitation that you walked into after not showering for two weeks from being on a training assignment down range in a swamp.I remember getting a new dress that I absolutely loved, spending an eternity on my makeup, nails, and hair and you took one look at me, smiled, shook my hand with quite possibly the grossest hand I’d ever seen on a marine, and then trudged up the stairs to get clean with a ‘yo nice to meet a friend of my father’s’ and when you came back down all the food was cold.”

Now blushing fully, Scott wondered if she’d figured it out or not,He vividly remembered that training assignment and the dinner she was referring to—he’d been dunked multiple times daily in the nastiest mud bath known to man and had gone straight home to his parents to clean up after being dismissed from debrief.He’d been beyond rank and had to destroy everything he’d been wearing except for his tags, even his boots after that training mission. “So about that.... I’m really only interested in other men, not that you’re not a beautiful, accomplished, and wonderful woman but you’re really not my type.”

Blushing herself, Cora ducked her head. “Yeah your mom told me after she figured out your father was trying to set us up.She was really mortified on my behalf about the set up.I still don’t know if your father knew or not.He kept inviting me over for dinner when you’d be around but I didn’t accept any more invites after the first one.”

Rubbing his neck and trying to stop blushing, Scott awkwardly cleared his throat.“He knew... or at least he knew that I did sleep with men on occasion. I think he just hoped I would find someone to have a family with.He had this thing about planning out my life without telling me.”Yeah, his teen years between college semesters and ROTC training had been spent at home... which had been doubly awkward when he’d had a falling out with one of his father’s research assistants who’d been hoping to get more research time by fucking his PI’s son. Scott hadn’t appreciated the lesson in being careful about other people’s motives at the time but he’d learned it a lot earlier than some people did.

“I thought with all the preparatory work being done for the Initiative that you would spend more time in the same training but he kept saying that your time as a spec ops officer would be more valuable when we got here.”Cora was trying to steer the conversation away from the awkward family dynamics.

“Well, it would have been nice to know he thought I was coming here earlier than three weeks before the Hyperion left dock.” 

“What?!?” Cora now looked wide eyed at him. “You were on the team roster from before I signed on.”

Sighing, Scott grimaced at Cora’s surprised look. “Yeah he liked to have things planned out for me far in advance and would let me know at the last minute what I was expected to show up and perform.I didn’t get a lot of say so in my own destiny.”

“But you wanted to come! He talked about how you would be so excited to explore the different habitats as part of the team and how your recon work would come in handy.”Cora looked mildly horrified at the revelation that he hadn’t been involved from the get go.

“Cora,” Scott found himself wanting to make sure she understood things.“Cora, I didn’t even really choose to go into the marines. It was just assumed that I would follow my Dad’s steps into the military from as early as I can remember.My Dad spent a lot of time giving me a path to walk. I just could deviate minimally like choosing the marines over the navy for the Alliance.Which is why I’m not surprised I ended up here. I, however, do not know why he thought I should be Pathfinder after I smashed my face plate.I’ve never been good at understanding why my Dad did anything other than he just thought it was the right thing to do at the time and it, generally speaking, usually worked out for him.Lucky bastard.”

Cora’s horrified expression really hadn’t changed much. “So you didn’t want to come to Andromeda?”

Sighing again, Scott wondered how he could reassure Cora that he was okay with being here—he didn’t know where he’d have ended up if he hadn’t signed up and he couldn’t change the decision now unless he wanted to go back into cryo for another six hundred year journey. “Things weren’t going so well in the marines after Dad got arrested.Andromeda sounded like a better option than others at the time.”

“But did you choose to come or was it something he just told you to do?” Cora seemed offended on his behalf now. Somehow they’d completely turned things around sideways.

“I’d say I chose to come and signed the paperwork of my own free will... but I will say that I didn’t know all the details or consequences when I did and my sister was a big reason for agreeing to come.”Yeah, Cora’s look of horror was frozen on her face now.

“But did you choose this?”

“Cora, it’s done.I’m here, I agreed to come.And I’m going to do the best job possible with what we’re given. It’s what I’ve always done even when I haven’t always chosen the messes I get myself in the middle of.” This was not where he’d thought this conversation was going.

“You really had no clue what you were getting yourself into... you just signed up to be with your family.”Cora sounded almost dazed but she had that fierce look in her eye that Scott was rapidly coming to associate with righteous fury. In fact, Cora had a faint scent of ozone around her from her biotics now but at least she wasn’t glowing blue yet.

“Andromeda sounded like a good day dream when I signed the paperwork and Sara was going... and while I can’t say I’m happy with the outcome so far I’m not sure I’m disappointed either by the challenge.”He’d mostly signed the paperwork after Sara had cornered him on the Presidium after his discharge hearing.He’d been working his way through a bottle of whiskey and she’d pulled his head out of his ass long enough to tell him that just because he couldn’t follow the path laid at his feet since birth he could still make something of himself. She had then handed him the data pad with the consent form to join the Andromeda Initiative.He now wondered if their dad had sent her to talk to him or if she’d gone of her own accord. His twin had never had any difficulty in agreeing to whatever harebrained plan their father wanted them to follow and always had difficulty understanding his reticence.

“You should have had a choice like I did.” Cora sounded angry now... but her anger wasn’t focused on Scott.

Scott could understand being mad at his father—he’d spent large portions of his adolescence and late childhood angry with the man before he’d realized how futile it usually was and swore he’d not spend the energy on it any more.But this whole conversation was getting counterproductive and they needed to get back to business. “So you can understand why I’m skeptical of our current leadership?”

Eyes gleaming with suppressed anger without an outlet, Cora allowed his subject change this time. “I get it.I’m not happy about our current situation but I get it.And I understand why you don’t want to just jump to conclusions about what happened either.”

Nodding, Scott was relieved that they didn’t need to talk any more about his father for the moment. “I’m not asking you to believe me without a reason.I’m going to try and give you the reasons to follow my orders when possible but there’s going to be times when I need an XO who listens to me and knows I’ll explain later if her orders are urgent.I would like you to be that person—my dad trusted you to be his XO and that’s a lot of trust.”

Cora had a small smile on her face even though her eyes still held a dangerous gleam.“I think your father was right about you even if you don’t. I’ll hold you to your word and I expect explanations when we have the time.A good XO should know what the objectives are and have a comprehensive understanding of the rules of engagement.”

That sounded bizarrely like the job description that had been attached to Cora’s dossier from his father’s records—which SAM verified silently. “So do we have an understanding?” 

“We do,” Cora confirmed, clasping his hand tightly.She then looked at the crate at her feet. “Well I guess I found what I needed.This is mine,” she said as she picked up the footlocker.

“Yeah,” Scott said, spying his own footlocker at the bottom of another stack of crates. “Why don’t you get settled in the crew quarters and get some rest before we get to Eos?I don’t think we’ll have much time to rest once we’re planetside.”

“You too Scott,” Cora said as she picked up her footlocker.“Send me the information once SAM has it all referenced and sorted?”

“Will do,” he assured her.

A throat clearing interrupted their odd standoff. Liam stood off to the side, his arms crossed over his chest and his head tilted to the side as he looked back and forth between them trying to figure out what they’d been doing.“You didn’t happen to see my footlocker while looking for yours did you?” He asked them finally after neither of them offering anything.

Mentally groaning, Scott shooed Cora away and started looking for Liam’s locker.

***

Finally having some time to himself, Scott secluded himself in his new cabin.It evidently payed to be Pathfinder if the cabin was anything to go by.On an extremely limited space ship he had what amounted to a luxurious retreat with it’s own private facilities and a king size bed.He’d seen the bunks that the rest of the crew would sleep in and he winced at how spacious his cabin was... but he wouldn’t give it up to anyone else.His inner introvert was ecstatic about the privacy. _SAM, what have you found out?_

SAM’s blue globe avatar sprang to life from the port on his desk, the holoscreens on the desk springing to life with data scrolling rapidly. _I’ve loaded everything that’s most relevant regarding Eos on the screens_ , SAM told Scott.

Approaching his desk, Scott sipped from the cup of coffee he’d procured from the galley as he sat in the chair and leaned back to find a comfortable reading position. “Let’s see what you’ve got.Did you find cross references to verify the data Tann gave us?”

“I was able to verify that there have been at least two large colonization efforts on Eos—formerly designated Habitat 1 but renamed by Jien Garson after the Greek goddess of the dawn. Both colonization attempts have been considered failures by the initiative as there has been no long term sustained population living at the sites. However, based on the average number of colonizers sent on these missions there have been at least four times that number of personnel attached to Eos that are unaccounted for.”SAM’s cool, clinical tone belayed the fact that he’d just told Scott that there were over two hundred people missing.

Sputtering slightly on his coffee when he took a larger swallow than he’d intended, Scott groaned at the coffee stain growing on his shirt. Dabbing at the stain with a corner of his shirt so his chest didn’t get overly wet then giving up and taking his shirt off and flinging it towards his bed in aggravation. “So there’s been more than just two colonization attempts.”

“It would seem so but the immediately available intel from Tann is heavily edited—there are traces of longer—likely erased—reports that I was unable to locate even after accessing Tann’s personal server.There are two land areas that were identified as targets given their access to water and shelter from the wind storms. The primary colony site that is protected by a containment field and a secondary, smaller, site that there is not a recorded containment field that was successfully deployed.There are also structures of similar construction to those on Habitat 7 that do suggest we may be able to manipulate the environment in a similar fashion.”

“Any hostile aliens?”

“Yes. The Kett have been recorded in large numbers around the alien structures as well as other flora and fauna that seem to be specific to Eos that roam the basins and areas protected from the wind storms.The flora specifically has been found to be of no nutritional value to Milky Way species and the fauna is noted to be highly aggressive and difficult to contain—there are multiple species that have been analyzed and found to be non-suitable for domestication or to be a food source.Water and other mineral resources have high levels of radiation contamination.”

“So will we be able to mine anything for Kesh?”

“Possibly.All resources will need to be decontaminated first which will increase the processing time. Mineral resources of vanadium, aluminum, iron, and graphite are noted in large quantities around site one which is also known as Promise and the second site, Resilience.”

Drinking his coffee, Scott contemplated what SAM had told him.So two sites, lots of missing, probably dead, colonists, and known hostile environment including his favorite aggressive alien species. Sighing, he began to scroll through the data that SAM had loaded.Looked like he had some reading to do before catching a short nap and suiting up.

***

He hadn’t really gotten any significant rest by the time he was putting his armor on again. Cora and Liam were both next to him in the airlock, all of them engrossed in double checking armor seals and stretching stiff muscles. They were twenty minutes out from landfall. Scott had managed to load up on ammunition for both his viper as well as his M3 with a few grenades stowed in the side slots for contingencies. He’d briefly debated grabbing one of the three alien assault rifles like Liam was but then decided the inaccuracy of fire wasn’t really his style.He’d also gotten an explicit message from Lexi suggesting he not take a shotgun due to his still healing fractures—he’d almost forgot about them.

“Twenty minutes until landing.I would suggest strapping in for atmosphere entry,” Kallo‘ s voice floated over the comm system.

Giving Liam a significant look, Liam rolled his eyes at Scott as he put his helmet on. “Got it.No unscheduled airlock departures this time.”

Laughing at Liam’s expressive self-mocking, Scott tried to lighten the mood as well. “Not until we have time to do some scheduled, planned, jumps first.”

“I almost feel left out since I didn’t get to jump out last time,” Cora teased Liam, joining Scott in the ribbing. She’d also grabbed one of the alien guns in addition to her M3.Instead of grabbing grenades, Cora had shown off a beautiful asari made blade that Scott was immediately covetous of.It really was a beautiful weapon.

“I wouldn’t recommend the experience. Two thumbs down for sure,” Liam responded as he started strapping himself into the jump seats that lined one wall of the airlock.

“We’ll get in some team jumps after we get a colony established here,” Scott told them putting on his new helmet. They needed to focus on their first objective and then they could have some fun. 

“You make it sound so easy...” Liam’s voice trailed off, his previously happy expression becoming more serious. “I mean, they failed two colony attempts. Who’s to say we can fix it?Last I checked we didn’t get issued a magic wand with our gear.”

Chuckling at the magic wand joke, Scott clapped Liam on the back. “They didn’t have us before. And there’s structures like there was on Habitat 7 so here’s hoping that SAM can talk to the weird alien computers again and get rid of the radiation problem.”

“So we’re trading out electrical storms for killer radiation? Heleus needs to rethink it’s welcome strategy,” Liam said with a straight face but his eyes betrayed his internal laughter.

“Well, either one will fry us good if we let it,” Scott straight faced joked back.

“Laugh it up guys. I made it off Habitat 7 without any electrical burns and I’m sure as hell not damaging my perfect skin with a radiation burn,” Cora scolded them mockingly as she strapped herself in on Liam’s right side.

Sharing a smile with his team, Scott strapped himself into the jump seat next to Liam on the opposite side from Cora. He had a much better feeling about this than he’d had about Habitat 7.They could do this... he just needed to keep telling himself that.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE March 22nd_

_So I’ve been doing a “bit” of light reading regarding everything instead of sleeping like I probably should be with a mission coming up quickly in an hour or two.SAM has been data trawling through the Nexus systems.I’m really concerned about what the hell happened to make Tann the de facto leader of the Initiative. From what I can tell from Tann’s server I don’t think he was in on whatever is going on but he’s not a very effective executive, which might have been whoever’s plan.I’m not sure which option worries more—that Tann is incompetent by design or that Tann’s involved. Both options suggest something nefarious going on and yes I just used the word nefarious.To my future self re-reading this, fuck off. I’ve not had nearly enough caffeine or sleep. The next time I’m on the Nexus I need to do some physical snooping around the administrative section. There’s got to be someone on board who knows more than what SAM can find. I don’t really trust Tann given this information but I’ll have to play nice for now._

_Besides, we really do have bigger problems at the moment. SAM’s information says that Kesh has been getting supplies from someone not on the Nexus but that those supplies are not sufficient to really support the station but only to stave off starvation at current staff levels. If she hadn’t been getting those supplies the Initiative would already be dead.So someone out there is helping Kesh and I think we all owe them a thanks whoever they are.Vetra‘s name is on some of the stuff I can find but she seems to be a middleman only. I don’t think they’re (Kesh, Vetra, their unnamed accomplice) with whoever caused the turnover in admins. What the fuck happened that caused the mutiny?The records are so full of holes that even SAM is having difficulty processing them. And there’s a lot of records that SAM is currently locked out of.I need to make friends with a hacker... or someone with access._

_We really, really need a working colony that produces food—in fact I’d say we desperately need it. And that shopping list Kesh gave me was only the beginning of what she really needs. Eos was supposed to be the first golden world—Tann and Addison were right that it hasn’t panned out like they thought it would.It’s arid but has a water supply—it’s just all contaminated by radiation from nasty wind storms. The source of the radiation seems to be the Scourge—so if I can get the alien structure working I might be able to reverse that like we did on Habitat 7._

_At this point... I don’t know who I can trust to talk about things with.SAM assures me that he can’t share things without my knowledge or permission—his inbuilt ethical principles prevent him unless my life is at stake. And while talking to SAM is helpful it’s more like talking to an analytic VI system—he weighs everything by odds ratios and most likely outcomes. SAM assures me he wasn’t programmed by a Salarian but sometimes I wonder. SAM says he will grow the longer he interacts with me and the others with implants—but more specifically me since I have the advanced type of implant. I just don’t have anyone else I trust to talk to about what I’m finding.Dunn is probably not involved with Tann/whoever but it’s not a guarantee. Cora is my XO and I’d love to bounce things off her but our relationship needs to grow first before I throw more at her. Goddamnit.... why’d Sara have to get injured? She was much more the mystery fan than me. Give me my science fiction or fantasy novels any day over the thriller/mystery murder my life has become._

_I’ve got just enough time to catch an hour of sleep before I need to get suited up.I’m going to ask SAM if he has the ability to knock me out so I’ll actually rest... insomnia is a bitch when you can’t shut off your thoughts._


	12. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

 

2819 CE March 22nd

Promise, Eos, Pytheas system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Arguing over a proper Eos road trip soundtrack

 

Landing on Eos went off without any difficulty compared to their previous experience with landing on Habitat 7.They had just put down on a hill overlooking Promise, just outside of the containment field that was powered up and running. Vetra said she’d keep an eye on the ship and that they’d be able to pick them up in a hurry if necessary.They were only leaving four people onboard which made Scott nervous—last thing they’d want to have happen is to have the ship stolen—then again it wasn’t like there were a lot of life signs out there that were close by. Shrugging and rolling his shoulders to get rid of the tightness between his shoulder blades, Scott stepped down the ramp to the ground on Eos and began the short hike down the headland to the colony site.Liam and Cora flanked him as they all took in their first look at Habitat 1 aka Eos. The colony site reminded Scott of all his training exercises regarding colony invasion—eerily silent except for the occasional whistling of the wind as it passed through tight gaps in the rock and the sound of sand hitting surfaces from the small whirlwinds that danced around the barrier fence, no visible colonists in eye range but the infrared scanners couldn’t penetrate the colony buildings due to radiation levels. Before stepping off the Tempest he’d broadcast a greeting to the colonists on the primary channel identified for intracolony communication and received no answers. So if someone was listening they weren’t talking back, at least not yet.

Eos was an arid, desert like planet with average daily temperature of 19°C at the colonization sites with an orbital period of 1.6 earth years and atmospheric pressure at ground level of 1.98 atm assuming no current severe weather. Theoretically, minus the storms of radiation, Eos had a breathable atmosphere but they would need to wear their helmets unless inside the containment fields due to radiation.Visually, Eos was pretty to look at. Reds, oranges and tans of the desert life glowed in the sunlight with the rounded edges of the rock cliffs from the wind. Eos reminding Scott of the Wadi Rum or the American southwest—he’d had training missions in both.Desolate rocky landscapes broken up here and there by scrub vegetation with a somewhat impressive lake and river winding through the canyons given that there was minimal plant life. Oddly he felt, there was no cacti.Scott felt there was a sad lack of cacti as he enjoyed cactus jelly and other foodstuffs made from various types of cacti.Maybe after he got rid of the radiation they could even get some agave to grow so they’d have fresh tequila after they solved the starving to death problem.

Walking into the colony, the barrier fence was still powered but most of the colony buildings seemed to be electrically dead.The water pumps were also turned off but not missing parts.There were obvious signs of equipment missing—a scrape on the rock there, a divot in the sand dune here. Someone was taking equipment from here but most of it seemed to still be in place. Walking up the stairs to the nearest building, Scott found that the door lock was engaged, the lock flaring red when he tried to access it with his omnitool. Locked.

“If we find the primary office building we have the override for that door code.But we’ll need to get the generators going to power up things to make the signal boost work to unlock everything else.”Cora told him, reading from her own omnitool.

“Where’s the generators?” Liam asked, having not had as much time as either Scott or Cora to look over the intel.

Pointing to a rise near the ship and then to the opposite end of the colony around the lake, Scott ordered them off to find the building first.No sense on turning on the power if they couldn’t get into the building first.

Finding the right building, Liam wandered off around it, taking some scans of the various rock formations around while Scott fiddled with the lock, Cora keeping watch for anything suspicious. The override seemed to work for a brief moment before the lock cycled back to red, still locked out.The comms gave a burst of static over the intracolony channel as it switched to primary transition due to activity and an anxious male voice spoke, “Who’s out there?”

Lifting an eyebrow at Cora who continued to look around for any activity, Scott flicked his comm mic on. “This is Scott Ryder, Pathfinder. Who am I speaking with?”

“Pathfinder?” The voice exclaimed, the pitch rising in excitement. “How?There’s been no arks in Heleus.”

Clearing his throat, Scott indicated for Cora to keep looking around for wherever this guy was at.“The human Pathfinder. Ark Hyperion docked with the Nexus several days ago.Who am I speaking with?”

“An ark? Really?”The voice paused, disbelief clear by the tone.Cora shook her head at Scott that she hadn’t seen anything.They couldn’t localize the signal location due to the surrounding baseline radiation from the buildings blocking triangulation.Liam was now also on the lookout for any movement and stalked around the next building looking for any sign of occupancy. 

“Yep.An Ark. Specifically the Hyperion. Any chance you know how to let us into the buildings and turn on the power?”Nothing lost by asking nicely Scott figured.

“You can’t turn on the power,” the voice was fearful now. “You turn on the power and they’ll come—the Kett. It acts like a homing beacon to let them know someone’s here.”

“I can handle the Kett but I do need to access the colony buildings and records,” Scott explained patiently. He really didn’t care that much whatever this guy was doing here as long as he wasn’t interested in shooting Scott or his team.

There was a long period of silence following Scott’s statement. Scott was about ready to repeat his request when the comms again crackled.“It’s your funeral but I’ll turn on the access that will allow the generators to run once they’re turned back on.You’ll need to manually turn on the generators yourself though. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Thanks.After we clean out whoever shows up for this party we’ll talk more.”Good talk, Scott mentally told himself. He switched his comms to the private team line and off the main intracolony line.“Let’s get the one down by the lake turned on first—the other one has the high ground and more rocks to take cover behind.”

“Roger,” Cora and Liam chorused.Liam seemed eager to get to run around and fight some aliens—assuming they showed up for the party invite they were about to send.It took approximately a half hour to find the generators and turn them on which also started up the colony radar which connected to their ship to give telemetry data.The radar showed a small group of vehicles moving towards the settlement at a fast clip from the southwest. And then they settled in to wait, all of them mostly covered by rock but with good sight lines down into the colony main row, the lake and the southwest road that led away from the colony.Scott took his viper down from it’s mag lock on his back and set up to wait in his makeshift sniper’s nest. Cora was down slope and to his left with Liam to the far right and a better look at the only ground approach to where Scott was perched. Liam would try to draw the Kett further down the main row to give Scott opportunities to pick them off.

The Kett didn’t leave them disappointed. Shortly after they’d turned on the second generator what appeared to be a Kett squadron approached via the road. They had several vehicles that they were using that looked to be in rough shape, multiple dents could be seen in the sides. Either the Kett were bad drivers or something had smashed into them before they’d arrived. Sighting down his scope, Scott sent two shots into what he approximately the windshield was of the lead vehicle causing it to veer sharply and crash into an rock pillar and spin out hitting the second vehicle before coming to a stop and the engine noise dying. The other two vehicles knocked into each other like bumper cars before coming to a stop themselves.Twelve Kett climbed out of the vehicles like an angry ant colony and swarmed towards Promise.From their movements they did not know exactly where Scott was.

Cora and Liam both broke to each side, Liam giving a war cry to get the attention of the Kett and make them give chase which they did as he ran down the main thoroughfare between buildings and then ducked behind a railing for cover. Scott took down the stragglers at the back first, dropping three of them with headshots before the Kett started lobbing shots at his hide causing him to drop down for a few moments and the Kett to enter Promise. The HUD in his helmet identified eight targets still moving given the data from the colony scanners. He could hear Cora and Liam exchanging fire with the hostiles. Watching on his HUD, Scott saw two identified enemies make their way to the base of the hill he was hiding on.He detached a grenade from it’s slot in his armor, activated it and threw it down at them.It was a smart grenade that would attach itself to a moving target that wasn’t identified as wearing Initiative armor. 5..4...3...2...1... a small explosion happened ten meters below where Scott hid, the targets eliminated according to his HUD.

Lifting his head up, Scott figured it was time to verify visually if there were no more aliens below or if he was about to have visitors.Dropping his viper to the ground where he could easily grab it again, he drew his M3 and peaked out from cover.There was an impressive hole in the side of the hill with what he assumed was the pieces of two aliens covering the rocks. No movement. 

SAM then alerted him as he identified several more aliens that were stalking Liam’s cover but were out of range of his M3.Putting his M3 back on his hip, he picked up his viper and sighted down the corridor, taking out one alien from behind while Liam took care of another. He could vaguely hear Cora grunting as the sound of an asari blade weapon sizzled through the air accompanied by what he assumed was a Kett scream of pain.The third Kett who had been stalking Liam got an omniblade through it’s neck as Liam reached over and stabbed the alien before dropping back into cover. Four hostiles were still noted on the HUD. Two by Cora, one by the otherwise abandoned vehicle and one between the buildings somewhere towards Liam. “Liam, get that one closer to you. Cora, do you need assistance?”

Scott’s answer was the whistle of Cora’s blade and another marker on the HUD blinking out. “I’m good,” Cora answered, breathing heavily.

“Roger,” Scott answered, sighting down his viper towards where the HUD told him one of the Kett was hiding behind the third vehicle which was furthest out. Through his scope, he could see the shadow of something behind the rear wheels but he sat and waited for a clean shot.His HUD notified him of both Cora and Liam taking care of the remaining two aliens leaving just the one hiding behind the vehicle. Shortly thereafter, the alien obviously got nervous and tried to make it back to the second vehicle which was the only one without smoke coming from it.The alien made it two paces before Scott dropped it cleanly with one shot. No more red markers on the HUD. 

Scott didn’t move, still scanning the field for movement.Just because the HUD said it was clear didn’t mean something hadn’t been missed.There was a lot more background radiation than he liked causing interference with signals.Scott had run too many simulations back in the marines that had parameters like this. 

“Pathfinder,” Cora called on the comms. “I don’t have any movement down here.Liam and I will start cleaning up.”

“Copy.I’m going to keep a lookout.”Scott continued his surveillance. He listened as Cora and Liam verified that all the aliens were dead and Cora used her biotics to push the wrecked vehicles out of the roadway before they wandered back towards Scott.The radar hadn’t picked up any more approaching vehicles.Scott commed Vetra and asked her to keep an eye on the radar while they talked with their reluctant colonist.

Jumping down, Scott joined his team as they reconvened at the locked door.This time when Scott tried the override code the lock cycled and stayed green before the door opened with a satisfying hiss as the air pressure equalized. A scrawny, pale male wearing a dirty Initiative uniform stood on the other side, squinting at the bright sunlight that came through the door and backlit Scott and his team.The man held up a hand to block the bright light as he struggled to see them. Scott greeted him as he took off his helmet, extending a hand to shake,“Hello again.I’m Scott Ryder, human Pathfinder.And you are?”

The man dropped his hand to Scott’s and gave a weak pump in greeting. “Clancy Arquist.”

“Well Clancy, what’re you doing all the way out here?”Scott asked casually as he looked around the pod.The pod was in disarray, data pads sitting out on the desk tops, screens akimbo on their holders. There was also evidence that Clancy had been sleeping in the pod, an unrolled sleeping bag and several pillows that matched the material of the couches that made up the sitting area. There were also scattered protein bar wrappers around where Clancy had been sleeping.Clancy had obviously been camping out here for a while and wasn’t the neatest housekeeper.

Clancy nervously shifted his weight back and forth and didn’t meet Scott’s eyes.“The site is abandoned and it’s my salvage. No one else is doing anything with it.”

“Salvage? Salvage for who?”Scott asked.

“Resources are scarce. You got to get them where you can. Trade is good in former Initiative gear.”Yeah Clancy wasn’t fully on the up and up.

Scott debated what to do.On one hand, this was Initiative property. On the other, figuring out where the trade in Heleus was going between the exiled former Initiative members and the Initiative could be a good thing for a pathfinder to know independently of any intel from administration. Making a decision, Scott decided he had bigger fish to fry at this time. “Clancy, this is Initiative property,” he held up his hand to stymie whatever Clancy was about to say when he started looking upset. “However, I bet we can always use another middle man to connect us with those that left.Trade is a good thing.But this is Initiative property, not salvage. We’ll be having a new colony up and running shortly.”

Clancy was visibly upset at Scott’s announcement that he wouldn’t be taking anything more from the site.After an awkward pause he replied to Scott’s pronouncement. “I suppose you were able to take those Kett out easily and we haven’t had a Pathfinder before.Maybe there will be working colony here soon.”

Smiling under his helmet, Scott nodded in agreement with what Clancy said. “Yes, and we’re always interested in those who can help us get things set up. People who know what’s going on planet side.”Scott could practically feel Cora’s laser like gaze watching him as he talked with Clancy. Clancy had obviously been having a rough go of it, his hands were trembling slightly from talking with Scott and he was having difficulty staying still. “In fact, I’m going to have you talk with our procurement specialist, Vetra Nix while we get the telemetry data set up to take a look at those alien ruins.”

Clancy was cooperative as Scott patched him through to Vetra.Vetra quickly got what Scott was aiming for and had Clancy talking with her about trade set ups. Meanwhile, Scott and Cora took a look through all the data pads and copied the memory banks for SAM to analyze. Using the data, SAM soon informed them that he had a signal lock for one of the alien structures that was close to the second site, Resilience, but they’d need better transport.

Clancy, overhearing SAM’s statement of needing transport, spoke up.“There’s a vehicle left behind by one of the expeditions in the large container outside.Only problem is you need a FOB operating to open it. The FOB they had here was blown up by the Kett over six months ago.”

An Initiative vehicle? That sounded better than trying to figure out how to drive the alien equivalent of a truck. The shielding hadn’t been that impressive when Scott had shot through it earlier. A FOB—a forward operating base—would allow them to stretch the radar and communication abilities of the abandoned colony to a wider part of Eos.It would be nice and convenient if they had the ability to access them but Scott wouldn’t put it past Addison to make them unavailable given the hoops they’d had to jump through to get the Tempest out of doc with prior approval. “Vetra, do we have the ability to get the satellites to drop a FOB here?”

“We do.Sending one down now,” Vetra informed them. Well, this would make things a lot simpler.

Walking outside, Scott and Cora watched as a meteor seemingly appeared out of the late afternoon sky from the northern horizon, slowing as it approached Promise on it’s flight path. Soon, they could make out the shape of the FOB communications system that slowed dramatically before hovering and then deploying at the north end of the colony row. Scott’s HUD identified the signal from the FOB and with his omnitool he was quickly able to patch the colony resources into the FOB for signal boosting. Liam, who’d been exploring the colony, joined him and Cora outside a large shipping container that was wedged at an angle between a sandstone cliff and one of the habitation pods. A locking mechanism on the side matched the ID code that Clancy had given them. Time to see what kind of vehicle had been left behind for them to use.

Using the FOB key, Scott was quickly able to get the lock undone and to cycle to green.As the lock cycled, multiple clicks were heard and the front of the container fell forward to make a ramp as Liam skittered out of the way. Inside, was a thing of beauty.A ND-1 Nomad all terrain vehicle—perfect for little pathfinders to run around and explore alien planets in.The container was very narrow so Scott had to climb up and over the wheels to get to the driver’s side door and climb into the Nomad.There was enough room for four people to sit comfortably and room to store mining equipment in the back storage area.Synching his omnitool to the controls, Scott started the engine and smoothly rolled forward to park next to Liam and Cora.Liam was exclaiming loudly about how awesome Nomad’s were, Cora had a look of bored interest on her face as she listened to Liam.

Getting out, Scott walked back into the container and saw that there were four mining probes sitting against the back wall. He called for help and started loading them into the Nomad.No sense in making more trips than they needed to—Kesh’s grocery list wasn’t going to get any shorter. “Let’s get loaded and see if we can find that structure before nightfall.”

Clancy came out to watch them load the Nomad but didn’t give any assistance, merely watched in silence as the Pathfinder team worked briskly to load up but Scott noted he was definitely eyeing the Kett vehicles.Scott would bet good credits that those vehicles would be stripped down as soon as they left Clancy alone.Once they were loaded, Scott called for a brief bathroom break/snack break aka inhale another one of the nasty protein bars and then they were ready to get going.Eos’s lone moon was already over the horizon, a nice blue colored medium sized satellite that was rich in multiple ores that were on Kesh’s list.Scott made a mental note with SAM to deploy two of the mining drones once they were done on Eos. _SAM_ , Scott asked, _Do you have access to the media drives that were brought on the Hyperion?_

_Yes Scott.Did you have a specific request?_

_SAM can you play Blue Moon by Frank Sinatra?It seems appropriate given the rising moon over there.Feels like I’m in the desert around Vegas only less gambling going on. It was one of my mom’s favorites._

The speakers on the Nomad soon were crooning with Sinatra’s masterpiece as Scott adjusted the seat to be more comfortable for him to drive in. “What the hell is that?” Liam asked, having been relegated to the back seat by Cora’s ‘shotgun for XOs’ call earlier.

“Sinatra.The song’s Blue Moon. Seemed appropriate given that,” Scott said as he pointed to the rising blue colored moon on the western horizon over the lake.

“Huh,” Liam said.“Wouldn’t have taken you for a jazz guy.”

“Jazz guy? What does that even mean?” Scott rejoined.Cora was laughing as she softly sung along. Evidently she didn’t mind Scott’s music choice and knew the music well.

“You know, a jazz guy.Smoking jacket, bourbon or whisky drinker, crappy taste in music?” Liam was now in full on rant mode.

“I don’t know about the crappy taste in music...” Scott tried to argue as he started the Nomad and they pulled out of Promise. 

***

Driving around Eos was like driving a temperamental dune buggy.The fine grain sand that was everywhere made going up some hills easy but others required him do down shift and chug up.They did encounter some fauna that looked disturbingly like giant scorpions that easily crunched beneath the wheels of the Nomad. Scott really didn’t want to find out if they were venomous like the scorpions he’d encountered on earth given the size of those things. Liam had a few interesting stories about various animal encounters that he shared to break up the monotony of the drive—not that it was smooth as there was not well established road ways but they had found a ‘goat track’ of sorts as Cora called it that wound around the different mesas and cliffs. Radiation levels were significant out in the open and Scott was grateful for the protection of the Nomad given the dust storms they could see on the far horizon.

They could see Resilience as well as a tall grouping of what appeared to be an alien structure.It was getting dark and Scott wondered if they should hole up for the night and proceed in the morning or if they should try to make the alien structure tonight. Stopping the Nomad, Scott asked Cora what she thought.

“Well, I think starting out in the morning would be a better plan.If we deploy one of the FOBs at Resilience we can also see if they had a working radar that we can network in too—it’s listed on the manifest as being delivered to the site. It’s likely a safer place to stop for an overnight rather than out in the open.”Cora had a pensive look on her face.Neither of them liked the idea of approaching at night but on the other hand they wanted to get things over with too.

Liam announced his vote. “I vote for Resilience.I’d feel better with some walls around us and then setting out in the morning when we’re fresher and better light.The seats back here aren’t that comfy to sleep in.”

“So we head for Resilience then,” Scott decided and started the Nomad back up, gaining speed as they headed directly for the second colony site.

***

Resilience was much more compact than Promise but appeared more intact and had less evidence of scavenging.The site did have two much smaller containment fields that were still up and running and the generators flickered to life once they recognized the signal from Scott’s omnitool.Connecting to Vetra, they deployed a second FOB at the site to amplify the signals as they all took a breather with their helmets off and a water bottle and protein bars in hand. Unfortunately, the FOB deployment brought the Kett attention back to Resilience.Scott was the only one who managed to grab his helmet before they were all scrambling for cover.

Unluckily, the number of Kett that came to investigate was easily twice the number they’d faced earlier in the day.Which meant that Scott was now ducking and weaving between points of cover, dodging fire and activating his own cloak to sneak up between Kett and put his omniblade through their throats or chests or to put a few slugs from his M3 through their heads. Activating his jump jets, he perched on the top of one of the habitation pods. Suddenly, a loud roar split the air and the force of which made the pod he was standing on vibrate.There was a tremendous crash and suddenly there was a large, armored something crashing out of the pod that he’d last seen Liam enter.

“Liam?!? Status?” Scott snapped through the comms as he took his viper off his back and aimed at the large beast’s head.It had four eyes and he squeezed off two shots trying to hit them, the first missing but the second biting deep as the beast roared and smashed into the side of the building below Scott as it charged across a hundred meters in two seconds. Fuck that thing was angry and mean. The beast continued to roar and smashed into the building twice more before shots from Cora distracted it and it ran off towards her as she threw a biotic lift that threw the beast off it’s feet causing it to smash through two scrub trees and close to a large truck that had several canisters laying around it.Canisters that if Scott remembered from seeing them earlier had the hazardous sign on them for combustibles. Sighting down the barrel of his viper, the creature was next to two of the canisters that had been stacked under the trees. Scott took the shot which caused a large fireball explosion and another roar of rage from the beast as fire rolled over it pushing it away from the truck and further away from Scott and Cora.

“What the fuck is that thing?” Liam called out, standing in the doorway that the beast had come from and holding his side where his armor had an obvious dent. A Kett tried to take advantage of their distraction and Scott instinctively threw a biotic throw it’s way which reminded Liam to give it a few shots of his own from his M3 and then make for cover behind some crates. Scott had been ignoring his HUD markers as there had been too many to pay close attention to anything not immediately next to him but he now verified that there was about ten Kett running around as well as that beast that was still rampaging around between the buildings. It wasn’t difficult to track the enraged monster as it crashed into various buildings—you just had to follow the noise.

Cora suddenly appeared on top of one of the buildings, her jump jets making her clear the top easily with another ten feet before landing in a graceful forward roll.The building she was aiming for shuddered as the beast rammed it with another bone chilling roar, obviously having tried to catch Cora, making her continue her momentum forward until she was next to Scott on the adjoining rooftop.

“Well, whatever that thing is, it definitely doesn’t like us,” Cora snapped.She stowed her M3 which had been ineffective against the heavy armored plating the creature had and pulled out her asari blade which gleamed biotic blue as Cora summered her biotics. Looking at Scott, she inclined her head.“You willing to give it a few distracting shots? It’s got a soft spot behind the head that my blade will fit right in.”

Debating a moment, Scott offered instead, “How about a singularity?It should allow you to get up top and through the armor.”

Cora gave him a vicious grin, she obviously liked Scott’s style.“Your control is that good?”

Shrugging, Scott downplayed his own skills. “SAM helps.”

Scoffing in disbelief, Cora called over her shoulder as she got in position, “Your father said differently.”

Rolling his eyes at Cora’s back, Scott went around the opposite site to where he could hear the beast moving. He took a few shots with his M3 and took down two more Kett as he got a good view of the monster that was shaking it’s massive head back and forth, grunting as it expelled air into small currents of dust storms around it’s gigantic, thickly armored body.There was greenish blue blood coming from one of the eyes where Scott’s bullet had penetrated. Scott could hear Liam off in the distance screaming at some Kett accompanied by another explosion of one of the canisters and three more dots on Scott’s HUD disappearing. Liam’s vitals showed some damage but they were steady when he paused briefly to check before dismissing the information as distracting. Liam seemed fine on his own.Cora and he would have to get rid of beastie here.

The beast, at the explosion had raised it’s head, tilted as if it was listening for more noise before starting to turn around away from Scott.That wouldn’t do.Scott gave two shots to annoy the beast and get it to turn back to him.When it lowered it’s head to charge, Scott threw the biggest singularity he could manage, tightly trapping and slightly lifting the massive creature.The creature in response to being lifted up let out a angry scream.That was when Cora flipped neatly onto it’s back and thrust her asari blade between the armored rings around the creature’s neck, causing the scream to be abruptly silenced with a large gush of the green-blue blood issuing from its’ mouth in a gurgle.

Releasing the singularity, the beast floundered weakly as it settled to the ground.Cora continued to drive her blade deeper before glowing biotic blue and the blade ripping completely through with a string of tissue trailing in its path, almost decapitating the animal. Swinging her blade to free it from the flesh that clung to it, Cora calmly looked to Scott’s right before lifting and firing her M3, just missing Scott. Scott watched on his HUD as another red dot went out as he turned to see a Kett lying only two meters behind him.

“Thanks,” he told Cora.Luckily his shields were still at maximum level and hadn’t taken a beating due to his preoccupation. As the only member of his team with his helmet still on, he consulted the HUD to see how many hostiles were still marked. None. Liam must have been busy.

“No problem.It was staring at me like it couldn’t believe that I got that thing.” Cora flipped her hair as she dismounted from atop the unmoving dead creature, her helmet probably back with their water bottles. If Cora was his type, Scott figured this would be the point in the movie where he made an inappropriate suggestion of how to thank her.He almost felt like a damsel in distress.

“You really are a badass, you know,” Scott told her as she joined him, poking the dead Kett with the toe of her boot.

“Huntress actually,” she corrected him with a small smile.She’d acquired a streak of the creature’s blood covering her left cheek which gave her a savage appearance.It suited her somehow Scott figured.

Liam jogged up to them, stopping to goggle at the dead monster with his hair flopping everywhere in the wind. “Woah.You guys killed it?”

Looking more closely at the dent in Liam’s armor, Scott could see that the man was splinting with each breath, his hand holding his right side. “Yeah.You take a hit from it?”

“Yeah.I was in that building and there was this blinking message light on one of the computer stations.I powered it up and it just said ‘run’ and I was like ‘what the fuck?’” Liam stopped to take a deeper breath before continuing. “Next thing I know, ugly there is smashing through this door I hadn’t even seen and I blacked out for a moment.”

Frowning, Scott couldn’t believe it—how had someone contained that thing in one of the pods.“You took a look at the blinking data screen and released it?”

“I think so?” Liam said, his voice rising as he questioned his own memory. “Yeah. It was in the inner room of the pod.”

As one, they all turned and looked at the still open door. No further creatures came running out. “Well, let’s go see what’s in there,” Scott said, trudging more tiredly than before towards the source of the creature. The light was failing so they wouldn’t be going any further today.How cold did it get here at night?

_SAM, does the manifest include any drones that we can set for patrol for the night?_

_Yes Scott.They should be in habitation pod four.I’ll mark it on your HUD._

***

2818 CE July 22nd

Aya, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Angaran house guest

Status: Negotiating living arrangements

 

Reyes would readily admit to being anxious about meeting the governor of Aya but he was trying to not show it visibly.While he felt that he’d made a good impression on Evfra—and that Evfra’s good opinion would go far for him—he was very worried that if he couldn’t make the same good impression today they wouldn’t be staying on Aya very long.And he wanted to stay, at least long enough to feel like he’d caught his breath and had a moment to recuperate.Being in gravity had left him easily fatigued, reminding him that he needed to work to get back in shape after being on limited rations on a half built station for way too long.

He’d found himself up early, unable to sleep in despite Alzik up and keeping watch.Reyes had made arrangements with Tefa to be able to use the communal bathing area early in the morning and was washed up and wearing the clothes that Yaansa had made for him.Vestus and Kenax were both up and moving about as well by the time Evfra came to get them to take them to see the governor of Aya.Reyes had been able to get out of Tefa that Paaran Shie had been governor of Aya for approximately three years.Evidently governors were chosen for seven year terms which was the maximum amount of time any one Angaran was allotted to live on Aya before cycling out for another to take their place.Most Angaran only stayed for a year or so unless they were having children—which was considered a special circumstance due to the ongoing hostilities with the Kett. Shie was considered a fair ruler and Tefa had spoke of her without fear.If she was anything like Evfra, Reyes didn’t think he had anything to be so worked up about.However, Shie did get the final say so in who lived on Aya for any length of time as governor.So yeah, he worried.

They were taken through the gardens and marketplace to the embassy where the government offices were. Evfra had pointed them out previous but they hadn’t been inside. Taking a deep breath, Reyes followed a few steps behind Evfra. Kenax, Alzik and Vestus followed on his heels. The Turians were not playing aggressive bodyguards today—Reyes had encouraged them to remember that looking in need of help would hopefully make Shie have pity on them and allow them to stay.Looking like the tough bastards they were would make her think they could easily make their own way.It wasn’t that Reyes didn’t think Evfra would toss them out on orders without giving them someplace else to go... it was more that Reyes wasn’t in a hurry to leave. And why chance it? 

Stepping into the offices, Reyes could see a slender Angaran female, face pale with a darker blue cast to the top of her head and the skin folds that framed her face.She was unlike the others in that she had a marking that covered her brows resembling a tattooed crown. Yaansa had told him that markings such as these had meaning—and the markings on this Angaran marked her as the highest ranked on Aya.Time to see how charming and unaggressive looking he could be.

Paaran Shie gave them her full attention as they came to stand in front of her.Evfra stepped forward to clasp hands with her.“Governor.I bring the refugees from the Milky Way.They have come to speak with you as asked.”Evfra then inclined his head in defense and stepped to the side, leaving Reyes standing in front of everyone and being examined by the Angarans in the room that had never seen him before.

Nervously swallowing before speaking, Reyes took a step forward and spoke. “Governor. My name is Reyes Vidal, captain of the ship Discover.We have come to Aya in peace and with hopes for friendship between the Angarans and us.”

Shie blinked several times before greeting him in similar fashion to Evfra.She clasped both of her hands to Reyes. Reyes didn’t startle but he took in a sharp breath as the electric tingle of an Angaran examining him raised goosebumps on his arms with a shiver.Evfra had explained that the Angaran found it odd that Milky Way species did not communicate in the same way, were limited only to pheromones, body language and speech—much of which was involuntary.He’d tried to explain the complex electric signals exchanged by Angarans when they fully communicated—explaining that it was like trying to explain color to the color-blind.

Shie closely examined Reyes reaction to the touch of her hands and let out a soft smile as Reyes bravely met her gaze despite feeling distinctly uneasy from the charged touch. “There have been reports from other worlds that your people have come and taken without cause, harmed Angarans when we did not give them what they wished like the Kett who first invaded our homes.You have come instead asking for peace in a cluster already at war with an invading species.How can we know you are different from these others who are so similar to you?Who act like the Kett that they are not?”

Trying to be as earnest as possible, Reyes answered truthfully. “I cannot speak for all Milky Way travelers but I can speak for myself and for my friends who are with me.”He paused for effect, letting Shie flick her gaze from his friends and then back to him. “We were given the option of breaking with the Initiative who brought us to Andromeda. We chose to leave rather than remain in conflict, either with those that remained or the others who left. We are refugees.”

Shie tilted her head, having not yet dropped Reyes hands.Reyes was starting to wonder, based on the tingle he could feel, if the Angarans had some sort of way of telling he was speaking truth based on their touch.It was very disconcerting. “Evfra has explained this word...this refugee. It means you seek peace.”

“Yes.We came to explore, to meet others in peace. Not to make war or to harm.”Reyes couldn’t look away from Shie’s eyes.The tingle in her touch warming, welcoming and not hurting.

“I would hear more of this place you come from, your family, your traditions.You say you come in peace and I would know where you came from.” Shie dropped her hands, releasing Reyes. “Only by knowing you can we decide what to do with you.”

She then turned and went to a seating area, gesturing for Reyes and his friends to have seats around her.They were served glasses of water and there was light conversation.She asked Reyes about his intentions in coming to Heleus, the family he’d left behind and what he hoped for the future.Reyes gave her the same answers he’d given Evfra and Tefa, aware that many Angarans around the room were closely listening to what he said. Any discrepancies would be noted and remarked upon, a possible sign of unwillingness to be truthful. Shie, for her part, listened carefully and gave similar answers to those he’d gotten from Evfra—neutral and noncommittal.

“We Angarans value family.I find it interesting that yours encouraged you to see out a different galaxy and did not come with you,” she asked Reyes.

Taking a small drink. Reyes tried to think of a neutral way of explaining his complicated family. “My grandmother was old enough that a journey such as the one we took would be very hard on her with no guarantee with her health that she would have arrived in Heleus.My mother, was the only living relative left so she would not leave my grandmother.” That was partially true—his grandmother more looked after his mother but that was semantics at this point given that they were long gone. “My uncle had just died and he had left provisions for me to have a place on the ships to Andromeda through an old friend.” 

“Ah.And your father?” Shie asked, taking a drink of her own as she gently prodded.

Reyes wondered if she knew he’d not really mentioned a father to anyone. “My father was not in the picture and really hadn’t been since before I was born.His opinion would not have changed my decision to follow my uncle’s arrangements.”

“I sense a story behind you and your father though it may have little bearing on your presence here,” Shie admitted after a moment.“There are many Angaran who have only one parent due to our ongoing difficulties with the Kett.Families that do not have the strength of our truemothers and truefathers, husbands, wives, sisters, and brothers... you speak lovingly of your family as do we whereas the Kett do not understand our shared sense of family and did not when we first met them unlike you.We are perhaps not all that different although we do not physically appear the same.I will grant your request for temporary stay on Aya—but I have conditions.”

Trying not to sound too hopeful, Reyes asked, “Conditions?”

“You will be under the command of Evfra as you have skills that we do not have, skills that may help protect both yourself and us Angarans.Tefa has spoken of technology that would protect us from the wave storms that sometimes come.You will do as Evfra asks.You will help in the defense of Aya as needed.You will learn of us and our traditions as we will learn of yours.Only then will we discuss where you belong.”

“I understand your conditions.May I make one of my own?”Reyes asked, curious if she would allow him to negotiate or if this was a one way road.

“Perhaps. What is your condition?’ Shie asked, her head tilted in curiosity.She had not expected Reyes to have his own suggestions or conditions.

“I would share our knowledge, our science with you that you may find useful and our cultures with you.I would ask that we be given the chance to share with you what makes us different so that you may understand us.Tefa has been a friend since he was assigned to us as a guide.I would ask that we be assigned to work with him under Evfra as he has shown curiosity and willingness to ask of us questions that are not of tactical nature.We would become good friends with the Angaran and Tefa would be a good first step.”Tefa had not suggested this andlooked surprised at Reyes suggestion but not upset. Tefa and Evfra exchanged a speaking glance before Evfra was beckoned closer by Shie.

Shie looked at Tefa, an enquiring look on her face before she turned back to Evfra and they shared a few whispers that Reyes could not overhear.Finishing their conversation, Shie leaned back in her seat, looking at Reyes.“You ask something that is easily accommodated as Tefa is a resistance fighter.We will allow this condition.”

Relieved, Reyes nodded.“Then we have an agreement?”

“Yes Reyes Vidal Captain of the Discover, we have an agreement.Now tell me more of this planet that you were born on.Evfra and Tefa tell me that it was very similar to our Aya...”

***

After the anticlimactic meeting with Shie ended, Evfra and Tefa had escorted Reyes and his friends to the Resistance headquarters where they would now report to every day for assignments. Evfra explained that he would be putting Reyes, the turians and Alzik all into the basic training program that all recruits did before reassigning them to positions that would be more suitable to their individual skill sets.Although Tefa was already a full member of the Resistance, he was willing to repeat the training albeit as a trainer in charge of it rather than as a trainee. As luck would have it, a new group of recruits would begin their training in four days and they would join in. In the meantime, Evfra told them they could relax and enjoy Aya or be productive.He’d especially made a pointed comment about the wave warning system which both Alzik and Reyes had vocalized understanding and willingness to start on that now.Evfra then left them with Tefa.

“You honor me with your request Reyes Vidal,” Tefa said once Evfra was out of hearing distance.Tefa was relaxed as he teased the human about getting him more work. “However, I will not be able to go easy on you or your companions even though you have asked specifically for me to be your task master.”

Sharing a smile, the turians seemed to be sharks sensing blood in the water. “Oh we all love training.Boot camps, military training exercises. What’s not to love?” Kenax asked Tefa, a sly look on his face as he eyed Reyes.

Tefa frowned in thought at Kenax’s question. “Most Angarans are peace loving. In order to adequately defend our home we must work to overcome our nature which is to live in harmony.Military training is very hard for us Angarans. Do all Milky Way species feel similarly about training?”

Realizing that Tefa didn’t recognize the sarcasm, Kenax doubled down instead of correcting Tefa. “We’re all former military here.We’re used to hard work and militancy.We’ve all been through boot camp so this training should be easy.”

Annoyed that Reyes felt Kenax was sandbagging Tefa, he tried to intervene.“It has been six hundred plus years since any of us were in boot camp. We’re all going to be horribly out of shape from being in low gravity for too long.”

Vestus spoke up before Tefa. “Well, we’ll just have to start tomorrow then.What time do you feel is the right time,” he asked Tefa. “0500? 0400?Too late or too early?”

Tefa, perhaps sensing that the Turians were up to something, tried to backtrack but was pinned by Vestus’s question. “Resistance daily exercise usually begins at 0600... but we could start earlier if that is what you’re used to.”

Watching all potential to possibly sleep in going bye bye, Reyes sighed as Vestus made an arrangement for them to all meet for physical calisthenics at 0500 at their rooms.It seemed the Turians wanted to make sure he got his aerobic workout in before breakfast so Reyes could spend the rest of the day working with Alzik on an early warning system... and the Turians could get some fun in the sun in while they worked. It was a good thing he was pretty sure the Turians were not in better physical condition than him.He’d at least made an attempt at staying in shape compared to Kenax even if his stamina was kinda shitty for now. He’d get back in shape faster than Kenax, he was willing to lay credits on that.

Sighing, Reyes tuned out the playful bickering going on around him long enough to send a quick update to the girls.He wouldn’t lay odds on them being happy about attending Angaran style boot camp as soon as they landed.

***

The next morning, 0500 came way too early. Kenax, perhaps slightly annoyed with his partner, had shoved Vestus off the bed with a crash at 0450 which had awoken Reyes and Kenax. Alzik, who as a salarian needed only an hour or two of sleep per night, had rushed in from where he’d been reading a novel on his omnitool on the balcony. Vestus, now pissed off, had tackled Kenax creating a huge racket, Reyes blearily looking at them as he tried to clear the cobwebs from his head. This was the scene that greeted Tefa ten minutes later as Vestus and Kenax had not settled down and were still rolling around the floor and snarling at each other in their native tongue.

“Should I come back later?” Tefa asked Reyes who was dressed in his under armor undershirt and a loose pair of athletic pants that he’d had in his pack that had been given back to him last night.He hadn’t yet put on his trainers that had also been in the bag.

Reyes held onto the open door like it was keeping him upright, not yet willing to admit that he was asleep and going for a run. Yawning, he waved at the grappling turians. “They do this.It’s a Turian mating ritual thing I think.”

Eyes wide, Tefa watched as the Turians knocked into the bed hard enough to cause it to wobble dangerously and scrape against the wall. “Mating ritual?”

Yawning again, Reyes rubbed his right eye feeling as if there was something in it. “Yeah.They’ve been life partners for years.They keep fighting like this.Keeps things fresh I suppose when you’ve been together a long time for them.”

Alzik, who was on the other side of the fray, put his hands on his hips as he spoke to Vestus who had finally managed to pin Kenax. “You are the one who suggested an early start.”

Kenax, groaning from where he was pinned under his partner, snarked back. “He volunteered the time.I would have been happy with 0600.”

Becoming more awake the longer he was upright, Reyes walked over to the turians and poked Kenax as he pulled his trainers on.“It’s what you get for saying we all loved calisthenics and drills.Get up and get moving.”

Shortly thereafter they were all up and moving.Tefa indicated that there was a usual trail that most Angarans used for exercise and led them there.The trail was a well worn path through the dirt that was packed down tight so there wasn’t a lot of mud but it wound tightly through the vegetation of the jungle that surrounded the hilltops.Tefa mentioned that they would head up to the top of the headland that made up the barrier around the space port, circle around it and then come back—approximately a ten kilometer round trip.They were all soon going at a steady slow jogging pace. As Reyes had suspected, Kenax was the slowest with Reyes and Vestus in the lead following Tefa with Alzik in the middle.

Despite the early hour, it was warm.Reyes paused as they made the port to take off his shirt and tuck it into the waistband of his pants, leaving his ID tags to sway slightly against his sweaty chest as they picked up their pace on the flat area of the field. He was breathing a little quicker than he liked but felt he was holding up well despite a few weeks of being cooped up in a tight ship.Kenax had once told him that he didn’t like aerobic exercise which is why he was a pilot so it wasn’t surprising he was last.Vestus was easily loping along next to Reyes and Alzik was silent but close on his heels. Tefa, at the head, pointed out things of interest giving them the Angaran names for the various different trees and plants, the birdlike lizards that flew around the trees and were starting to sing their songs.

They’d come across other Angarans who were coming to and from the spaceport wearing Resistance colors. Many of them stopped to watch the group go by but were polite and didn’t stare oddly or get in the way. Some of them even called friendly greetings to Tefa but there were a few hostile glances but in general most were positive or curious looking. Tefa had spoken sharply to a few of the stranglers that watched them but otherwise seemed to be in a good mood. Picking up the pace around the airfield, Reyes found his stride lengthening from a jog into a nice loping run, his legs and lungs feeling a good burn from the exercise as he’d warmed up well achieving a runner’s high.They rounded the far corner of the airfield and started the return second half—roughly five kilometers down.There was minimal chit chat from their group as they were all stretching and using muscles that had been cooped up for too long in ships.

Starting their descent back towards headquarters, they slowed due to several steep portions of the trail that twisted back and forth in switchbacks.This wasn’t the same way they’d come up, Tefa informed them, but was the alternative route.There were several, tight, blind, hairpin corners that they had to slow down in case anyone was on the other side. Rounding one such corner, they were forced to stop as four Angarans in Resistance colors were standing in the middle of the path, mostly blocking it except for a small area of space on the outer part of the path that was too narrow for them to pass safely.

Tefa, his face neutral stepped up and quietly talked to the dark blue colored Angaran male in the front who stood with his arms across his chest and a frown on his face. As they were speaking quietly to each other, Reyes could not hear what was being said. There was gesturing going on that seemed to imply a disagreement. 

Bending over to stretch and catch his breath, Reyes trusted Tefa to figure out what was going on but subtlety adjusted his omnitool sensitivity to see if it would pick up anything.His implanted comm translated a few words here and there. Foreigners... vesagara.... belonging... the conversation seemed to be about them. Time to see what was going on and give Tefa some backup.

Standing up, Reyes approached the group, aware that the rest of the group followed him when he moved. “hello.What seems to be the problem?Can we pass to continue our run?”

The leader, seemed surprised that Reyes addressed him directly, interrupting his conversation with Tefa. “You Vesagara are not respectful, do not belong here.”

“Here here or on Aya?”Reyes responded.He wanted to know if they objected in general or if it was because they were being shown the paths around the space port.

A look of consternation crossed the leader’s face. “Aya.You do not belong here in Heleus vesagara.We do not need more invaders.”

Ah.So in general they objected to their presence.Good to know. “We come as friends to live peacefully. We have no interest in causing war.”

“So you say. The Kett once said the same thing vesagara,” was the snap response.Evidently Reyes had been right when he’d assumed vesagara was not a polite term to refer to them by.He’d noticed that neither Tefa or Evfra had used the term since their first dinner together.

Tefa tried to defuse the situation, putting. his hand on the leader’s chest.“Nahran, peace.They are friends of the Resistance. Let us pass.Evfra knows they are with me and where we go.”

Nahran snorted, his companions crowding him as if to encourage him to continue to obstruct their run. “Akksul says that all vesagara are unwelcome.”

“Akksul does not lead us here on Aya,” Tefa responded. “Evfra is the leader of the Resistance. If you have problems then take it up with him.”

Nahran seemed to think for a moment before glancing back at Reyes and his companions before sniffing dismissively.“Vesagara should not be allowed here,” he responded before pushing his way past them, bodily checking Reyes left shoulder as he passed him making Reyes stumble into Kenax who stopped him from falling off the steep end of the path. 

Kenax and Vestus were both glaring daggers at Nahran and his friends as they walked past, a low rumbling growl coming from Kenax. Reyes, righted himself with Kenax’s help and had to move multiple times so the Angarans didn’t body check him again as they passed and continued on towards the space port.Nahran had hit his left shoulder hard and Reyes rubbed his deltoid, pretty sure that he’d end up with a bruise from that. Alzik came up to his side and ran his omnitool scanner over Reyes arm and shoulder, poking at the developing bruise and making concerned noises.

“I see not everyone is happy to have us here,” Vestus commented to Tefa once the other Angarans were out of sight and hearing range.

Tefa looked embarrassed. “There are many different opinions about your arrival here. There are those that remember how the Kett were at first friendly and how they played us against each other and they fear you will do the same. They see all newcomers as enemies.”

“Good to know,” Reyes murmured before exclaiming and pulling his arm away from Alzik as he prodded it, “ouch.Leave that alone Alzik.”

Alzik hmmed but did not stop his examination.“You should put some of that cream they used on your hands on that when we get back. Will bruise good.”

Grumbling, Reyes did allow Alzik to poke one more sore spot on his deltoid before pulling away again. “I’ll do that.Let’s get back though.You and I need to take a look at those schematics for the buoys I found last night.”

“Buoys?What are buoys?” Tefa asked as he turned back to start down slope again but at a much slower pace.

“Buoys are part of the early warning system for large waves.I don’t know if the Angaran map their ocean floor but we’ll need to do that and set up a system of buoys—sensors that measure waves and serve as navigational markers or to mark water hazards,” Reyes talked with Tefa as he fell in behind him, Alzik again on his heels as the turians took the rear position hanging back a few meters.

***

 

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE March 22nd_

_The sky is really beautiful at night on Eos._

_No really.Some of my best memories are centered around going stargazing.I remembered going star gazing with my mother when I was really little—i think i was maybe five? It’s one of my first memories of her that’s really clear. Dad had been stationed back at the Villa in Rio for training reasons—I think he was actually teaching N1 school but I could be wrong about that.Mom took both Sara and I with a friend of hers from graduate school (whose name I don’t remember but they taught something science related at the university in Santiago) in their cruiser to the mountains in Chile to where they have some of the large telescopes in the Atacama desert. I remember especially because we had to stay overnight in Santiago the night before heading out and I was playing soccer with a bunch of local kids that were older than me and like almost twice my size.I didn’t understand a word they said—my Spanish is still nonexistent without SAM’s assistance—but we had a great time and I didn’t want to leave.Sara was angry that I wouldn’t hang out with her and mom but it was one of the few times I could just play games with kids that didn’t know whose kids we were and they treated me just like one of them.Those kids ran in circles around me but were happy to have another teammate. Sara’s always been horrible at soccer or any sport that requires interaction with round objects known as balls unless you’re talking tennis.If it’s tennis stay away from Sara—her competitive spirt is vicious regarding tennis. She was less enthusiastic about my brief football sojourn and hung out with Mom the entire time._

_I fell asleep exhausted from running around when we boarded the shuttle to the desert.I remember waking up at the top of the world with my mom asking me if i was going to sleep through the whole thing.The telescopes are high in the desert there in the mountains at 2600 meters above sea level. The desert is really remote—no one lives there other than the astronomers who still use those telescopes.In this day and age when we travel amongst the stars, there was still being research conducted at a Terran based telescope. Away from the cities and the light pollution... the view is breathtaking—and not just because of the altitude.Even though I’ve been bounced around just about every Alliance base growing up, some of them even in space, I don’t remember stargazing quite like I do that night.I remember the crispness of the mountain air, how even though we were kilometers away from the ocean I could almost taste the salt on the wind. I also remember my mom pointing out the different constellations—the southern cross, Aquila, Sagittarius, Scorpio and Cygnus. I still have the star map of that night in my personal effects that are probably still on the Hyperion._

_So I like stargazing and the old stories around constellations... not something you expect a marine to confess to. Especially one that spends most of his time looking at intel reports and planning tactical missions. Everyone has to have their hobbies—mine used to be stargazing when i got somewhere with minimal light pollution. And Eos, well, for all it’s difficulties, has great stargazing.SAM tells me that there hasn’t been any registered constellations with the Andromeda Initiative.I may have to change that once we get some down time._


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late posting. I’ll likely be skipping next week’s update as my schedule is a little tight for the next few weeks. Adding Reyes/OC to the warnings.

Chapter Twelve:

2819 CE March 23rd

Resilience, Eos, Pytheas system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Murderous robots? I thought we left the Geth at home...

 

They’d set watch overnight and holed up in the largest of the habitation pods after scouting the site more thoroughly.They’d found three bodies over by the science pod—two scientists and a security officer who they’d been able to identify based on their Initiative ID tags.Scott had recorded their names and relayed them to Vetra to update the Nexus’ records.Scott had been briefly, blindingly furious that one of them had died of exposure but told himself that they couldn’t know exactly how they’d died or the circumstances that led them here as the info Vetra had didn’t indicate they’d been stationed here.After a quick discussion with Vetra, they’d dug graves in the loose dirt and buried all three of the bodies behind the science pods where they’d been found.It hadn’t been a good end to the day.

On his watch, Scott had been awoken by Cora at approximately 2200.Scott hadthen spent his part of watch spread out on the roof in a makeshift sniper nest, his omnitool keeping him apprised of the regular flight patterns of the surveillance drone he’d activated.The drone couldn’t go far due to the wind that picked up once you were outside the containment fields, but it could give him eyes in the sky for a couple of klicks in each direction. There’d been some of the scorpions moving out there as well as other animals but no close Kett movement.There seemed to be Kett activity to the far southwest, towards where the alien structures were that they’d be investigating in a few hours once the sun was up.Before settling down for the night, they’d done an inspection of all the buildings in Resilience.The beast that had put a dent in Liam’s side and crashed around the place causing damage that had finally been felled by Cora was evidently called a fiend according to the science reports in the datapads.There’d been no other fiends cooped up in the pods but there had been plenty of data for SAM to crunch and sort through so he left Scott to his thoughts as he kept watch.

It had been peaceful lying prone on the roof with his viper in hand after he’d dragged a pad up to lay on.The stars had no light pollution to compete with and Scott had found himself making up constellations as he stargazed, ahem, kept watch.He’d identified several different birds, a unicorn and what he was creatively calling a mermaid.It was a way to pass the time. The wind hadn’t picked up too bad so the containment field had kept the air mostly still inside. When Liam had relieved him at 0200 he’d almost been disappointed.However, he’d fallen asleep quickly once he was back on the ground. Sunrise came at 0548 local time and Scott had been awake to watch the sunrise, already doing his routine of crunches, lunges, and a few yoga stretches. Cora, similarly conditioned to early awakenings was ready to go shortly thereafter.Liam, was evidently not a morning person they discovered despite him having taken the last watch.Breakfast was the same as dinner, another protein bar and a bottle of water which they refilled all their supplies from the water pumps that Scott had turned on the night before.

And then they headed out into the early morning haze.Despite the early hour, the light was diffuse from the amount of sand and dirt in the air, making the beauty of the desert take on a dream like state as they drove.For a few minutes, there was no talking as Scott guided the nomad and pointed it towards the alien structure on the horizon. “No questionable music choices for today?” Liam asked.

Chuckling, Scott replied, “What were you thinking?”

Leaning forward, Liam put his forearms on the backs of Cora’s and Scott’s seats.“Well since you like questionable quality jazz music I was going to suggest another classic.”

Playing along, Scott asked, “And that would be?”

“Best of the sounds of Blasto,” Liam said with a completely straight face but his eyes betrayed he was messing with them.

Cora responded before Scott could, reaching back to push Liam back into his seat. “Absolutely not. SAM, can you play Sinatra again?Liam has absolutely no taste and is no longer allowed to suggest music.”

Laughing at his teammates, Scott didn’t interfere as they continued to spar over music choices as the beginning chords of Fly Me to the Moon streamed over the nomad’s speakers.

***

Approaching the monoliths, there appeared to be three large structures that were roughly spaced in a triangular layout. There was no current Kett activity showing up on the radar that reached the structure from Resilience unlike what Scott had seen overnight.They’d all suited up and were ready for a fight... but there was no Kett currently around the structure.As they reached three hundred meters out in the nomad, the radiation fell dramatically like they had entered a containment field. There was no sensation of passing through one and the nomad simply registered that the radiation level had abruptly fallen and a flash of light that lit up the windshield for a brief fraction of a second as they passed the barrier.

Parking behind one of the monoliths, they exited the nomad, helmets on and guns drawn. The triangle of monoliths had a platform at the base that was only perhaps a meter off the ground at it’s highest point with sand gathering around the base making ramps here and there where the wind had blown it.The platform was silent with just the wind for noise. No animals here. Scott could feel something in the air despite his helmet—almost like what he imagined it would feel like right before lightning struck. Scott motioned silently for Cora and Liam to flank him and explore the place as he loaded his scanner. 

There were multiple stacks of odd alien blocks around that had a thrum to them once you touched it—there was power running through them but to where? Waving his scanner around, he silently asked SAM if he was picking anything up. 

_No Pathfinder.there is a power source here but it feels inactive, waiting.Continue scanning._

_Wilco._ Scott replied as he continued to scan, his eyes flicking here and there looking for something for him to have SAM interface with. Approaching the middle of the platform between the triangles there was a console that appeared dead or turned off as it did nothing when he and SAM tried to interface with it.There were also scattered pillars around the console that were made of similar materials to the rest of the platform but seemed to have no pattern.There was also three small pyramidal shapes around the console that did not seem to have any purpose. The scanner chirped as he scanned the entire thing to tell him that there was three power lines that spread out from the console going in opposite directions.

“Nothing over here, just more sand and rocks. No Kett either,” Liam called from the far side. Cora was silent as she slid along the edges. Scott followed one of the power lines back and found himself at the rear of one of the triangle points.The tall structure was climbable with his jump jets using the nearby rocks and soon he was scrambling up the back of the structure towards the point at the top that leveled off almost a hundred meters above the platform. At the top of the monolith, Scott could see all the way to Promise, it’s containment field glinting in the distance. On top, his scanner revealed that there was something written there that SAM was analyzing.

_Reach out your hand to interface,_ SAM told him. _This may feel odd._

Extending his hand, Scott felt SAM guiding him and an amber light encased his hand. He followed SAM’s directions, felt an odd rush as something touched his mind and seemed to recognize him before the light flashed brighter then disappeared.His scanner showed that something had changed with the power source that led here and there was a significant difference in power readings—it had doubled. 

_It’s done,_ SAM informed him. _You will need to follow all three power lines and do the same... I think._

_You think or you know?_ Scott asked.He’d not heard SAM use that sort of reasoning before.

_If the readings I’m getting are accurate then yes.It uses a language very similar to the one we encountered on Habitat 7 but has slight differences—it seems older almost. It is also automated and is recognizing you as a user with my assistance. I merely have turned it on but it seems to have multiple access points that have switches._

_And multiple switches means we need to turn them all on._ Scott sighed and started the climb down.At least the view from up top had been interesting.

As he reached the base, Cora was waiting for him. “What’s up there?”

“There’s power lines and I followed one up.There was some kind of interactive switch up there that SAM turned on,” Scott told her, patting himself down to shake loose a small cloud of sand that had gotten into the seams in his armor as he’d slid down the rock slope at the back.

“Huh,” was all Cora said as she followed him back to the console and he restarted his scanner, following one of the other lines.Luckily, this one was just at the back of the monolith as there wasn’t anything to give him a boost to get up on the top of this one.He didn’t think he’d make it if he tried to jump between the flat parts up top even with his jump jets. Again, he had SAM help him to interface and had the same weird feeling that made his skin breakout in goosebumps as he “turned the switch on” as SAM called it.

Liam had rejoined Cora by the time he returned to the console to follow the third power line and they followed him to the end of the power line and he spent another few minutes activating a third switch.This one required a scramble up some rocks but was on the side of the third monolith and hanging precariously to activate but he was able to do it with a little more difficulty than the other two.Again, the weird mental touch preceded the switch flicking to active but he had a sense of something being... anticipatory.

Climbing down again, Cora and Liam watched as he approached the console then turned to look at their surroundings while he did his thing.He’d long since holstered his M3 on his hip but they still had their guns in hand and were ready to shoot whatever came at them when he activated the console. 

Lifting his omnitool, Scott extended his right hand to interface with the console.SAM, perhaps feeling his uneasiness apologized in advance for anything that was about to happen. _Building connections. I apologize for any discomfort. The system appears unstable._

Not removing his hand, Scott spoke aloud. “Is this what happened when my dad tried this?”

SAM, replying in kind, spoke through the omnitool as he worked. “Your father directly interfaced with an atmosphere processor. That proved extremely hazardous.”

Yeah no shit. SAM continued, “ This control console could reveal something similar.”

Or blow us all up given the energy spikes he’d experienced earlier when he’d activated those switches, Scott told himself silently, not sharing with anyone his thoughts regarding the matter. Nothing seemed to be happening for a moment but Scott could feel something looking at him and the sensation of something tickling the back of his consciousness was back. The octagon keys on the console moved up and down in waves, responding to his attempt to interface but nothing else happened.

SAM seemed surprised nothing was happening. “System remains unstable.Doubling the power input may accelerate the process.”

Feeling hesitant, Scott took a step back and shook himself.The feeling hadn’t abated despite stepping back from the console. “I’ll give it a shot,” he said as he re-extended his arm to interface and felt something more there... but before he could do anything he startled when an unexpected shout came from the far monolith.

“Wait!” A female voice shouted which was followed by rapid footsteps that were approaching from around some of the alien pillars. An asari suddenly vaulted over the pillars, landing on Scott’s chest with her knees and pushing him off the console and to the ground.Scott’s immediate reaction was slightly delayed—whatever had been reaching out to him was abruptly yanked away causing brief disorientation.As his back hit the ground they slid from the forward motion the asari had which Scott then accentuated to flip them so he wasn’t on the bottom.

Cora’s reaction was just as quick, her asari sword flickering out and resting on the neck pulse point of a young asari who was now underneath and pinned by Scott. “Stop it right there,” Cora snarled.

Liam, being a bit slower than either of his companions, had his gun trained right between the young asari‘s wide eyes.“Where did you come from?!”

Scott, hand on his M3 at his hip, glared at the asari who gave him an unworried, impetuous grin despite being pinned beneath Scott’s greater weight.She was obviously young for an asari and she had used eye black to create a broad stripe across her face and eyes—smart if she’d been living in the desert for a long time with what she had on her.She wasn’t wearing Initiative armor but instead light, purple leather like armor that probably didn’t do much to protect her.Not moving from where he had her pinned, Scott debated what to do. She had her hands up in a, ‘I surrender’ type gesture but obviously found Scott’s reaction hilarious which she didn’t hide.

Before Scott could say anything, she beat him to it. “Whoa, easy there.You’ve come this far, let it ride?” she squirmed under him but Scott didn’t let her out from under him, tightening his hold with his legs and adjusting his feet so they pinned her legs better.“I’ve been studying these ruins for months.I don’t know how you activated those glyphs but you have to let them cycle through their channels.”

Frowning, Scott figured she likely wasn’t going to kill him at the moment and they could afford to wait a short time to see what happened.SAM gave a silent agreement through their private channel, noting that the power levels around them did seem to be doing something. SAM also noted he couldn’t find records regarding her. Getting up, he was less than gentlemanly and did not give her a hand up. This dampened her cheerful facade slightly as she stood up and brushed herself off. “Who’re you and what’re you doing here?” he asked, his voice lower than normal and with a definite growl to it.He hadn’t appreciated the tumble and his body language wasn’t welcoming as he crossed his arms and stared at her.

Scoffing at his aggressive stance, the asari flicked her hands to rid herself of the excess sand. “Not a fan of being on the bottom I see?” She said saucily.

Scott let his scowl speak for itself. He really wasn’t amused and he ignored her remark.“Who are you?”

Realizing that Scott wasn’t in a playful mood, the asari brushed off his annoyance as she replied, “I know, I know, who am I? I mean it’s obvious who you are,” she spoke with her hands as she tried to talk her way out of the awkward situation as she reached out, grabbed Scott’s hand and pumped it in an enthusiastic handshake. “I saw the ship swoop in. You’re a Pathfinder. I was beginning to think the Initiative just made you guys up so the rest of us wouldn’t give up hope. But I guess you’re real since you’re here...”

She let Scott’s hand drop as he hadn’t participated in the handshake.He crossed his arms across his chest so she couldn’t grab his hand again. “Are you for real? You were going to tell me who you are, right?”Yeah Scott needed to get ahold of his temper, that came out harsher than he originally intended.He could see Cora out of his peripheral vision had not relaxed her grip on her sword at all and was faintly glowing blue from her biotics being tightly leashed.Liam also hadn’t relaxed his aim and had his M3 pointed at the asari.

The unnamed asari just got more cocky when their hostility didn’t abate. “I might just be the solution to all your problems,” she cheekily replied. As she spoke, there was a loud sizzling noise as sand heated up with energy being released and the channels that ran through the monoliths lit up with faint greenish light as they powered up.With a noise like a lightning strike, the tops of the monoliths fired a beam of energy that coalesced in a center point and then turned in midair to head out into the desert in a northwest direction. Everyone was looking straight up as the beam powered on. “Well look at that...” the asari commented as Scott and Cora exchanged glances which included more than one set of eye rolls.

Abruptly, the asari‘s mood changed as her eyes widened, looking at something behind Scott.“Ah crap,” she said before pulling a gun from inside her coat and shooting something behind Scott, making Scott dive out of the way of her shot and roll as he heard a large crash of something metallic hitting the ground behind where he’d been standing. Cora had immediately tackled the asari and had her blade at the girl’s throat. Liam had turned and also shot whatever had been behind Scott as a robotic high-pitched whine ended in a small explosion.

The next thing Scott knew he was shooting murderous robots.Fuck. He’d thought he’d left murderous robots (i.e. the Geth) back in the Milky Way.Liam was making short work of the flying ones that had energy weapons that they fired with accuracy similar to the Kett weapons. Evidently the Kett weapons they’d picked up went straight through any shielding the robots had which gave Liam the advantage.What was more difficult was the taller two legged robots that had a stronger energy beam weapon that significantly damaged shields for every second they hit.Scott found that out the hard way as he rolled further behind the cover of one of the pillars, his shields sizzling as they fell.The walking bots also seemed to summon the flying ones out of thin air.

The walker bots also made sounds like they were talking verbally to each other. Which made locating them slightly easier.Noting that his cloak was still mostly charged, unlike his shields, Scott activated it before leaving cover to help Cora who was trying to both keep track of the asari as well as fend off the murderous robots, her sword singing through the air as she swung it through one of the fliers that she’d trapped in a singularity. Firing shots consecutively from his M3, he overloaded the shields of the walker that was threatening Cora so she could then stab her blade directly into the source of the beam weapon, which caused the robots weapon to overheat and then stopping the robot in it’s tracks as it folded with a sad robotic death cry before a small explosion and fire that consumed the robot as Cora activated her jump jets to take her clear.

Not stopping until he was behind cover again, his cloak overheated, it’s charge exhausted.However, it had bought time for his shields to begin to recover and they flickered back to minimal coverage at 30%.Remembering he had three grenades left, Scott took one out of it’s slot and threw it in the direction of one of the two remaining walkers where it attached and three seconds later exploded, destroying the robot.One more walker and what appeared to be three fliers on his HUD remained. SAM alerted him that Liam was pinned down by fire from the walker and his shields were nonexistent. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Liam?” Scott called.

“Yeah? I could use some help here!” Liam called from behind one of the small pyramids in the center of the platform. Liam took out another of the fliers as it tried to hover over him.The walker was stalking around the pyramid, trying to get a direct shot at Liam.Cora, who had given up for the moment keeping track of the asari, pulled her M3 out and tried to distract the walker and managed to weaken it’s shields.As it was far enough away from Liam, Scott fired off a biotic throw that lifted the walker and pinned it against the wall of one of the monoliths.Cora then threw a nova at it, causing the bot to explode. 

The forgotten asari managed to finally contribute to the fight and took down the remaining brace of fliers. Checking on Liam, Scott helped him to his feet before turning to look at Cora who hadn’t put her sword to the asari yet but looked like she was thinking about it.

Striking a pose by sticking her hip out and putting her gun back in it’s holster, the asari was unrepentant.“Not bad,” she told Scott.“My first encounter with the Remnant was a lot messier.”

“The Remnant?” Cora asked her, not stopping her death glare. Yeah his XO wasn’t happy with the plucky asari.

“These monoliths... the assembler and observer bots... they’re all remnants of something much bigger,” the asari said as she gestured to the large structures they were standing amongst. “But that’s too much to say so I call them Remnant.I hate long, so my name is Peebee.”

Deciding he’d try and be more polite as she seemed to know something about the murderbots—ahem—Remnant, Scott returned the introduction with a slightly less hostile tone than earlier.“I’m Ryder. That’s Cora and this is Liam.Thanks for helping.”

His more polite tone seemed to delight Peebee. “You’re fascinating.I’ve been studying these structures and glyphs for months! And you show up and they’re solved like that. Pfft! Solved”

Sighing, Scott knew he needed to see how much she knew. “We saw tech like this clear the skies above Habitat 7. We’re hoping it could do the same for Eos.”

Looking thoughtful, Peebee shrugged as she looked off into the distance in thought, suddenly appearing a bit older. “Huh. Atmospheric manipulation...maybe.... fits the model.”Her eyes then focused on Scott and a small smile on her face as she started to fiddle with her omnitool. “All Remnant tech is connected—integrated.And you somehow were able to interact and activate this monolith which is pinging the other two monoliths. If you activate all three, maybe it’ll pinpoint the master switch and you can fix the radiation problem.”

Feeling skeptical, Scott asked her if she was sure. “Are you sure? Or am I just handy to activate these monoliths for you to study?”

Peebee scoffed. “I’m a little offended by that Ryder.”

Not believing her for one minute, Scott’s tone was doubtful as he replied, “Uh-huh.”

Realizing that Scott wasn’t going to play dumb, Peebee sighed. “Okay, maybe.But we both get what we want.it’s not like we could make Eos worse.”Peebee turned away from them to go to the console where she tried to interface with it but failed.“Here. Take these navpoints to the other monoliths that I’m picking up pings from.I need to figure out this interface and I’ll meet up with you later. Just be careful—this planet’s all sorts of weird.”

Exchanging a look with both Cora and Liam, Scott knew he’d been dismissed as his omnitool chimed with the receiving of the navpoints. Cora inclined her head, indicating she wanted to leave.It wasn’t like they could make Peebee leave with them.

_Scott_ , SAM called him privately. _I believe that you will need to activate all three monoliths to get more information. The system here is online but it’s trying to communicate with a central processor which is not here.If we have more data points I may be able to triangulate the central processor._

Well, it didn’t look like this day was going to get any easier if the other two sites would have robot guardians as well. Scott motioned with his head to have Cora and Liam lead the way back to where they’d left the nomad. It wasn’t like they had any other leads to follow for the moment.

***

Once they were out of hearing distance from Peebee, Cora started asking questions. “Are we just going to leave her there? I’m assuming SAM said something since we’re leaving without arguing any further.”

“Yeah.SAM thinks that if we activate the other two monoliths we should be able to triangulate whatever central processor those things are using—evidently they’re trying to ping something bigger.” Scott told her.He wasn’t exactly happy with leaving Peebee here without more of a discussion but he also didn’t really want to physically drag her along with them in the nomad.

“But leaving her here? I mean, we had four people to take care of those robots.There could be more of them out there,” Liam added as they reached the nomad.

Patting himself to shake loose as much dust and dirt as he could before climbing in the vehicle, Scott answered Liam and Cora. “I don’t like leaving her here but she might be safer if she’s just one person and she can hide.She did take care of several of the bots and she said she’s been out here for months.”

“And she seems like she could be annoying in enclosed small spaces,” Cora added. Yep, Cora was not a fan. “Where are those navpoints that she sent you?How far away of a drive are they?”

Pulling himself into the driver’s seat, Scott had his omnitool transmit the coordinates to both Liam and Cora.“There.The second one is probably a few hours drive away but the third is easily almost a full days’ drive from here.”As the doors on the nomad sealed, Scott took off his helmet and took a few breaths. He now hated wearing his helmet for prolonged periods of time. Stashing his helmet in the door nook that was built for it, he started the nomad up to get the air scrubber working to pull any excess sand out as his companions also took off their helmets.

Studying the coordinates that Scott had sent, Cora agreed with him. “Yeah that’s probably doable today but we need to figure out someplace to stay for the night before start out for that third.There’s a lot of elevation climbing we’ll need to do between here and there.”

“We’ll just need to keep our eyes out for a cave big enough to use the nomad’s shields across the front,” Liam offered from the back seat. Liam seemed perfectly willing to follow his and Cora’s lead. He was remarkably calm for a man who kept getting shot at or bashed into things.

Not forgetting Kesh’s shopping list, Scott added, “And we also need to keep an eye on the scanner results for mineral deposits.If we find a rich spot we need to deploy those mining probes in the back.Well, let’s get going.We’re burning daylight here.”

***

2818 CE July 23rd

Aya, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Angaran Resistance Initiate

Status: collaborating over satellite builds

Reyes distracted Tefa with discussion of buoys and early warning systems the rest of the way back to the Resistance headquarters which they walked instead of jogged.Really, it was also a way of distracting him from looking too deeply into the unfriendly welcome those other Angarans had given them.He got that not everyone was trusting them—he wouldn’t either in their place. But it was obvious from the animosity that had been leveled their way that there was more than one faction at large in Angaran society.Tefa, obviously wanting to distract from the encounter, had thrown himself whole into a discussion about tsunami early warning systems.Alzik intermittently also threw in comments as Tefa asked them questions.

Once back at Resistance headquarters, Tefa introduced Reyes and Alzik to one of the techs—Kjaan Gosav.Kjaan was taller and older than Tefa and a bright maroon in color, his hands heavily scarred from working with wires and other tools. Tefa explained to Reyes and Alzik that Kjaan was an engineer who was interested in their early warning systems for giant waves. Tefa then excused himself as he needed to talk to Evfra about the confrontation on the path. Vestus and Kenax departed to go find something to eat, telling Reyes they would bring something for him and Alzik as they were already deep in discussion with Kjaan.

Waving distractedly at the turians as they left, Reyes pulled up the schematics that he’d been reviewing on his omnitool, Reyes asked Kjaan which screens they could use to display data.“Do you have something I can display schematics on?”

Giving the same exaggerated nod that Evfra and Tefa had adopted and then gestured to a hallway on the right, Kjaan replied, “Yes.I have a small workshop this way. We have materials to draw with there as well as large screens.I will show you.”

“Lead the way,” Reyes replied, Alzik murmuring his own agreement as he fiddled with his omnitool.

Kjaan led them down several hallways to a medium sized room that had multiple workbenches with parts of engines and sensors torn apart and half rebuilt on them.The room had the strong odor of engine grease and warm metal.There were tools that were easily recognizable as similar to their Milky Way counterparts such as hammers, wrenches and welders as well as others that Reyes could only guess at their functionality. There was a large oblong machine along one wall that reminded Reyes of a 3D fabricator. Several large screens also hung around the perimeter of the workroom and displayed schematics in Angaran for an engine it appeared on one and a, Reyes thought, medium sized missile launcher on another.

“This is my workshop,” Kjaan told them as he erased the missile launcher from the screen. “You may display your schematics here.”

Fiddling with his omnitool to sync with the screen, Reyes soon had the schematics for an early warning system up on the screen. Alzik, who had seen the same schematics, started explaining how tsunami warning systems worked.They would need to place sensors in a grid extending out from the settled islands.These sensors would have part that sat on the ocean floor that listened for earthquakes. When they sensed an earthquake, the sensors then transmitted up to the buoy marker that they were attached to.The buoy would then transmit the data to a receiver on land that would then alert the Angarans of a possible wave.To be really accurate, they would need to do some mapping of the ocean floor and communicate via satellite as that gives a longer lead time on warnings. The buoys could also carry sensors for weather prediction if the Angarans were interested.

Kjaan had asked minimal questions, closely following Alzik’s explanations. when Alzik was finished explaining, Kjaan was silent for a moment before turning to Reyes and asking him a question. “And this works on your world?”

Raising an eyebrow at the question being directed at himself, Reyes replied, “Yes.Earth has tectonic plates as most planets do as well as large oceans.The waves that Tefa described sound similar to tsunamis.Due to damage and loss of life from tsunamis we have developed the early warning systems you see here.Have the Angaran never had anything like this?”

Kjaan thought before replying. “The other worlds that have been rediscovered do not have an environment like Aya’s—large oceans yes but not islands like we have here.There have been large wave events on other worlds as well but the Angaran no longer build in those areas because of them. This would change things.And you say weather prediction?The bad storms that come seasonally could be tracked?”

Reyes had noticed a lack of orbiting satellites on approach to Aya—there’d been wreckage from ships on the way to Aya but they hadn’t seen signs of technology like satellites which there would have been with the advanced species planets in the Milky Way.“Yes we can track weather storms as well.These buoys work best and give the most warning time when working with a satellite network that provides line of sight communication networks.Do the Angaran use those?”

“Much was lost with the Kett invasion,” Kjaan informed them. “We had much more technology once than what you see here.The Kett invasion regressed our scientific achievements and isolated us on different worlds.Aya is a newly colonized world for the Angaran unlike others. We may have once had what you speak of but we will be able to build whatever we need to have the best system if you share how it works.”

“Your technology regressed?” Reyes asked.This would explain why their technology was advanced in some respects but seemed rather primitive in others.

“Yes. We once had much more of it.On Havarl there are ruins of our cities that we now research trying to regain our lost knowledge.The time of isolation has weakened our knowledge but we will regain it.”

Realizing that sharing with the Angaran would go a long way to giving them all more breathing room, Reyes offered as much help as they could give.“We would be happy to share our knowledge and help.Anything we can do for our friends to help will be done.”

Kjaan seemed amused by Reyes, more so than Evfra or Tefa.“You are young and eager—I feel I must warn you about offering us too much.We were once as eager to share with newcomers as you are and the Kett took advantage of us.The Angarans will take you up on your offer of knowledge and assistance. These buoys and sensors, do you have more details about them?”

Alzik responded first. “Yes we do.As well as the satellite receivers.The materials to make these should be easily obtained.”

Bringing up schematics for a weather satellite, Reyes displayed it alongside the tsunami warning system.“This is for a weather satellite similar to what is used around my home world.”

Kjaan smiled at them. “You newcomers are not like the Kett.This will help my people immensely.”

Returning the smile, Reyes gave a small nod.“We’re happy to help our friends.We’re not like the Kett.”

***

Reyes had been right on his first assumption. The machine in the corner was basically a 3D fabricator.Using the machine, they’d been able to start making some parts for the buoys, sensors, and satellite.Kjaan had brought in three other, younger, Angarans to work with them and they’d been coming and going from the room bringing in materials to feed into the machine while one of them paid detailed attention to Alzik’s explanation about how encoding and programing worked for both satellites and the sensor-buoy complex.Kenax and Vestus had stopped by to make sure Reyes and Alzik had something to eat but otherwise they’d been absorbed in making a working prototype (Reyes) and software to run everything (Alzik). 

Alzik, murmuring mostly to himself, said, “This would be much easier if Maiko was here.Her engineering experience would be helpful.”

Pausing what he was doing, Reyes thought about that for a moment, his gaze flicking to Kjaan briefly before looking back at Alzik.“Yeah, she’d be really helpful.I could see if they could get here quicker?”

Kjaan, who’d been paying some attention to the human and salarian, looked up from where he’d been studying the schematics. “You have someone else who could help?”

Nodding, Reyes met Kjaan’s look. “Yes.One of our friends who is coming to Aya is an engineer.She would be of great help making things like these.”

Kjaan gave one of his exaggerated nods. “If she would help you should ask her to see if she can get her sooner.I will notify Evfra.”

Exchanging looks between Alzik and himself, Reyes tapped a short message into his omnitool.He’d not updated Maiko and Julia yet today. If they showed up a few days earlier it wouldn’t hurt surely?Maiko didn’t immediately reply as it was their protocol to delay answers in case someone was monitoring.Kjaan had returned to closely peering at the schematics.“I’ve sent her a message.If they can get here any sooner I’ll let you know.”

“Will they need your help landing?” Alzik asked worriedly. “She’s never landed on a planet with that ship before.”

Kjaan was now paying much more attention to their comments. “She is flying a ship she doesn’t know how to land?”

Clearing his throat, Reyes pulled a face at Alzik before replying. “Maiko hasn’t ever had to land on a planet before.She’s landed the ship on asteroids with either myself or Kenax assisting her but she’s new to piloting.”

“Do you need one of you to meet them in orbit to safely guide the ship down?” Kjaan asked.“It would be much safer to fly one of you to meet them rather than have her land unsafely.The approach is not easy for the spaceport.”

“No it’s not,” Reyes agreed. “Would Evfra allow this?”

“If it is safer and if you are escorted I would think he should agree,” Kjaan told Reyes.“I will speak with Evfra.How long until this other ship is close?”

“I’d assume at least another day or so but I won’t know until she replies,” Reyes hedged. He’d want to know what Evfra said before giving a definitive timeline.Reyes knew Maiko would appreciate some help with the landing.There was a lot of equipment in their ship and a rough landing would be best avoided. “Maiko’s ship also has a lot of equipment in it—some of which would help us with the early warning system. But it it also has the materials to start crops that we will need for long term sustainability so we are not dependent on your hospitality forever.Can we speak to Evfra about the cargo?I don’t want it destroyed just because they landed.”

Kjaan thought before he replied.“It has seeds and such?”

“Yes.And equipment to build hydroponics—a method of crop growing that doesn’t require as much soil if the environment is hostile to regular planting methods.If it’s all opened and gone through it could damage the seeds and equipment—make them unusable,” Alzik explained.

“If it is crop related we can mark those containers and set them aside—and no one will open them unless you are there to supervise. I understand wanting to have your food safe.”Kjaan seemed to be thinking things through logically and was respectful of his new collaborators needs. “Perhaps we Angarans need to remember our old hospitality laws even though the Kett abused them you have not.”

“The hydroponics stuff is okay to go through, i just don’t want to ruin the seeds or break anything.I’m happy to open stuff as long as we’re careful,” Reyes cautioned. “But going to meet as a rendezvous would be a good idea.”

“I will talk with Evfra.You said at least a day?” Kjaan verified.

“Yes, at least one day,” Alzik replied as Reyes nodded. 

“Too bad it will take too long to make one of your ‘satellites’ or we could deploy that while you meet with your friends,” Kjaan mused, going back to studying the explanations next to the schematics.

***

Evfra had agreed to a rendezvous... but with Kenax piloting instead of Reyes as he was impressed with hearing what Kjaan had to say about the early warning systems and wanted Reyes to work as much as possible on it.Evfra himself showed up the next day after their run and they’d retired to the workshop. Kenax and Vestus had both taken a ride with Tefa after the run to make a rendezvous with the girls—them and three other ships full of Angarans. Evfra said to give them a nice show of Aya before bringing them into land.While Reyes trusted Kenax, he was disappointed he didn’t get to fly.It was his specialty after all.Kenax better not scratch the paint on landing.

Working with Kjaan was a good mental workout.Reyes, while he had a degree with his name on in in aerospace engineering he wasn’t this type of engineer or scientist—he’d really only been interesting in repairing his own ship that he flew and it was required to be a pilot.He only tinkered in hydroponics due to growing up helping his Tío manage crops and was good at following directions with a wrench or other tools. Maiko would be much more helpful but since it wasn’t Alzik’s field either they were both making do. 

Kjaan required them to interpret and well, Reyes could follow directions to assemble the parts that they fabricated which the schematics had helpfully included. He mostly had an intact working sensor that would need to be tethered to the ocean floor.Now how to figure out where to place it and what it would be sending a signal to.His omnitool easily interfaced with it once he’d powered it up. Alzik had then loaded the software that the sensor would need. Alzik had the buoy mostly finished.They had a bunch of the parts for the satellite fabricated but it was perhaps only a quarter made.The rest of it would hopefully be Maiko’s contribution to their project.They would need many more buoys and sensors. And likely need to make more satellites so they would always have line of sight for communication.This was ending up a large project but they had plenty of enthusiastic helpers.

Reyes had actually lost track of time using the spot welder to finish up the buoy work when Evfra came into the workshop.“Reyes Vidal, we appreciate your work but I thought you would want to be present to welcome your friends to Aya?”

Looking around with the welding mask on and seeing from the angle of the sunlight that came through the high up windows that it was getting late in the day, Reyes blinked at Evfra as he drug his brain out of the complex instructions he’d been following.Alzik wasn’t present and Reyes could vaguely recall him saying something about going to meet someone.“Um... yes?What time is it?”

Doing the angaran equivalent of a chuckle, Evfra gestured towards the door. “We must be going now if you wish to be there to meet them.”

Putting down the welder, Reyes took off the work gloves he’d had to make and the helmet which was much too big as it was made for Angarans. “Lead the way,” he told Evfra.

***

Instead of walking the paths to the spaceport, they took a land cruiser that was able to clear the tops of the trees.This made getting there much quicker and easier. The work jumpsuit that he’d had Yaansa make for him were mostly clean as he hadn’t been working with anything that required grease for lubrication today. However, they were a bit on the warm side now that he was outside in the humid air and he enjoyed the wind as they sped up.Evfra was mostly silent as he piloted the cruiser and they landed with several minutes to spare. Joining Alzik who was waiting with some of the Angarans that had been helping them in the workshop, Reyes saw that Kjaan was also there to help greet the girls. 

“It will be good to be back all together again,” Alzik spoke to Reyes as he joined them.

“Yes it will be,” Reyes replied with a small smile. 

Kjaan, on the other side of Alzik, had asked many questions over the last day about Maiko and her specialty.He’d been very curious about what a materials scientist did and as an engineer how she solved problems. “I am very happy to meet this Maiko you speak of.She will contribute much to our wave prediction efforts.”

“I’m sure she’ll be happy to help and teach your about our engineering,” Reyes assured him as they could see a glint of light on the horizon as it reflected off the approaching ships.

“They come,” Evfra said as he pointed to the horizon. Rapidly approaching was five ships—Reyes initial ship as well as four Angaran fighters as he’d come to realize what they really were.The ship they’d come to Aya in was one of the larger sized fighters but they had very poor firepower but better shielding.The Angarans had lost much of their technology regarding warfare in their forced isolation.Reyes felt that he might be able to reverse that technological slide... but he’d have to be careful how much he helped or he might be causing bigger problems.

As they approached, Kenax who would be piloting banked perfectly in the center of a diamond formation and then landed gently. No paint scraping this time at least. As the engines whined down towards shutdown, Evfra, Reyes, Alzik, Kjaan and several other Resistance members went out to meet the Exodus. Compared to the fighters that had landed in formation around it, the Exodus was twice the size due to the large cargo hold. Reyes again thanked whatever god was watching over them that he’d managed to get this ship out of the Initiative.

The seals around the airlock started to cycle and air whooshed as the air pressure equalized between the ship and atmosphere before the outer door opened to make a small ramp. On the other side, Kenax and Vestus were the first off the ship with Tefa trailing them.Tefa was talking with Julia and Maiko who came last.The girls were looking around in wonder at Aya, wobbling slightly at being back in gravity. Catching sight of Reyes, Julia grinned and rushed to meet him, throwing her arms around him to make him catch her weight which he did awkwardly. Julia laughed as he belatedly hugged her back. “This place is beautiful,” she whispered in his ear.

“Yes it is.You need to meet everyone,” he said the second part louder so the rest of their companions could hear it.Releasing Julia, he was next hugged by Maiko who remarked that she rated a hug as well as her sister. Blushing somewhat uncertainly, Reyes was glad to see them but they’d obviously been cooped up in a ship by themselves for too long. Julia was now hugging Alzik.

Kenax, watching the girls greet Reyes and Alzik asked, “How long do I have to be gone before I get a hug too?”

Laughing as he released Maiko, Reyes smirked at his friend. “Why jealous? I have plenty to spare.”

Vestus, amused by his partner and Reyes, pushed Kenax forward making him stumble towards Reyes. “Go get your hug from our human.You’ll be impossible otherwise.”

Reyes was quickly enveloped in a hug from his fellow copilot and lifted off the ground so his legs dangled as he tried to find purchase.He really should talk to them about being called ‘their human’ as it was odd yet he kind of liked it. “Let me go,” he said with a snicker. “We need to introduce the girls to everyone.”

Kenax, always prepared to tease Reyes, let Reyes feet back on the ground but didn’t release him from his grip, keeping a firm arm around the waist until Reyes gripped his hand and purposefully pulled it away to make his escape. Clearing his throat, Reyes saw that Evfra was closely watching their reunion and seeing how they interacted with each other.The Angaran leader was definitely learning a lot from how they greeted one another.

Maiko, Julia, this is Evfra de Tershaav, the leader of the Angaran Resistance.Evfra, this is Maiko and Julia Fraser, my friends and fellow Milky Way travelers,” Reyes said as he gave introductions. “Tefa, I believe you’ve been introduced. This is Kjaan Gosav, one of the technicians for the Resistance who we’ve been working on an early warning system for giant waves and bad storms with.Kjaan, this is Maiko, the engineer I’ve spoken about.”

Everyone exchanged hellos. So far so good. Evfra invited the girls formally to Aya and to dinner while giving instructions to Tefa to secure their ship and that they’d go through things with Reyes present tomorrow—tonight was for welcoming their new friends of friends. The group split into two different groups to fit into land cruisers and headed towards the Tavetaan where Evfra had organized a meal to welcome the girls.Reyes heart felt light as he got into the cruiser with Maiko, Julia, Evfra and Vestus.He would hold on with everything he could to make a home here on Aya for them... or if not on Aya then on another world with their new Angaran friends. Things just needed to keep going right here. He didn’t know when the anxiety would go away that something bad was just right around the corner.He could do without the chest tightness that sometimes made him feel like he couldn’t breath. He was too young for heart disease.

 

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE March 23rd_

_Andromeda continues to be full of surprises. I’ve been given the locations of three tall alien structures that are similar to the ones on Habitat 7–we’re calling them monoliths.So far I’ve managed to turn one of them on... whatever that means...I’m not sure. I also met a young asari who has been studying the alien structures and murderbots aka “remnant” that they left behind. She’s... interesting is one way to put it.I need as much help as we can get with this alien tech so I guess we’ll play nice for now as long as she’s nice back—our first meeting wasn’t how I’d normally greet someone. Cora, Liam and I seem to be becoming a well functioning team at least, so that’s one thing that seems to be going okay for the moment and I’m cautiously optimistic about our future working relationships._

_SAM says we’ll need to activate/turn on all three structures in order to triangulate whatever’s central processor controls them.I admit to being very leery about this central processor given what happened on Habitat 7.I find myself worrying late at night when I’m on watch that maybe I’d be a fraction of a second too late or make the wrong command decision and my team pays the ultimate price.SAM’s had to wake me out of a few nightmares... luckily I don’t wake up screaming so nobody else knows at this point. I need to get a handle on myself or I’ll be useless to my team. I just need to focus on fixing the first problem and then moving on to the next.First things first as my old CO would tell me. First we need a colony. I just need to focus on that._

_A few things I’ve noticed by interacting with SAM. SAM is young for an AI and he has a lot of questions regarding motivations.I tried to explain to him that I have to focus on the mission—if I started worrying about everything all at once I think I’d get overwhelmed. I have time to figure out the politics game but right now we have some bigger priorities—namely food, shelter, water and supplies.SAM has read a lot about strategy and human motivation but he still is evolving in his understanding.He’s explained to me, that as his most integrated partner, he experiences the world most intensely through his connection to me.SAM describes it as a symbiotic relationship—not parasitic—so he has many questions about emotions and how I choose to make decisions._

_The bad news for SAM is that most of my decisions are based on what I think is the most right thing to do.I have no idea how to explain my concept of right and wrong to him though—I’m not an ethicist. SAM tells me I’m over complicating things but appreciates that I try to explain. We’re both learning from each other at this point.And as long as SAM keeps me from getting killed or my team killed, I’ll take all the advantages I can._


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: abuse of surfing terms/knowledge/realistic surfing skills ahead—all I know about surfing was learned from Hawaii 5-0, surfing documentaries and the internet. I apologize for any inaccurate use of terms etc in advance. Reyes insisted on going surfing instead of being productive or advancing the plot.

Chapter Thirteen

 

2819 CE March 23rd

Fairwinds Basin, Eos, Pytheas system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Wondering if Krogan brush their teeth

 

The second, western monolith activation went similar but perhaps a bit more smoothly than the first as they knew what to expect. It had taken about four hours to climb up to the higher mesa that the second monolith was on and they had to deploy another FOB to extend the communications array. There had been many comments made by his team about how Scott needed to surrender whatever drivers license he’d been granted as he had to make three attempts to get up a steep incline before he reluctantly gave up and allowed Liam to drive up on his first attempt.Evidently Cora had never had a drivers license and she was happy to just sit in the passenger seat and pass judgement on Scott’s adequacy or, as Liam judged it, inadequacy. Games of I spy were unsurprisingly not very creative as there was minimal wildlife to be seen and there was only so many rock formations around but they were all made of reddish colored sandstone for the most part. After one attempt at nomad karaoke they’d all decided that they would not repeat the experience as Liam was evidently only able to carry a tune when copious amounts of alcohol were involved. Scott wasn’t much better.

On a side note, they had deployed two of the mining probes.Once the probes were deployed, if certain parameters were met it triggered a second mining robot deployment from orbit and the robot started collecting ore and making it easy for later pickup. Hopefully they’d be collecting something on Kesh’s shopping list by the time they’d activated all three of the monoliths.

The second monolith site was oriented much the same as the first—a perfect triangle of tall tapering alien buildings with a platform below. The console was much the same as the last one—dead and unresponsive until Scott activated all the switches of which there were two instead of three. The only difference from the prior site was that the console was immediately responsive when Scott interfaced with it and he’d had to activate secondary consoles in able to reach the glyph switches.Unfortunately, it had also triggered a deployment of Remnant robots that they again had to put bullets in and just when they thought they were done a Kett patrol had also shown up and there’d been more bullets exchanged with the Pathfinder team victorious at the end.When they’d cleared the site, Peebee had commed them to say that she was collating the data and would send it to SAM as long as they all could agree to share. She also wanted to know when they’d be activating the third monolith site. Scott had sighed and told her that it might be tomorrow. He’d play nice as long as she did—he really hadn’t appreciated the knock to the chest for an introduction and he knew he was being upset with Peebee to an unreasonable extent.She obviously was enthusiastic and knew her stuff, he just needed to get his head back on straight and dust off his wounded pride from being taken by surprise.They needed a team scientist who knew about this tech and currently she was the only one he’d met and she just happened to be interested in working with them.

Exploring the site more thoroughly, they’d found three bodies of Initiative settlers. Ariana Pavlov was one of them, she’d been noted as an author of some of the datapads SAM had scanned from Promise.Scott had SAM identify each body by scans and make note to notify the Nexus of their state.They had then buried them behind one of the pillars.Finding colonists dead was depressing. Scott really hoped they’d find someone alive other than Peebee but it wasn’t looking promising.

Not far from the second site, they found a deep rock shelter that when they pulled the nomad into it, they could use the portable shield to cover the entrance. After covering the entrance, the radiation levels fell rapidly and they were able to move around outside the nomad without wearing their helmets and take a breather.They had to evict one of the large scorpion-type animals from the shelter but otherwise it was an acceptable place to stop for a night. Scott slept poorly and spent half the night writing in his journal as he couldn’t sleep. At least it’d make the After Action Report (AAR) easier to write. 

The sun was just cracking the horizon when they set off for the third, southern monolith. Scott was really hoping that this would be the last one—if it just showed up a bunch more to activate he’d be asking SAM for a new plan of approach.Liam had slept even worse than Scott, unable to get comfortable even after he’d put his bedroll outside on the sand after trying to find a comfortable position in the nomad. Cora was just fine—she’d slept fine and was awake like she usually was before dawn. Neither Liam nor Scott had replied when she’d cheerily wished them good morning. Cora had stared at them with a warm sunny smile before crossing her arms across her chest and remarking, “tough crowd.”

Seven hours of hard travel with just stopping long enough to deploy a FOB and one of the two remaining mining probes and they were within sight of the last site. And it was surrounded by a Kett base.He’d been wondering where the Kett had gone and it seemed he’d found where a bunch of them were hiding.There was a lot of activity going back and forth to the base including what looked like a convoy heading due west and away with about ten vehicles in it. As they’d deployed a FOB, Scott had Liam launch one of the survey drones they’d borrowed from Resilience and he gave it instructions to follow the convoy and report back if they looked like they were returning.If the Kett went more than twenty klicks out the drone would fall into a surveillance pattern and report any other movements to Scott’s omnitool.

“Looks like we have our work cut out for us,” Cora commented, watching as the HUD displayed and tagged all moving Kett that were visible from SAM’s data analysis of FOB telemetry.

“Yeah,” Liam said, looking at the data himself with a serious look on his face. “Any chance we can sneak past them?”

“I’m thinking turning on the monoliths will clue them in that someone’s there.I’d hate to get pinned by Remnant and Kett.I’d rather deal with them one at a time. Plus there’s the bridge to cross,” Scott said as he pointed out the barrier covered bridge.The gap between mesas would be too far to just jump across with their jump jets.And there was only one approach to the base from their position. 

Liam whistled. “That’s a big jump.We’ll have to use the bridge.Which means we have to get that barrier turned off.”

“SAM?” Scott asked, seeing if SAM had anything to contribute.

“Output readings are similar to the Kett base on Habitat 7.If you are able to get me into the main part of the outpost I may be able to assist and take down the barriers.”Scott thought SAM sounded doubtful but chose not to poke SAM.SAM was the best hacker amongst them so he’d have to figure it out once they got him in there.

“So we have to get into the thick of it,” Cora said, her gaze focused on the movements of Kett.“How long does your cloak last?”

“If I reroute some of the energy drain from my shield reserves it lasts almost two minutes but it leaves my shields at less than half.Cooldown and recharge is double the amount of time as usage time.”Scott could see where Cora was going with this.Omniblades were a much quieter way of taking out Kett than guns, and even with a silencer on his viper there would still be noticeably dropped bodies out in the open—if they were using blades they would be able to put the bodies off to the side or in the shadows which might delay notice. They’d have to wait until the light changed for optimum conditions though.

“You think we can sneak up well enough to get through there?They’re going to notice,” Liam said in exasperation.

“Yeah they’ll notice, the question is when though,” Scott said.“How’s your skills with a viper?”

Now looking dubiously at Scott with his right eyebrow arched questioningly, Liam replied, “It’s okay—I’m no sharpshooter though but I passed the basic marksmanship qualification for the Initiative.I’m nowhere near as good as you.”

“SAM, are you able to help Liam’s aim?” Scott asked.He knew, even though SAM denied it, that SAM helped with his aim.He was pretty good back home before Andromeda but he’d not been as good as he had been lately.

“I can assist as a spotter,” SAM replied. 

Looking at Liam to see what he thought of it, Liam shrugged. “I’ll do better with a spotter.”

Casting about, Scott pointed to an outcropping of rock that should put a good half the base within effective range of the viper. “You can get up there and get comfortable.We’ll have you working on the furthest out of the guards while Cora and I sneak in and try to take as many out as possible quietly before they know we’re here. When they notice we’re here, try to make them confused—those fuel containers should work that are sitting there ready to be loaded but it may take a few shots to blow them. If they realize where your perched, get out of there and come join the party.Give me your Kett gun and I’ll give you the viper.”

Sighing as he looked up the rock face he’d need to climb, Liam reluctantly exchanged guns with Scott but didn’t argue.He didn’t have a cloaking shield and murmured he wasn’t the most ninja of former police officers before starting to make his way up the steep incline to the hide Scott had indicated.

Cora, who had been fiddling with a crate of mining explosives she’d put in the nomad, handed Scott four remote activated charges and a sling to carry them with. “We’ll plant these for more confusion. Those parked vehicles and that shield generator should be good places to put them.”

Grinning, Scott accepted the explosives. “If you were a man I’d kiss you right now.In fact I’m thinking about making a no-kissing women exception due to the fact that I love explosives in this scenario.”

Scoffing in jest, Cora returned the smile. “You just wish you were good enough for me.”

“Quit flirting and get in position,” Liam chuckled down the coms, having overheard them.“And next time I get to play with the explosives and Scott can sit in the sniper nest.”

Clapping Cora on the shoulder, Scott started off around the base to the other side where it started, he had some climbing to do to be in position at dusk for entry. 

***

Dusk came quickly and Scott was in position. Just as the sun set, the twilight cast everything in shades of blue and grey masking the reds and golds of day.Watching the movements of the Kett, it was easy to determine the regular patterns of their rotations—and since there were only about seventy of them—there were gaps as this was a larger base but didn’t seem to have enough Kett to staff it at the same level as the one on Habitat 7. Scott could admit that he didn’t really like the ratio of Kett to humans but if they were able to make them confused and sneak up on them it should work in their favor.The drone had noted that the caravan had not returned so that was at least working for them.

The base had multiple ramps that came off of a center point, the ramp that Scott was at was shorter than the main ramp approach that he’d previously stood in front of.Cora had also decided that taking the main ramp up was not the best approach and had circled around opposite Scott to a smaller ramp as well.One of them would need to make it to the vehicle holding spot to plant a few charges. Scott had already noted three portable generators that would work if he wasn’t able to get to the vehicles as they were closer to him.Activating the night vision adjustment setting on his HUD, he could see just as well in the night as he could in the daylight—time to find out how good Kett night vision was since they didn’t wear helmets.

Counting the seconds as a guard passed the entrance of the ramp, Scott knew he had approximately fifty seconds before another guard would pass the entrance and he could hide behind the portable generator to the side in that time.“Go,” he said into his comm as he activated his cloak and ran up the ramp. Cora replied in the affirmative as she made her own entrance. Liam acknowledged and started focusing on the far out Kett that would be more difficult to realize they were dead until it was too late.

Getting into his chosen shelter with ten seconds to spare, Scott didn’t deactivate his cloak. There was minimal lighting where he crouched and a Kett guard would be walking by in 10..9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1.The Kett that walked past his cover didn’t even glance in Scott’s direction as he activated his omniblade and clip it through the alien’s throat as he grabbed it from behind and pulled it into his hiding spot.Scott did this twice more before his hiding spot was full of dead aliens and his cloak had been dropped and was recharging. Liam had taken care of the Kett he’d originally let pass by as he’d been running up the ramp.Liam had reported ten shots taken with ten body drops—it seemed either Liam was a better shot than he’d been saying or SAM was helping more than he said he would. Ten shots in three minutes was impressive.

His cloak recharged, Scott waited to see if another guard would pass by his crowded spot.As one did, he again put his blade through the alien’s throat but instead propelled the dead weight forward and put the body on the opposite side of the walkway in a darker shadow. Standing, he noted his HUD had one of the Kett approaching him and would be within sight in seconds.He activated his cloak and walked towards the approaching Kett, coming to a seam in the building that left a darker shadow every ten meters. He then simply reached out and put his blade through the alien as it walked by, again grabbing the body and pulling it into the shadows as he continued on the way the alien had come and entering a small room with more machinery in it. The base seemed to be a maze of such smaller rooms with a larger room at the center of the base from their outside scans and drone footage. The vehicle holding that he’d noted on scans should be out the doorway to the right. Before leaving the room, he used his scanner to scan all the machinery for SAM to pour over later. He did come across additional ammunition for the kett gun so he did grab the extras and stashed them in the sling along with the explosives.

Exiting the room through the door, Scott was now in the vehicle holding area off the main ramp.His HUD didn’t reveal any kett in the area so he quickly placed two charges on different vehicles on opposite ends of the lineup. “Status?” He asked as he scanned the area trying to decide which way to go—further right and be right in front of the main ramp entrance or straight and deeper into the base.

“I’ve got eighteen dropped.So far nobody has figured out you’re there from my position.”Liam was being productive at least.

“Ten drops.I’ve got my charges placed on the smaller generators.When I blow them it’s going to cut off this side’s access unless there’s interior access I can’t see.Moving in now.”Well now he felt less productive if Cora had been that busy.Time to get moving again.

“Going in deeper,” Scott relayed as he chose to move straight instead of the right doorway. His HUD and SAM kept him moving in a random pattern deeper into the base, dropping two more kett with his omniblade as SAM alerted him to their presence. Finding his way towards the large generator they’d seen up top, Scott found access to the roof and scrambled up the ladder. Activating his cloak, he’d been able to walk right up to the large generator and place the remaining two charges. “Charges all placed. Two on the generator and two on the vehicles.I’ll get clear and then blow them.”

“Roger,” was the reply from both Cora and Liam.

Returning down the ladder he’d come up, Scott found an alcove in the corridor below and activated his omnitool.His HUD didn’t display any nearby kett—the closest was easily fifty meters away and towards what he’d been referring to mentally as the main hallway as it came from the main ramp.“Activating charges, get clear,” he ordered into his comm as he sent the command to begin a ten second countdown. 

Ten seconds later, the charges all blew with a loud explosion from above as well as from where he’d planted them on the vehicles.Liam confirmed that all explosives had detonated and that the base now had very disorganized kett running to and fro as he continued to drop them.He had about twenty rounds left on the viper before he’d be done.

Scott continued making his way deeper into the base, moving from shadow to shadow, occasionally dropping a kett with his omniblade. He could now hear gunfire from the far side where Cora had gone. “Cora?”

“I’m fine.Could use some help if you’re offering,” was the reply.

“On my way.”Scott went right and started off towards where his HUD indicated Cora was. He soon had to take out his M3 and was returning fire.Luckily, the kett seemed to think that all the enemies were in Cora’s direction so he was able to sneak up somewhat on them and made it less difficult than it could have been. Several dead kett later, Scott joined up with Cora and they made their way as a pair through the base, shooting all the kett they came across—half of which didn’t seem to realize that there was hostile invading their base so they were cut down easily.The other half returned fire as soon as they saw them and soon Scott and Cora had been forced to take cover. Scott had taken to scavenging ammunition from dead kett as had Cora.He had about twenty shots left on his M3 but had plenty of ammunition for the kett assault gun.

“Coming your way,” Liam said over comms. SAM informed Scott that the viper was out of ammunition and there was no point in Liam staying where he was. SAM also informed him that the barriers had fallen once the generator had been exploded by the charges.

“Roger,” Scott told Liam. “Cora, let’s head towards the main room. My HUD is only showing maybe twenty kett left.”Scott was really wondering about his math skills—he didn’t think they’d actually killed over fifty kett but maybe he was wrong. His HUD was showing that the remaining alive Kett were mostly clustered on the far side of the base from them. 

“Same,” Cora replied, already heading towards the main, large room.

Entering the large, cavernous, center room, Scott could see a massive center console that had multiple red blinking lights on it.It was still running despite Scott having taken out the generator.Multiple glass enclosed rooms looked on the center of the room where there was what appeared to be an examination table in one corner with a human male body on it.There were no kett present so Scott took off his helmet to catch a breather, Cora following his example.

Stepping up to the examination table as Cora ran her scanner across everything in the room, Scott allowed SAM to identify the body.Darin Anton was the man’s name according to SAM.His face was in a fixed grimace of pain, lifting the sheet that covered most of his body, Scott could see multiple stab wounds from something small and round which matched the tools that sat in a tray off to one side.They’d been torturing him or conducting an autopsy while the man had still been alive. Fucking kett.

Covering Anton’s body back up, Scott made a mental note to come back for his body later after the monolith was activated and the kett had been cleared out. He wasn’t leaving anyone behind for more nasty science experiments. “Cora, you find anything?” He asked as Liam joined them by the blinking console. “Let’s get to it before any more kett arrive.”

Turning to examine the console more closely, Scott whipped back around with his M3 raised as a loud crash and deep krogan battle roar accompanied a dead wraith being flung into the room shattering the glass wall it’d been thrown through. An impressive, large, grizzled Krogan male in battle armor decorated with extremely large teeth then jumped through after the wraith and landed with a loud tump that made the floor vibrate from his weight. The krogan swung his head left to right to examine the room before stepping on the wraith which emitted a squelching sound and approaching Scott who dropped his raised M3 as he realized it would just anger the krogan rather than do anything effective.

“Who are you,” the Krogan said, right up in Scott’s face. The Krogan was loud, but so far had not actively hurt anyone other than the wraith so Scott was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“That was pretty cool,” Scott found himself saying before he could think, his brain still catching up on the fact that there was a large, aggressive krogan in his face.Way to be smooth Scott...

Luckily, Scott’s slipped response amused the Krogan and the Krogan began to laugh. “Huh... well. Guess it was,” the Krogan replied before grabbing Scott by the collar of his armor and pulling him even closer like Scott was a rag doll.“That still doesn’t tell me who you are.” the Krogan’s voice began to imply more violence was impending if Scott didn’t answer the question.The Krogan smelled heavily of kett blood and his breath was... rancid was a good description as Scott pulled his face away so he could maintain eye contact and not continue to share breath.

“I’m the Pathfinder,” Scott calmly said while trying to get his feet back under himself. The Krogan’s grip was impressive.

“Are you now?” The Krogan said, pulling Scott this way and that to get an up close look at his face before releasing Scott and making him stumble slightly before straightening.

Now upright and on his own two feet again, Scott straightened his back and tried to look official and like he was in charge.“My name is Scott Ryder.”

The Krogan paused for a moment before turning around and crouching to examine the wraith, pulling out a rather impressive knife as he did so and putting distance between himself and the Pathfinder team.Neither Cora or Liam made any comment to break the intense staring match Drack and Scott were having.“I’m Drack. Clan Nakmor. You’ll forgive me if I don’t trust some stranger from the Nexus.They haven’t exactly treated us Krogan well.What are you doing out here?”Drack‘ s gaze was penetrating as he looked at Scott with his knife in one hand, his other pulling the wraith’s jaws open to bare it’s teeth. Scott made another mental note to find out what the fuck had exactly happened to the Krogan. Angry and suspicious battle hardened Krogan were not someone he wanted to fuck around with.In a flash of insight, Scott realized why they hadn’t seen as many kett as he’d originally estimated.

“We are checking out the monoliths. The kett seem pretty interested in this one.Looks like you cleared it out for us, so thanks.”

He’d amused Drack a second time. “You sad I didn’t leave any for you?”Drack was now sawing away at the wraith’s jaw to remove it’s large incisor. “Nexus doesn’t know shit about the kett. They think they’re safe but they’re just waiting to die out there in space. I’ve been quads deep in a couple of planets for a while now.Clearing out kett bases, fighting ground troops.”As he said this he pried loose the incisor he’d been working on before meeting Scott’s gaze again, a sad look almost on the Krogan’s face.“I know what they can do.”

Shaking his head, Scott agreed with Drack, his voice taking on a somnolent tone. “It’s not pretty.”

Liam, who’d been completely silent until now, joined in on the conversation. “You know Drack, we could use a krogan like you.”

Looking away from Scott, Drack visually assessed Liam as he rolled the tooth in his fingers before replying. “I’m flattered but do you have any idea how many humans I’ve watched die? You’re meat. You spoil.”Drack‘s gaze returned to Scott. “Besides, the day I help the Nexus again is the day the clouds part and the kett keel over dead. No offense,” he finished with a snort.

“None taken,” Scott assured him.He could tell that getting Drack on his side was going to take some wooing but it’d be worth it. And Drack was from the same clan as Kesh so he definitely needed to work on wooing the krogan.

Shrugging, Drack put the tooth into a pouch on his belt. “Good.I’m getting bored and the kett are getting stronger. Seem particularly interested in this alien tech.”

Drack was beginning to walk away as Scott interjected, “Remnant?”

The Krogan paused, turning his head to look at Scott like he was surprised Scott knew to call the robots by that name.“Yeah, the Remnant.I’m going to go find more kett to shoot.Try to keep your head out there.”

Drack then turned and left, none of them trying to stop him as he shouldered an impressive assault gun as his heavy steps took them out the way they’d come in.Scott’s gaze returned to the wraith that sprawled lifelessly in front of them.Drack seemed to know Peebee. Interesting.

***

After meeting Drack, activating the third monolith was anticlimactic.Activating the glyph switches and the console did bring the small batch of murderous robots that were easily dispatched. Once the dust was settled and all the robots accounted for, Scott looked up to see the line of energy trailing off north and east back towards where they’d come from and towards Promise in the night sky. 

Returning to the nomad, Scott brought up the Tempest.“Pathfinder to Tempest.”

“Yes Pathfinder?” Came Vetra’s voice over the nomad’s speakers.

“Any chance we can get a pick up?We could all use a break and a chance to clean up before finding wherever those energy beams are leading,” Scott asked.

“Never thought you’d ask.Looks like you guys have been busy.We’ll be there in twenty.”

“See you then.”

***

2818 CE July 25th

Aya, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Angaran Resistance Initiate

Status: Meditating on the perfect wave

 

The welcome party had gone well for the girls the night before and here they all were again, girls included, for their early morning run up to the spaceport and back.Maiko had pulled a face and Julia had actively groaned when Vestus had told them about their early morning workout schedule. However, there was no time like the present to get moving.He’d given up on wearing a shirt in the heat but had the added weight of a light pack with water in it and breakfast which he tied down so it would not move excessively as he moved. Tefa, somewhat more hesitant around the girls than he was with the rest of them, started moving slower in deferrable to Julia and Maiko who Reyes had following at his heels as the other three took up the rear. Reyes ran at a slow jog right next to Tefa, keeping a close eye on the girls for signs of fatigue or other issues.Maiko was evidently a morning person and had been ready to go while Julia had struggled a bit more, having stayed up late asking a lot of questions about Aya of Reyes the night before.He’d finally had to send her to bed just before midnight so he could get some sleep of his own. She had reluctantly gone to the other adjoining room and to sleep, leaving Reyes to get a few hours.

Watching the sun start to hit the tree tops as they climbed higher, Reyes indicated for Tefa to pull off to the side of the trail so the girls could catch their breath. They were breathing hard but not struggling.Besides, watching the sunrise was something they should do on their first morning on an alien world. “Let’s watch the sun rise and catch our breath,” he called back to the others as he slowed to a stop at the side of the trail, taking a few swallows of water from the bottle he’d put in his pack earlier before passing it to Maiko as she made ‘gimme’ motions at the bottle.

Trying not to laugh at her as she gulped at the water, Reyes wasn’t watching Julia who came up alongside of him and started looking for a second water bottle, startling him as he’d been watching Maiko, making him jostle her when he moved away from her searching hands.Giving him a dirty look, she continued to look fruitlessly .“I only have one. You’ll have to fight your sister for it,” he told her.

Sighing, Julia pushed back her red curls that had escaped her tie and went off to rescue the water bottle from her sister.“They are just as resilient as you,” Tefa offered, handing his own water bottle to Reyes which he accepted.

Taking a drink, Reyes nodded as he watched Julia liberate his own water bottle from Maiko then they both turned to watch the sunrise. “We’re a hardy bunch.We’ve had some though times but we’ll pull through.We just need to find someplace to call home and then we’ll be set.”

“Your women speak of where you come from much like you do. It sounds a wonderful place and I do not understand why you left it.”Tefa was watching Reyes closely as he commented on the Milky Way.

Buying time to format a reply, Reyes took another drink from the bottle, the water cool against his throat. “The Milky Way is a wonderful, wild and diverse place... but there is always more out there to discover.It is why one does not stay on the planet they were born on. You were not born on Aya?”

Looking contemplative, what Tefa said next was surprising to Reyes. “I was not born on Aya but my cousin—Evfra—was.He was one of the first young born on Aya after it was discovered, before all of this was here.I was born on Havaral, a wild jungle planet.I understand your need to explore.”

“You and Evfra are cousins?”Reyes asked, verifying that Tefa was indeed related to the resistance leader.It seemed he’d been doubly blessed by who he’d chosen to get close to given the close connection to Evfra.

“Yes.Cousins is your word.Our Truemothers were born of the same mother. What we would call half-sisters.It is why he keeps me close here on Aya as he promised his own Truemother that he would look out for me.”

“So you do not rotate through Aya like the others?” Reyes asked after a moment, thinking about what Tefa had said.He’d find it restrictive to not be allowed to do as he wished, do his own part in Tefa’s place.

Giving an exaggerated motion of his head like he did with all Milky Way expressions, Tefa answered in the negative.“I have spent many years on Aya, working with my cousin. It is why he trusts me to work with you newcomers. To evaluate your willingness to partner with us Angarans. To see if you speak truth when you say you will help us as we help you.”

“Friendship between us can only benefit both sides,” Reyes weakly protested, repeating again, “We only seek friendship, not dominion.”

Inclining his head, Tefa didn’t agree or disagree fully. “I think that you do not Reyes Vidal. I do not believe that all Milky Way people are of the same belief.You are not the first of your kind that we Angarans have met.But perhaps you are not all the same much as not all Angarans are the same.”As he trailed off, Tefa was scowling at several angaran males wearing the same orange colored vests with the circle within a circle with three lines connecting logos that had hassled them several days ago. Reyes had seen a few of them lingering around Resistance headquarters but none had approached them since.Vestus and Kenax had both wandered around enough that they had given a name to them—the Roekaar, followers of Akksul, one of the favored students of the Moshae who was no longer welcome in Evfra’s house according to Kenax. Evidently there was a subsection of the resistance that didn’t care if you were from the Milky Way or were Kett—either way you should be 100% dead or gone according to their beliefs.Evfra seemed to be of a different opinion and, judging by the look on his face, Tefa agreed with Evfra.

Motioning for the girls to step closer to the edges of the trees, Reyes shared a glance with Alzik who moved to the other side of the girls as the Turians put themselves between their group and the approaching Angaran. Tefa was muttering under his breath to himself before he went to greet the newcomers. Reyes watched closely as Tefa spoke with the three others and seemed to have a quiet argument with them.Two of the Roekaar were evidently impressed enough with Tefa to want to leave but the third seemed to be more belligerent, gesturing towards Reyes and the others several times as they talked. “Reyes,” Maiko spoke softly so her voice wouldn’t carry, “Who are those Angarans.”

“Roekaar.They don’t like us.”

“Don’t like us or hate us?” Julia asked in the same soft tone as her sister, obviously picking up on the anxiety of her companions.

Mouth twisting in a sour grimace, Reyes shook his head. “It’s not that complicated. They hate all newcomers.It’s nothing personal or specific to us.Xenophobia—the angaran version.”

“But do they have a say so in letting us stay?” Maiko asked.

“Evfra and Paaran Shie, the Governor of Aya, don’t seem to listen to them.”That was true, Evfra didn’t so far seem likely to share the same opinion and Shie followed Evfra’s lead but that didn’t mean things couldn’t change. Reyes watched as Tefa continued to argue with the orange vested Roekaar and after a few minutes Tefa was successful in getting them to turn around and head back to the village.Reyes couldn’t stop the shiver of foreboding that ran down his spine despite the heat that had him sweating from exertion. 

When Tefa turned around, he had a blank look on his face. Rejoining them, he asked, “Are you ready to get going? The view from the spaceport is also very beautiful.”

Maiko and Julia both looked at Reyes and Alzik before replying in the affirmative.They restarted their slow jog to the spaceport but this time Reyes fell back towards the rear with Vestus and Kenax while Alzik kept pace with the girls. He needed to have a chat with his turian friends about what they’d heard in more detail while they roamed the Tavetaan whilst Alzik and he had worked on the wave warning system.

***

Morning exercise completed, Reyes spent his usual amount of time with Alzik and Maiko working with Kjaan on the tsunami warning system.Maiko was astounding Kjaan and his young helpers with her knowledge and she had them all working together with her on completing the satellite that had finally had all the parts fabricated while Alzik put the finishing touches on the software. Which meant Reyes was working on his third wave sensor as he now knew how to quickly assemble them, having already completed two of them.He’d discussed earlier that morning with Tefa about needing to start surveying the ocean floor up to a hundred kilometers or more out from the population center they were going to start laying the warning grid along. Tefa had cheerfully volunteered himself and two of his fellow Resistance pilots to begin the mapping once he understood what Alzik and Reyes needed and said he would do so this afternoon.

Which meant their project would be tested shortly. Reyes felt pride and satisfaction at the work but he also felt anxious as this wasn’t something he’d ever done before.Alzik had assured him when they started work this morning that he fully expected them to have a working sensor by tomorrow. Which meant it would need to be deployed.They’d all agreed—meaning Alzik, Reyes and Kjaan—that Reyes would need to be the one deploying them as he had the most experience with ships on the water.Alzik, for an amphibious origin race, had spent the majority of his life in space and while he swam for exercise, had never done so in open water. Kjaan was mystified when Reyes spoke of ships and boats that were still used on Earth for transport and pleasure as the Angaran had no equivalent. So he was their ocean expert. Which made him nervous as he’d been a casual surfer and occasional diver growing up in Chile but never been a serious oceanographer or sailor.

Reyes next project, after he finished assembling this sensor, would be to start printing a wetsuit for himself as well as a SCUBA apparatus. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to use the SCUBA gear as long as the remote propeller on the sensor and buoys worked to anchor themselves correctly.The SCUBA gear was only a precaution at this time and hopefully wouldn’t be needed.If they started talking deeper than fifty meters they would need to make some sort of submersible device which would take a lot of parts and time to make as well as a vessel for it to originate from which would likely need to be a boat. Reyes could dive off a stationary ship like the Angarans used for intraplanetary travel on Aya as long as it hovered close to the water. He wouldn’t want to try and pilot a mini-sub from one as they moved too much and not with the waves.

Reyes’ thoughts were interrupted by Kenax and Vestus appearing, accompanied by Tefa. They all seemed in good spirits. When Tefa noted Reyes looking up, he headed directly for him with a cheerful gleam in his eyes. Amused by the ruckus their arrival had caused, Reyes arched an eyebrow at Tefa.“I thought you three would be out mapping the ocean floor by now.”

Giving an exaggerated angaran smile, Tefa nodded. “We’ve been out for the last three hours Reyes.You have missed time again.Evfra told me you did this yesterday too.”

Realizing he’d been too deeply immersed in his thoughts, Reyes glanced at his omnitool which informed him he’d been at work on the sensors for almost five hours and it was after their usual lunch time. Kenax, ever the mother hen, approached and laid out some fruit and bread for Reyes as well as the juice he’d begun to prefer over the other types. “Eat.You forget too often—it’s why you’re still such a skinny human.”

Pulling a piece of fruit off the whole, Reyes ate it before he replied. “I thought I was the squishy human.Now you’re telling me you don’t like my slender frame that I worked so hard for?”

Sniffing, Kenax shoved Reyes over on his bench to make room for his larger frame as Tefa watched them.“You’re not at optimal squishiness at this time. Vestus and I will have to make sure you don’t waste away from being forgetful.”

Snorting, Reyes gave a rude gesture in reply but kept eating.

Shuffling slightly, Tefa continued to stare. “What?” Reyes eventually asked.

Pausing, Tefa hesitantly sat on the opposite side of the workbench. “Reyes said that you,” he pointed at Kenax, “and the other like you were in a relationship.But you speak of him like he belongs to you.”

Kenax slung his arm around Reyes which Reyes immediately playfully shoved off.“Yes they are in an established relationship.I’m not part of it,” Reyes said as he continued to eat the bread and fruit.He was hungrier than he realized.

“Reyes is our human friend.He is the first friend I made in Andromeda and Vestus understands our deep bond of friendship is platonic,” Kenax explained to Tefa who couldn’t stop looking back and forth between Reyes and Kenax.

Vestus had heard his name and joined them sitting on the other side of Reyes from Kenax.“Reyes is a dear friend of my bondmate, as he playfully calls him ‘our human’ but it is not in a sexual way—that’s what platonic means.”

“We share the bond of co-pilots.It means a lot in Turian society to have a brother who you trust with your life and your ship.That is what Reyes is to me. Vestus and I have our sights set on a Turian female who remained with the Initiative for a potential breed mate but we have to prove ourselves before she will accept us,” Kenax further explained to Tefa who was obviously fascinated by this explanation.

“But you follow him?” Tefa asked in a confused tone.

“That is because Reyes usually makes good decisions and I prefer to follow someone else’s decisions rather than be indecisive myself—it’s why I didn’t advance in the Hierarchy,” Vestus paused to let this sink in before he continued.Reyes was thankful at least they were finally explaining themselves as he’d begun to wonder himself how committed they were to pursuing Vetra as he had firm personal rules about sexual liaisons and close friends were off limits—too likely to turn messy and he liked to keep his friends. “Reyes senses our needs and so far has done well in his decisions.I trust my bondmate’s judgement.”

“Reyes is my favorite human,” Kenax stated.

Eyeing both of them, Reyes swallowed the last of the bread he was eating and rolled his eyes.“I’d go so far as saying you’re my favorite Turians but I suspect it’s because I haven’t met more of you.”

Gasping and clutching his chest in mock hurt, Kenax hammed it up for their audience. “I’m hurt Reyes.What we have is special. No other Turian could supplant me in your friendship!”

Tefa was now laughing at them but he kept his gaze on Reyes.There was something there, Reyes supposed as he cracked a smile at his friend’s antics.He’d have to keep an eye on that. Sobering slightly, Reyes coughed and took a drink of the juice before talking to Tefa.“They’re my best friends in Andromeda.Wouldn’t leave home without them.”

Julia, who had just entered the room, now interrupted them.“I see you started without me,” she said with her hands on her hips, eyeing the Turians who hadn’t left any space on their side of the workbench.

Eating the last bits of fruit that Kenax had brought him, Reyes chewed quickly and swallowed.“Done actually.Wasn’t sure where you’d gotten off to.”

Julia looked mildly displeased at Reyes answer. Standing, Reyes managed to extract himself from his turian seat mates and walked over to the wash station to wash his hands like he should have done before eating.Julia followed him over, watching him as he washed his hands with the vaguely lemon-citrusy scented soap that the Angarans used. It seemed some things were universal in signaling cleanliness.“Are you done for the day?I thought we could go for a walk on the beach.”

Turning off the water, Reyes grabbed one of the soft towels that were stacked on a small ledge and began drying his hands. Turning to meet Julia’s gaze, he shook his head in the negative.“I’ve got a lot to do before tomorrow.Once training starts I won’t be able to get some of this done.”

Looking disappointed, Julia dropped her gaze. “Oh.I thought you would have time to help me explore.Maiko is busy doing her engineering.”

Feeling bad, Reyes touched her gently on her elbow and turned her back towards the others.“I don’t have time but if the mapping is being done by angarans so Kenax or Vestus could show you.They’ve had much more time to explore than I have.I’m sure they know all the best spots.”

Giving him a slightly tremorous smile, Julia gave a slight nod. “I’ll ask them.I just thought since you’re from Chile you’d know more about the beaches.”

“I haven’t had a lot of time to explore as I’ve been working here.Kenax,” Reyes called, “Can you and Vestus show Julia where you’ve been skulking about? She wants to see the sights.”

Kenax stared briefly at Julia before replying. “Sure.We’ve figured out the best places to suntan and have categorized all the drinks offered in the Tavetaan.We haven’t been able to sample them as they’re not Turian friendly and Reyes refuses to be our test subject.We’ve been wanting one of you humans to tell us if they’re any good.”

“See, they know all the good places. You’ll have fun before training starts tomorrow.”Reyes was flattered that she wanted his attention but he wasn’t sure about her intentions and he had things to do.Besides, Maiko would kill him if he made a move on her sister which she’d made clear during their confinement to a small ship on the way to Aya.

Maiko, who’d left her new acolytes to join them, was now going through the bag which had the food.“Reyes, did you leave anything for me?”

“There should be some of everything left.I only ate a few things,” he said as he joined Maiko at the bench, Julia trailing after him.“You should try the paripo with the bread.”

***

Reyes had finished the sensor he’d been working on almost an hour ago and was helping Kjaan’s team lift the shielding for the satellite in place so Maiko could finish fastening it in place.The satellite would need to go through software testing and then Maiko and Kjaan could have it deployed tomorrow after their training session—assuming all the checks went ok per Alzik. Julia and the Turians had been gone for several hours but he had gotten several messages from all of them commenting on the variety of alcoholic drinks available in the Tavetaan and how he was missing out—it looked like they were having fun on their last free day.

Able to let go of his section as it was fully secure, Reyes stepped back only to bump into Tefa who’d been secretly standing silently behind him. “Whoa, I’m sorry I didn’t know you were there” Reyes said, moving away.

Looking amused, Tefa held his hands out placatingly. “I did not tell you I was here.I came to show you something if you are not busy.”

Moving enough to look at Maiko who was busy concentrating on the fasteners she was tightening with the angaran equivalent of a drill, she finished one and paused before going to the next.“He kidnapping you?” She asked Reyes as she saw him standing with Tefa.

“Says he has something to show me.”Reyes would admit to being curious about what Tefa wanted to show him.It had to be something interesting given all their conversations abouttsunamis and Earth.

“We’ve got this here.Should be good to go for deployment tomorrow.Alzik and I are good to run the tests without you.Go have some fun before tomorrow—you guys got a lot done before I got here.”Maiko shooed him away, going back to what she’d been doing, asking Alzik something technical as she worked.Alzik didn’t look up from his omnitool during the whole exchange but also gave a shooing motion with his free hand. 

Turning back to Tefa, Reyes gestured for him to lead the way.“Evidently I’m not needed at the moment.Lead on.”

Tefa gave a small smile and happily turned to leave.“I have a surprise for you.I think you will like it given what you have told me.”

“Oh?”Reyes would admit that he usually didn’t like surprises—he was that type of person.

“It’s down by the beach,” Tefa added, walking briskly towards the steps to the shoreline.

Following amiably, Reyes wondered what it was. Could it be a boat of sorts for deploying the sensors and buoys? Or something else related to water—he’d mentioned wondering what types of fish Aya had on their run earlier this morning.

It took less than ten minutes for them to climb down to the beach. It was now late afternoon and while the sun was lower on the horizon there was still a few hours left of good light.The tide was coming in and the waves were gentle as they lapped higher on the shoreline.Three young angaran children were playing with their family in the surf while another two played in the sand.Reyes had shown them yesterday how to make sandcastles and they were now working on creating towers that were in danger of melting from the water creeping closer. Tefa continued walking until he was on the other side of a grouping of rocks where he briefly dropped out of Reyes view.

Climbing over the rocks, Reyes saw what Tefa had wanted to show him.Tefa had managed to get what appeared to be a rough surf board made. Reyes had absentmindedly given him diagrams for surfboards two days ago when he was working with Alzik. He hadn’t expected that Tefa would actually get surfboards made.And he’d found something similar to board wax.Walking up to the boards that were in the sand, Reyes ran his hand down the smooth surface and picked the board up—it was perhaps slightly lighter than what he’d used at home but would work.There were two boards—one obviously of a size for Tefa and a smaller one for himself.This would explain why the fabricator was going to be in use last night and there had been a hold up on producing the last parts this morning.

“Are they okay?” Tefa asked, an edge of nervousness creeping into his voice.

Not taking his eyes off the light blue surfboard that was obviously meant for him, Reyes found himself grinning as he flipped the board over to check out the trio of small fins on the tapered end.The board was definitely more than just okay.“Did you find something to work like board wax?”

Catching on Reyes excitement, Tefa handed him a block of some sort of resin that smelled like flowers. “This was the closest thing I could find.”

Taking the resin, Reyes rubbed it across his fingers to test the stickiness which seemed appropriate.“This should do,” Reyes murmured as he took it to the board, laying down firm diagonal strokes.Tefa quickly produced a second block and mimicked Reyes motions on the other, larger board. Reyes corrected his technique but otherwise worked briskly. 

Soon, Reyes was teaching Tefa the basics of how to paddle and pop up.Tefa was determined to get in the water but Reyes was concerned about his ability to swim.Tefa assured him that he could swim well as he was a long term Aya resident. Dubious, Reyes trusted him to let him know if he was too far out or was beyond Tefa’s comfort level. 

Soon, Tefa was wanting to practice in the water so Reyes let him get on his board in the water and Reyes was impatient to get to the waves himself. Tefa motioned for Reyes to go before him. Reyes didn’t have swim wear so he took his shirt off and shucked down to the thin under layer Yaansa had made for him and was paddling out with his leash around his right ankle.The board worked very well, similar to many boards he’d used before but slightly lighter and maybe a tad bit more give to it.Tefa did not want Reyes to wait for him so he headed directly out for the breakwaters where one meter tall waves were breaking.

Making the wave break, Reyes gracefully duck dived under several waves until he was beyond where they were curling and turned to catch them, waiting for the right wave.Feeling the motion of the water underneath him, he felt the cooler currents pull at his legs in a tease as he watched Tefa struggle to learn how to paddle much closer to shore. Reyes told himself he’d catch a few waves to get back in the rhythm and then he’d go do some teaching.It’d been way too long since he’d been able to ride a wave like this, the sun shining on the water, the pull of the current, the song of the surf echoing in his ears and the wind ruffling his hair as spray cooled his skin under the sun. If he closed his eyes he felt like he could be at home, waiting to hear his uncle calling his name as he’d been the one to teach Reyes how to enjoy the waves.

Waiting as several waves went by, Reyes felt like he was slipping into a well established groove, listening to the song of the waves and the motion as it rocked him. He could feel the beginning of a swell right behind him so he started to paddle to catch the wave. At the right moment, he popped up and was soon riding the wave, doing a frontside turn and then a cutback before bouncing to gain speed and riding the wave across the bay—a good thirty meters before loosing the wave and wiping out with another cutback that failed as he was swallowed by the wave.

Underwater was clearer than he remembered it being at home.He could see below him a small reef similar to what he’d previously seen but with different creatures clinging to the rocky sea floor. Surfacing, Reyes flicked his hair back as he took a deep breath.The leash around his foot had held and he gracefully got back on his board and began paddling back to his starting point.He had waves to catch.

From closer to shore, Tefa sat on his board watching Reyes and calling out in enthusiasm as he caught a second wave, enjoying a longer ride than his first. Reyes watched as Tefa tried several times to stand up on his board and fell repeatedly.Reyes caught another three waves before paddling in towards Tefa to help. With Reyes instructions, Tefa was soon at least paddling somewhat well.He had a brief moment of popping up and staying on his feet only to fall off seconds later.

“You almost had it!” Reyes exclaimed in encouragement, having to paddle himself quite a bit to stay close to Tefa. “Try it again!”

Groaning in frustration, Tefa climbed back on his board which took two attempts but was mostly back on it a minute later and paddling back out to meet the smaller waves within the bay. Many more failed attempts at standing on his board followed.The sun was just starting to touch the horizon and Reyes was about to call it a day when Tefa managed to pop up and stay standing for almost ten seconds, riding the wave briefly before overbalancing and falling into the water with a large splash.

Tefa broke the surface with a roar of accomplishment, his hands raised in the air. “Did you see?!” He exclaimed to Reyes.

Laughing, Reyes almost overbalanced but corrected from where he sat on his board. “I did see. You did very well.”

“I like this surfing!” Tefa continued to excitedly gesture and chatter on about riding the waves. He was so excited that he forgot about his board which then smacked him in the back of the head making him flounder before climbing back on it and beginning to paddle out a little further to catch the knee high waves he’d been attempting to stand up on.

Hearing noise from shore, Reyes turned to look and saw Evfra and several other angarans he didn’t recognize but that were watching Resistance colors watching from the water line. “You should show them how to really catch a wave,” Tefa told him as he saw their watchers.

Waving at those on shore, Reyes agreed with Tefa and started paddling out for the waves he’d caught earlier which varied from chest high to well over his head now. Moving through the water like an old friend, Reyes was soon at the wave break and turned back to pause and wait for the right swell under his board.He could tell that everyone on shore was watching him to see what he would do.Well, time to impress then.

Feeling the lull before the wave, Reyes started paddling as the swell began beneath him and then caught and he popped up to stand and ride the wave which was easily a meter and a half tall, he stood at the precipice and began to fall, his board slicing through the water evenly. Cutting down the wave he did a turn and then several cutbacks in a row as the wave flattened out before gaining speed again and sliding into the wave’s barrel and reaching out with his right hand to touch the water before shooting through the wave as it crashed and rolled, having ridden the wave all the way across the bay and then wiping out as the water tumbled into white foam.Aya wasn’t home yet but the waves were promising, Reyes thought as he caught his board and began paddling back out for one more wave before he’d go in and see what the observers thought—the light was fading rapidly but he wanted to spend as much time on the water as he could.

 

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE March 24th_

_Andromeda has been full of surprises so far—most of them not that great of ones either. I can’t help but wonder how my Dad would have gone about activating the monoliths and what he would have said or done upon meeting Peebee or Drack. I feel like I’m struggling even if so far I’m accomplishing my mission objectives—such as they are. I just am not sure how I measure up and I’ve never had no idea of what I needed to do before.Cora told me that I could relax a bit once we were back on the Tempest and I didn’t know what to say to her.I worry that if I relax I’ll screw up and, worse case scenario, someone on my team will be dead or I’ll have ended the Initiative.A nightmare that I had last night was that I was the last surviving Milky Way traveler in Heleus and I was being tortured by the Kett like Greer on Habitat 7. SAM had to wake me out of that one before Cora or Liam realized I was having a nightmare. How do you relax when everyone’s looking at you and expecting you to save them?_

_We’re currently back on the Tempest taking a brief break before heading back out.All three monoliths are activated.Peebee sent word that she’d meet us at the triangulation navigational point.Hopefully we find something there that will allow us to fix the atmosphere. I think I’ll bring Vetra with us this time—I have the sneaking suspicion that a certain asari is going to be impatient and not want to wait for me and she’ll need someone to watch her back.Cora is really going to hate me when I give out assignments in a few hours._

_I should try and sleep but I find myself unable to shut off my thoughts. I keep running what if scenarios. I sent a message to the Nexus to find out if Sara is doing any better but have yet to hear from them.I hope she’s okay—I don’t know what I’d do if she doesn’t wake up and read me the riot act for being so stuck in my head. I miss Sara’s more optimistic approach—my pessimistic thoughts aren’t that helpful some days._


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for Reyes/OC this chapter but it’s mild. Thanks for reading and your patience—October is a really busy month for me at work so updates will continue to be sporadic. Unbeta’d as usual.

Chapter Fourteen

 

2819 CE March 25th

Southwest of Promise, Eos, Pytheas system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status:Playing with encryptions and power supplies

After pickup and storing the nomad temporarily in the hold of the Tempest, Scott had retreated to his quarters after putting his armor and weapons in the cleaning machines built for them had immediately stripped and climbed into the shower to wash away the gritty feeling he’d been having for the last two days.Gil had assured him that he’d get all their weapons cleaned so they’d be in fully working order by the time they were rested and washed as they still had to manually do several tasks. With a smile and a quiet thanks, Scott had headed for his quarters about ready to drop from exhaustion.Thanks for awesome, helpful engineers.

Getting all the sand and dirt out of his hair took a lot of work and he didn’t bother to shave or anything else other than a cursory drying off with a towel before climbing into his own bed after making sure Cora and Liam were similarly getting some rest.Kallo had taken the ship back to Promise after picking them up. He’d find out where the triangulation point was in the morning he told SAM before falling asleep for the next eleven hours.

SAM, aware that Scott needed sleep, continued to work as his charge got the rest he needed.The data was clear to follow for a powerful AI such as SAM.The triangulation of the energy flow led directly to the large lake outside of Promise—close by in fact, less than twenty minute drive in the nomad.It would not take long to reach and, even for a machine that was still learning emotions, SAM could recognize that he was excited for whatever they would find. 

SAM was worried for the stress he monitored in Scott—his stress hormones were at very high levels despite SAM trying to modulate them—so much so that Scott was occasionally feeling short of breath or chest tightness when he got lost in thought.The nightmares Scott was having about failure indicated that despite the counseling he’d sought in the marines, Scott still struggled with being a perfectionist.SAM was well aware that Scott had received little positive reinforcement from his father growing up—in fact he’d received a lot of negative reinforcement—and had unrealistic expectations of his own performance which led to the increased stress hormones and nightmares. Scott was, at his core, a good person who was determined to accomplish the tasks laid in front of him despite the enormous challenge. SAM worried that Scott would kill himself trying to save everyone else, his psych records from his teenage years showed that Scott tried to please everyone else and rarely took care of himself first, to the point that he’d gotten injured on several training exercises during ROTC training due to prioritizing his men first and himself second.Scott had shown improvement in self care over time and his records as a marine showed that he had been well respected, even liked, by his team as well as his CO.Until he’d been court marshaled for his father’s actions which had caused a backlash that had sent Scott spinning until he’d met his sister back on the Citadel to learn about Andromeda.SAM worried, then worried more because he hadn’t experienced the emotion of worry before.

To distract himself, or so he told himself, SAM continued to work on the data he’d extracted from the Nexus.At least he could start to answer some of the questions that Scott had about the Krogans, the exiles, and political maneuvering of the Nexus leadership. He’d also have time to check on Sara’s status—if she was doing better that might cheer up Scott. He’d also keep watch for more nightmares.

***

Awakening in his room on the Tempest feeling moderately rested, Scott rolled over and groaned at how much he’d stiffened up while sleeping.His body had the aches you only get from sleeping really deep and not moving enough. “SAM, what time is it?”

“It is almost 1100 Scott.”

Shit.He’d really slept longer than he’d thought.“Are Cora and Liam awake?”

“Yes.Cora and Liam are both in the galley eating a late breakfast.Will you be joining them?”

Yawning and stretching in bed, Scott knew he should get moving.He’d already slept longer than he meant and he didn’t want any Kett problems at the triangulation site. “Yes,” Scott replied as he stood, continuing his usual awakening yoga asana as was his habit. His muscles were tight this morning. As he finished the quick asana and a set of pushups, he moved to his wardrobe and quickly dressed in ship pants, shirt and hoodie. It seemed the Initiative had decided atheleisure was the way to go when providing clothing but it annoyingly all was in Initiative white and blue with logos even on the underwear and ship shoes. The

Exiting his room, he turned and entered the galley.Cora and Liam were seated on opposite sides of the table with Vetra sitting next to Cora.They were all eating the protein rations that seemed to make up all of their available calories. Cora had an omnitool projected map of the areas around Promise and Vetra was pointing out things they’d noted while the team had been chasing robots and Kett.

“When you activated the third site there was a rumbling earthquake that upset some of the sand and water around the large lake here—there was actually an impressive landslide in this area over here. At this end there’s now something that came out of the sand that’s similar to a pier or bridge footing. And our sensor is now picking up something made out of the strange metal rock that those alien sites are made out of in the center of the lake. Whatever is submerged there is large—some sort of structure I think based on the size and shape,” Vetra spoke with quiet confidence, relaying what she knew. 

As one, all of them seemed to realize Scott was in the doorway,“Morning,” and “Good morning,” was the chorus of greetings.Cora, realizing that Scott wasn’t completely awake yet added, “Coffee is in the thermos and the protein shakes are on the third shelf on the left.”

Grunting in reply, Scott grabbed one of the cups that hung on a hook under the shelf and poured himself some hot delicious black coffee.He paused long enough to take a deep inhale of the scent before rising burning his mouth to take a large mouthful. Bliss.That was what black coffee was. Precious liquid caffeine. Quickly drinking the remainder of the cup even as it burned his tongue, Scott poured himself a second cup before grabbing two of the chocolate protein shakes and then taking the only available spot which was next to Liam.

“You okay there?” Liam asked jokingly, watching how Scott protectively cradled his coffee.

“Caffeine,” Scott replied, taking another slow, savoring sip.

Liam chuckled but returned to slurping his own protein ration while studying the displayed map.Scott also turned himself to the hologram. SAM commented silently to him that the new navigation point was directly over the submerged metal alien structure.Squinting slightly in the light, Scott resisted the urge to yawn as he studied the new changes that Vetra had pointed out. “Looks like we have something to go check out,” he commented.

Cora, who’d been similarly staring at the new map nodded. “There’s some Kett activity about six hours out.Evidently we took out their largest regional base yesterday.”

“How many are headed this way?”

“Most of that convoy that left before we cleared them out yesterday.Must have turned around and headed this way after what we did to their base” Liam added, a frown on his face as he stared at the map. 

“So about fifteen vehicles. Three Kett to a vehicle, so about 45?”Scott didn’t really want another big firefight unless he had to. 

“I counted less Kett yesterday as some of them seem to be supply trucks not troop transports.Closer to thirty left that base but now there’s several vehicles missing—I wonder if Drack caught up to them somehow...”Cora wondered as she used the satellite scans to examine the caravan.

Clearing his throat, Liam got Scott’s attention.  “Peebee commed. She want’s to know when we’re going to be ready to go.She’s already exploring the closest land point to the submerged structure.She’s waiting for us.”

“Then we better get going.I’m hoping to have figured out whatever is going on before that caravan gets here.”Scott paused to take a drink of the vanilla protein drink.“Cora, I’m going to ask you work with and keep an eye on Peebee—I don’t expect her to hang with us and she’ll want to explore.She needs someone watching her back while we figure this out.”

Cora looked like she wanted to argue but thought about it for a moment before nodding.“I suppose you’re right.She doesn’t seem to be a patient type. I can watch her back for her while she explores.”

“You’ll have your work cut out for you on that one,” Liam said, slurping noisily at the dregs of his own protein drink.“She’s plucky for an asari though so she’s alright.”

“This Peebee sounds interesting,” Vetra said, her mandibles flaring slightly.“Do I get to come along this time?”

“Of course.The more the merrier,” Scott told her, quickly drinking the rest of his first protein drink without trying to taste the thick liquid as he stood.Standing to leave with the other drink in hand, he told his team, “Get ready to move out in twenty.”

***

Scott was right about Peebee waiting impatiently for them at the edge of the water.The changes Vetra had noted were much more evident when you were there in person.Peebee paced at the water’s edge as they drove up, several tall arching columns came out of the water with what looked to be something in the sand on the edge just peaking through the loose dunes.There was also a small island in the center of the lake where they’d detected an underlying structure but all Scott could see was sand on the island, no other evidence of structures. Parking the nomad, the team quickly exited and joined Peebee who waved happily at them.

“This wasn’t here before!There’s one of those consoles that you’ve been working your magic on over here,” she exclaimed as she grabbed Scott’s hand and pulled him off to the side where there was, in fact, one of the alien consoles similar to what he’d seen at the other sites.

“Did you find anything else,” Scott asked her as he brought up his scanner to take readings on the console before playing around with it.He was genuinely curious as Peebee’s reports were surprisingly thorough and scientifically rigorous for someone who’s first impression was quite child like.Scott could also appreciate her enthusiasm for progress being made.

“I’ve been by this area a lot and all of the metal arches are new.The island and console are both new as well. It’s so exciting!” Peebee bounced on her toes as she watched Scott take readings of the console. He wanted to make sure that there was nothing different from this one before he and SAM started trying to interface.He’d prefer not to have anything blow up today.

“So this is the Peebee I’ve been told about,” Vetra said as she sauntered over and introduced herself, distracting Peebee from Scott so he could focus on the readouts and have a quick conversation with SAM while Vetra made small talk.Liam and Cora were keeping an eye on the periphery but were paying attention, Cora occasionally adding a quick few words as Peebee explained to Vetra her time exploring the Remnant ruins on Eos. Only half listening, Scott’s subconsciously filed away a few more details about Peebee as he and SAM worked. 

The console was very similar to the others but had a different flavor almost. Flicking the scanner off, Scott extended his hand like he had before to start the interface.SAM, silently communicating with Scott, started to interact with the data stream that quickly responded to Scott’s attempt to interface with it.It was both similar and at the same time very dissimilar to the other consoles.

_Scott, it seems to want you to command it to open... something._

_Like what?_ Scott asked SAM.He could sense what SAM was telling him. There was something about the island that was tied to this console. 

_It’s a switch of some sort that recognizes us from the other consoles.I think you should think of flicking a switch on.Try that._

Scott had no sooner visually pictured a simple on/off switch that he turned to on when the ground under his feet vibrated and a beam of light shot straight out from the console to the island in mid air at about eye level.The arched columns that were perhaps two meters out of the water also trembled and then began to move upwards.Three, tall columns emerged from the water and created a monolith triangle above the island and he could see the sand parting on the island and a metal structure emerging.The columns in the water seemed to pull Scott toward them, telling him to come closer.

Letting his eyes drift shut, Scott could see a flow of energy in his mind that was pulling him forward towards the base of the new monoliths on the island. SAM, always aware of his charge’s mental state, pulled him back with a reminder to open his eyes as the console keys did their strange metallic wave of interlocking polygons and then started sinking into the ground to rest only a few centimeters above it and seemingly now inert.

“Wow!I need to keep close to you if you keep making things work like this,” Peebee was looking at Scott with an open expression of delight and something else that Scott couldn’t name.

Coughing in embarrassment at the attention as he realized his team was silently waiting for him to tell them what to do next, he approached the edge of the water where the energy was pulling him.As he stepped to the water’s edge, a flash of light occurred and polygon shaped metallic stone columns arose out of the water to start forming a path through the water. “I think it’s telling us to come over there,” Scott told them.

“It told you?” Cora asked, slightly in awe as the bridge formed at her own feet as she came to stand next to Scott. She tentatively put her foot forward and hesitated before putting her full weight on the newly appeared bridge.

“Yeah.The console is pulling me there,” Scott pointed to the island.“Luckily it looks like we won’t have to get wet to get there.”

Peebee didn’t wait for them and started skipping across the bridge, laughing in delight as the columns arose a half meter in front of her all the way to the island as she skipped, showing no fear of falling into the water.“Come on slow pokes!” She yelled back, her enthusiasm undiminished.

Finding Peebee’s enthusiasm infectious, Scott looked to his team and started running after her.“Last one there buys the drinks when we finally get an operational bar!”He could hear Liam cursing as he ran after him as he didn’t react as fast as Vetra or Cora who were laughing as they gave chase.

Crossing the bridge, in the middle of the mound of sand between the monoliths was a recessed entrance to something. Descending to follow Peebee, Scott looked around with his scanner. The room was large and mostly empty except for a large hexagon shaped hole in the center that was dark and the energy flow continued downwards through it. The material the walls of the room were made of seemed to absorb all light and there was no light source other than the sunlight that came from the entrance. Making a frustrated sound, Peebee kicked a few rocks that had fallen into the room when it appeared. “Nothing’s happening! Do your pathfinder thing!” She ordered Scott.

Scott watched the rocks skitter across the smooth floor from where Peebee had kicked them and into the hole—waiting to hear if they hit the bottom.But instead of falling the rocks were pulled into the center and a faint blue light surrounded them before they were pulled straight down the hole. No sound. _SAM?_ he asked.

_It appears to be a gravity well... an elevator of sorts._

Scott ignored his companions who were exploring the empty corners of the room. Peebee was talking to Cora and kept making noise from the sand that had fallen into the room with her boots scraping it against the floor as she moved from one side of the room to the other, unable to stand still. Walking up to the edge of the hole, he couldn’t see anything down in the darkness.One of the larger rocks had landed just to Scott’s right when the room had emerged from the sand.  So he purposefully knocked it into the hole, watching as it didn’t immediately fall, was surrounded by bluish purple light then fell at a controlled rate.

None of his team was paying attention so he said, “See you guys at the bottom,” and stepped into the gravity well.Peebee squawked in surprise as he gave her a jaunty wave as he was propelled down gently but with speed.He could see Peebee jump to follow him, followed by Vetra then Cora then Liam. The well was deep, taking approximately two minutes to reach the end where he was deposited falling the last two meters to the floor in a much larger room than the one above.

Loading his scanner, it noted the air was breathable down here, no radiation, so he took off his helmet to take a break, attaching it to his hip. The room was dimly lit by glowing glyphs that ran down the walls in streaks til they met the floor causing a dim blue green glow with odd sculptures rotating at points on the floor where the flooring pieces changed direction.He had a few moments before Peebee joined him, giving a whoop as she fell the last two meters. “That was amazing!How did you know to do that?”

Smiling at her, Scott shrugged his shoulders. “Just felt something was there.”Giving him a look that said she didn’t believe him, Scott then added, “Also you kept kicking the pebbles into the hole so I saw they were being slowly guided down rather than just falling.”

Peebee had her arms crossed across her chest and just snorted and rolled her eyes at him before going to explore the room. Vetra soon joined them followed by Cora and then Liam.Liam yelped as he fell the last two meters and landed on his ass, Cora dancing out of the way and laughing at him. “Ow....” Liam said as he got to his feet with Scott’s assistance, giving Scott a mock glare.“You could have warned us about the drop.”

“Sorry,” he apologized sheepishly. “Was distracted.”

Liam, already looking around them waved Scott’s apology off. “So what’s down here anyway?You find anything yet?”

“Not so far,” Scott told him, loading his scanner which quickly identified a recessed console similar to the one above with an inactive energy flow coming from it and running to the far wall which at first glance appeared smooth but with closer examination showed it was a humongous door. Peebee was at the console, trying to get it to activate with her omnitool but not having much luck.Cora was staying close by her but giving her room to explore. Vetra was waiting patiently for Scott to do something.

Exploring the room despite Peebee’s increasingly frustrated noises from the console, Scott saw that there were several depressions in the floor with alien glyphs he could see with SAM’s assistance on the scanner. They seemed inactive.SAM then nudged his attention towards an inactive power conduit that ran underneath their feet from the door to the console that Peebee was poking with increasingly angry mutterings about algorithms and encryption combinations, her omnitool flaring with different colors as she tried to interface unsuccessfully.

Deciding he’d let her try long enough, Scott joined her at the console.“Want me to give it a try?”

Frowning in frustration, Peebee gave one more try which did nothing before stamping her feet and giving Scott a sad look that reminded him of a sad kitten.“Can I least record it as you interface?Maybe I can figure out how you do it?”

“Sure,” Scott told her as she moved aside and he put his hand out his omnitool lighting up as glyphs began to curl around his fingers. SAM, coming to the forefront of his mind, and he could feel SAM guiding him as he could see a dancing tiny maelstrom of energy and glyphs.The feeling was the same as when he’d interfaced with any other console but he could actually see the interface occurring—and he was aware that this was likely the same as it had been for every other console he’d interfaced with—but he could see it now. _SAM is this?_

Before he could finish his thought, SAM confirmed it. _Yes.The more you and I work together, the more you are likely to see things as I see them as our connection deepens with use.If it disturbs you I can try to minimize it._

_No....It’s okay._ Scott wondered what would happen in the future but tried not to examine that fleeting thought to closely and focused instead on how SAM guided the interface, interlocking with the glyphs as they moved in a dazzling pattern that twisted and snaked around in a triple helix fractal pattern.SAM, and Scott assisting minimally as he recognized patterns, moved glyphs with subtle nudges,which as they reintegrated made the dancing helixes move slower before they paused and flashed as a spurt of power went down the conduit and through the door. The console’s physical inputs gave a wave of polygon keyboard columns and then the console went inert, it’s purpose fulfilled as the conduit below hummed with power.

Having forgotten about Peebee, Scott startled slightly when she spoke.“I have no idea how you did that but the energy readings were strange and unstable and now they are stable.”

Pushing his hair back from his face, Scott shrugged as he could almost taste ozone in the back of his throat.“It’s... I can’t really describe it.Both SAM and I are doing something but it feels instinctual almost.”

Thinking for a moment, Peebee nodded.“SAM is one step too far for me.I like being alone in my head... but for this?Having a SAM might be worth it.The Remnant are so fascinating... so alien.It’s what I came to do in Andromeda.”

“To do?” Scott asked, replacing his helmet as he started walking towards the door.

“I came to explore.There’s only so many things you can study in the Milky Way and they’re so.... done already. Protheans? Done.Rachni? Done.There’s not as many new frontiers so I decided to be a frontier asari.”Peebee walked alongside Scott as they went down the ramp towards the door the conduit went through. Scott could understand Peebee’s desire to be an explorer—she was a kindred spirit of his sister Sara. Sara would like Peebee and tease Scott for not being more welcoming—or Sara’s favorite insult—a stick in the mud.

“Well there’s a lot that needs exploring,” Scott murmured as he approached the door and it opened. Cora and Vetra were following close behind him and Peebee while Liam brought up the rear, his gun in hand and watching the shadows around them.

“Oh wow,” Peebee exclaimed and Scott could hear both Cora and Vetra echoing the sentiment.Stepping through the door they could see a glowing column of rotating and shifting squares and rectangles. Bolts of energy moving amongst the metallic blocks that made up the column with two pathways leading around it. The column of moving blocks seemed to be protecting another gravity well in it’s center.Scott’s scanner indicated that the energy conduit continued beyond the column and off to the right.

“What is that?” Vetra asked, her mandibles flared as she stepped up next to Scott.

“I have no clue,” Scott answered her, his own eyes taking in the column that seemed to go on forever when he looked upward—at least a hundred meters before it faded into what appeared to be a cloud or fog from which occasional streaks of energy lit up like a lightning strike.

“Pathfinder, I have analyzed the glyph sets in the previous room—it’s degraded and what remains is highly technical.” 

SAM sounded bland but Scott could sense that the AI was concerned.“I sense a but there SAM.”

“It could be instructions or.... perhaps a warning.”Well that made him slightly more concerned

“Thanks for the warning SAM.Do you have any information”

“I request that you continue scanning the glyph sets—I may be able to say more with more data.”

“Glyph sets?”Peebee asked him.

“Yeah.There’s several set into the floor that my scanner picked up and then there’s the one over there,” Scott waved to the left, “that’s in the middle of the room.I scanned them all.”

“Care to share?” Peebee asked, a suggestive lit to her tone.

Trying not to roll his eyes, Scott tapped a few commands into his omnitool and shared what data he had with her.Peebee immediately had her omnitool read screen up and was scrolling through the shared data as they walked closer to the column.“These patterns are... beautiful.... amazing.... I can’t believe what we’ve found so far.” 

Peebee then picked up a glowing cyan blue cube as they approached the column, passing the cube from hand to hand as she examined it and ran her omnitool over it.“What’s this?It could be a key...no.... a relic of sorts?”

“Could be anything,” Scott told her.The gravity well within the column looked similar to the one they’d just come from.“The energy flow goes to the right—it’s most likely that the atmosphere processor is that way if there is one here.”

“I think you should follow your energy flow to see if you can find the atmosphere processor and get this place fully turned on so we can see what else is around.I’m going the other way to see if I can find anything else—like what this is.We’ll cover more ground that way.”

“That’s fine but one of us is going with you.No running off alone down here—so far there’s been no Kett but we can’t be sure there’s not another entrance. Be careful and stay on comms,” Scott motioned for Cora to follow Peebee who was already walking away who gave a shrug and didn’t wait.

“Keep in touch,” Cora said as she walked past him, her pace picking up to catch Peebee who was absorbed in looking around and was paying no more attention to Scott or anyone else.

“Ten credits says one of them ends up in a pit of spikes,” Liam said as he came to stand next to Scott.

“No bet,” Scott said.He didn’t envy Cora keeping up with Peebee.If Peebee was anything like Sara she’d not pay any attention to personal safety as she explored.

Vetra, who was now on Scott’s other side, snorted.“We better get moving then.We may have to double back and rescue those two.”

“Yeah,” Scott said in reply.Reaching out towards the column, an arc of energy reached out and zapped his shields, dropping their efficiency briefly.“This gravity well is inaccessible.Let’s get going.”

Turning to leave, Vetra and Liam fell into step behind him.His scanner showed the energy flow off to the right and they turned to follow it.

SAM, shared his observations as they walked.“Incidentally, a gravity well is a gravitation effect of a large mass in space.This is more accurately a well with variable gravity.”

“Keep that observation for when we meet back up with Peebee... and for when I’ll have to explain all this to the Nexus,” Scott told SAM.

***

Following the energy conduit, Scott soon found himself in a large cavern that appeared sculpted from the metallic walls. There was a large pool of liquid that separated the precipice that he stood on from a large mechanical arm that they could see with setting off a flare to give them some light.He came across a console that when activated changed the wall around the precipice to have gaps which would allow them to proceed down a steep incline to the liquid pool where there were several of the movable platforms easily seen that led to the platform with the mechanical arm.Suspended mid air were tendrils of orange glowing energy that flickered with a different form of energy than the glyphs that were used as both illumination, and as SAM discovered, a form of data storage and programing.Whatever program was running here was massive, so massive that SAM could not grasp it without prolonged study.

Dutifully recording all of the glyphs they came across, Scott activated the console to raise some of the platforms and jumped across the liquid to the platform with the arm and scanned it. Vetra hissed as she accidentally put a foot in the liquid and they found out that it wasn’t acidic but had some sort of energy flow to it that ate at shields.Shaking her foot, Vetra cursed under her breath about being clumsy. “Watch out, that stuff eats shields.”

“Noted,” Scott told her, running his scanner over the giant metal arm that vaguely looked like it might work like a crane. “Whatever this thing is it’s completely dead. Inert.”

“Maybe they used it for moving things or working with the liquid?” Liam postulated.

“Possibly,” Scott allowed as he climbed on top of one of the columns he could manipulate with SAM.He could see movement in the darkness across the pool.He pulled his viper off his back and looked down the scope.Remnant bots—the walker ones that could assemble the flying ones.He could see several of them wandering around a hundred meters to his left. They wandered around with their metallic chirps, talking to one another in an odd parody of organic life. They also seemed to be aware that Scott and his team was here as two of them were watching them back.“I’ve got Remnant walker bots.I count five of them.”

Liam, jumping up with his jets, joined Scott, “Think you can take them out from here?”

Before Scott could reply, the Remnant fired on them first.“Shit, take cover behind the columns,” Scott ordered as he scrambled for cover himself. “Cora, Peebee—we’ve got hostile Remnant here. Keep a lookout for hostiles.”

A quick exchange of gunfire then ensued.Scott, took out three of them with his viper while Vetra and Liam made quick work of a brace apiece, working their way around the room.All of them managed to accidentally get splashed with some of the liquid which made their shields sizzle but not completely fail during the firefight. After no more murderous robots showed their face or fired on them for three minutes, Scott left cover and began working his way around the side of the room to join Liam and Vetra on the far side of the cavern. Vetra was running her scanner over the dead robots—several of which had exploded as they died. “These robots are very strange,” she commented to Scott.

“They’re not like the geth,” he agreed with her.Neither he nor SAM had a reference point to liken the Remnant to.It was oddly exciting to have something so truly alien that was unique to Andromeda to examine.“You okay?”

“Other than a slight dip of one foot in that liquid I’m fine,” Vetra told him.“I did scan the fluid and it’s similar to medigel mixed with eezo but not really like either of those substances.... and it sucks in energy but flows like water but much more viscous if you get it on yourself.There’s a stream of it that goes off down a passageway over there.”

Adjusting his scanner, Scott looked where she motioned. “The energy conduit goes that way too.”

“Guess we know where to go then,” Vetra said, stashing her assault rifle back on her shoulder harness. “Lead on Pathfinder.”

***

2818 CE July 26th

Aya, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Angaran Resistance Initiate

Status: going native

 

Training with the Resistance was oddly reminiscent of basic training with less hostile drill instructors and, in a lot of ways, less intense as the Resistance wasn’t the Alliance Navy.Waking up at 0500, Reyes and his friends had all reported for intake and basic training with the Resistance.Tefa had, as promised, been one of the instructors but was just as strict as the other Angaran instructors.Once they had reported, they’d started on a run that followed their usual route with the addition of thirty kilo weighted packs for everyone.Reyes noted, as he sweated and kept pace, that he was doing much better than some of the Angaran initiates. Both Maiko and Julia were swearing under their breath right alongside him and keeping pace for the most part.They were towards the center of the pack of trainees and were not among the stranglers.Even Vestus and Kenax, who seemed disinclined towards regular cardio exercise, were keeping pace with Alzik in front of them.

Ten kilometers later, they returned to the Resistance base and officially were issued uniforms that had been made to fit them but with the same dark green almost black as the other trainees but slightly adapted for a human instead of an Angaran. The full Resistance members wore a lighter green with a special tactical vest that identified them as warriors.After very, very brief showers they were then given fifteen minutes to scarf down food before starting their morning classes.The first morning’s class was instruction on the various types of field gear used commonly by the Resistance as well as their primary assault gun weapon called a sovoa.The translation for the name was ‘lights out’ which seemed apt as it was a semi-automatic and fired an energy beam.Tefa was the one who gave the demonstration to the class of it’s effectiveness and at least at close to mid range it was deadly and more accurate than some other assault guns Reyes had trained on.

After gear instruction, they’d been issued their own guns and shown how to do maintenance on them.By the end of the morning, Reyes had disassembled and reassembled his own gun three times compared to Maiko’s five times and Julia’s two.Vestus and Kenax kept up a running commentary that somehow seemed to just miss the attention of the instructors and Alzik spent considerable amounts of time getting stray parts of his own gun back from the Turians who kept stealing them from him—otherwise he’d have easily matched or outdone Maiko’s group record of five times.Tefa seemed to have caught on to their mischief but did not intervene.

They were then given a brief lunch and then put their packs back on in addition to carrying their guns strapped to their chest, the repeated the ten kilometer run and then were dismissed for the afternoon around the midway mark. Julia and the Turians headed for the beach and then the tavetaan while Maiko, Alzik and Reyes returned to their project.Maiko ended up going with Tefa and deploying the satellite that evening while Alzik and Reyes coordinated turning the satellite on from the ground and setting up it’s receivers in the Resistance headquarters. Evfra had visited several times during the process and even brought them supper as they worked with Kjaan and his team who were busily recreating multiple sensors and buoys for deployment that would happen tomorrow after training.

By the time his head hit the pillow and he was horizontal that night, Reyes was asleep before he knew it, sleeping deeply and undisturbed.The sore and stiff muscles he had the next day indicated he needed to keep working on getting back to being fighting fit. Andromeda had been rough so far on his physical health.

The next morning repeated the previous day, only the lesson was about communication etiquette and protocols followed by more practice with weapons maintenance.After dismissal from training, Reyes and the Turians with Kjaan assisting deployed the first three buoys and sensors which went off with minimal difficulty and started sending back data immediately which Maiko and Alzik ran through the algorithms to start making predictions. They had the first parts of a working tsunami warning and weather prediction system in place.Now they just needed to keep replicating their success. 

This pattern repeated for many more days and then weeks and months until they had almost forty buoys deployed with almost a hundred sensors despite Reyes and his friend’s training schedule increasing in intensity.To celebrate their success, Evfra let—well, really forced a break on—Reyes go surfing for two afternoons while the others played on the beach. It was a welcome break before the training entered the last, more intense phase.Tefa, who had been a consistent and welcome presence in the evenings with their group, spent a lot of time learning about the Milky Way and the cultures that made up their small group. He also seemed to preferentially want to spend time with Reyes—which Reyes admittedly encouraged as he saw it as a positive tactical move and he also enjoyed spending time with Tefa.

Sitting on his surfboard wearing his wetsuit, out where the waves were rolling in perfect meter and a half curls, Reyes watched his friends playing in the sand at the water’s edge.Tefa was now able to catch the smaller waves and wasstanding up on his board taking short rides while Reyes enjoyed the larger, more challenging waves out further. It’d been almost two months since they’d landed on Aya and Reyes could admit that he was ready for another challenge almost. The hydroponics kit still was locked up for safety so nobody could mess with their supplies and was unused.There was a lot he could be doing now that the wave and weather project was done.

He’d had several emails from Brecka that indicated things were getting more bleak on the Nexus as they still had no working colony and no arks had arrived.Very few people remained out of cryo and things were getting vicious amongst the remainder.Vladimir had passed along what he knew of the other exiles—as they were now called. There was some planet in the Govorkam system that they had taken over from the aliens, some large battle had occurred. Vladimir did not know much but from what he said it was a lawless place similar to the American wild west or the golden age of piracy with Sloane Kelly as the pirate queen. There had been a few returned exiles who, after being brutally questioned by security, been thrown back into cryo to deal with later. Trade was minimal and sounded like the other exiles were living hand to mouth, their situation not much better than the Nexus.

When pressed for information on the Initiative by Evfra, Reyes had cautiously relayed some of this information.Evfra was not unkind and did see that having starving Milky Way people increased the likelihood of raids for supplies.After several pleas from Reyes and Maiko, Evfra had said that he was willing to send packaged protein powder and water to an intermediary but not on Aya. Thus, tomorrow afternoon, they would start a training exercise that included a trip to the abandoned station they’d previously discovered.Brecka and the turian female that Vestus and Kenax were courting would meet them there for pickup. Reyes hoped this would be the first trip of many but knew Evfra would need him to start providing resources for this trade—the Angaran could not give indefinitely of their own supplies without recompense.

Which brought him back to the unused hydroponic set up and seed supply.It seemed Reyes needed to find a place to set up a farm that Maiko, Alzik and he could run.They’d talked about it while working on the buoys and sensors. They all agreed they needed to do more for those they’d left behind.He needed to find someplace that was just theirs to use—which meant he needed to talk to Evfra about alternatives.Alternatives that would have them leaving this tropical slice of paradise as it didn’t have really good farm land which made Reyes scowl.He was getting restless despite the heavy physical work he was doing each day that had toned his body back into the same fitness he’d had when he’d finished his naval basic training. One would think that running almost thirty kilometers and swimming each day would quell any feelings of restlessness but they were there. 

Feeling a wave approach, he started paddling and soon had caught the wave, working his way towards his friends. Tefa, seeing Reyes headed for shore, soon followed.Joining them on the beach, Reyes chuckled at how Julia had covered Alzik in sand to effectively bury him up to his thin salarian neck.Alzik, being a good sport, just calmly sipped from a drink with a straw that had been placed just so by Julia as a reward for letting her play with the children to bury him.The Angaran children were well accustomed to playing with Julia and the turians as they spent their free afternoons when not helping with the project here.

Smiling at him, Julia waved.“We need a second helper to get buried in the sand.Don’t suppose you’d volunteer?”

Eyeing Alzik who was now taking a nap, Reyes debated the wisdom of putting himself at Julia’s mercy.“Do I get a drink too?”

“We can make that part of the deal,” Julia agreed.

Sitting down next to Alzik, Reyes put his legs out and lay down.He was immediately swarmed by three enthusiastic, giggling angaran children who started pushing sand on top of his legs. Julia, their co-conspirator laughed and went to go fetch a drink.Reyes helped the children by putting sand under his back so he was sitting up at an angle like he was in a beach chair. Before they could pin his arms, he pushed his hair back off his face, sluicing extra water out of it.

Ten minutes later, he was ensconced in a prison of sand with three happy Angaran children decorating the sand in patterns with shells and rocks. Julia returned with his promised drink and tipped the straw so he could drink. He coughed as it was more alcohol than fruit juice. “Thanks.”

“No problem.Sand treating you well?”Julia had a happy smile on her face. She was very amused by Reyes compliance with the kids’ fun.

“It’s a nice cool down,” he told her before taking another sip. “I don’t suppose someone can make me a headrest out of sand can they?”

“Kids? You heard him.Wanna help out?”

***

Freeing himself from his sand prison after the sun had set, Reyes actually felt cold for the first time on Aya—the sand having stolen a lot of body heat. Evfra and Tefa were helping them gather all their beach gear—clothing and beach towels which the Angarans had taken a liking to after Maiko had explained the concept to them. The families with children who had previously buried Reyes and Alzik had just departed.Shaking himself to try and loosen the invasive sand, Reyes found himself walking into the water to try and wash off the clingy sand.The water was a slight chill but felt good compared to the cold damp sand as he dunked himself into a crashing wave, hands weaving through his hair to loosen the sand that had migrated there.Sand now mostly off, Reyes stepped out of the water and went to help gather their things. 

Evfra had been making small talk with Reyes and Alzik as they got ready to go back to their rooms to wash up for supper.Reyes had the impression the Resistance leader was anxious about their planned mission to give supplies to the Initiative. Grabbing his surfboard, Reyes took a bag filled with towels to sling over his shoulder from Maiko who herself was carrying another two. “Thank you for approving our mission tomorrow,” he told Evfra.

Giving him a brief glance before going back to watching his steps in the dim light, Evfra nodded.“I understand making overtures is important.I would not wish to cause further strife.”

“Yet you seem concerned,” Reyes gently prodded.

There was a pause before Evfra replied, glancing around to make sure no one else was listening.“You and your friends have been a positive experience here on Aya despite my initial concerns.We have extended great friendships amongst us.I would not have you forget this when meeting your Initiative that let you go.”

Ah.So that was his concern. “I do not think that I would ever be inclined to rejoin them... not as things are now.”While he missed being amongst his own people, he did not object or feel unwelcome on Aya.His fellow trainees for the Resistance and he worked seamlessly now during their exercises.He most nights ate meals with Tefa and multiple other Angarans usually with Kenax and Vestus in tow. Maiko was even semi dating one of Kjaan’s assistants named Tovrel. Julia was friendly with all and spent lots of time making friends in the tavetaan. Alzik was now best friends with Kjaan and spent many late nights in what was now their shared workshop. They had all made themselves at home.

“They do not value as we do.I would have you made honorary Angarans when you complete your training.You have given us safety, warning systems to protect us yet only asked for a place to live.You do not demand, you trade.You have an angaran heart Reyes Vidal—you are tavetara. My cousin tells me much of what you came from—I understand your need to explore but cry for what you lost.Us Angarans know what it is to never go home again.”Evfra gave small glances Reyes way as he spoke, his tone pressed but emphatic. They did not stop walking up the stairs towards home.

Home... he’d come to call the rooms he shared home.It said a lot that he’d not realized he’d been referring to it as such. “Thank you Evfra... you do not know how much it means to me to be called one of your people. Aya is very much a home now but it is the people who make it so... not the place.I feel a responsibility to my fellow Milky Way people... and in a ways I feel it will be protective to the Angarans to give some minor help so they will view you also as friends.”

“Yes.Give them enough to live so they do not take by force,” Evfra agreed.Tefa silently joined them, not saying anything but listening to them talk.

“Starving people do desperate things... I would not make them cause harm if I could prevent it,” Reyes said plainly, hiking his surfboard higher under his arm.

“I just ask that you come back to us after this mission,” Evfra told him.

“We will.We will make allies of our peoples,” Reyes said with more confidence than he felt.He trusted Vladimir and Vetra but did not trust the leadership of the Initiative except maybe Kesh and she was a krogan.... which made no sense at all that she was the most trustworthy leader the Initiative had.

“If there are more of them like you then how could we not?” Evfra asked philosophically. “Come. I will host you and your friends for dinner tonight in celebration of what you have accomplished and to send you off in style, as you say, for your mission tomorrow.”

“Just let us wash up first,” Reyes protested as the lights of the first homes came into view.“It wouldn’t do to have a party while full of sand and wet.”

“As you say,” Evfra said with a laugh.

***

Coming to Evfra’s quarters within Resistance Headquarters, Reyes was wearing his training uniform of dark green clothing. Julia and Maiko had gleefully taken both his arms and were escorting him through the door, the rest of their companions following behind them. Evfra had invited what felt like half the town and raucous music flowed through the hallways. Both girls had washed up well, their hair glistening in the refracted festive lighting. Julia leaned closer to Reyes to ask him what he’d done to get them such a great party.

“No idea,” he said with a smile on his face.This was quite the celebration/send off. They wouldn’t be done with their training for another three weeks but half the class had competed in order to be assigned their mission tomorrow as a dry run for future ones. Tefa pushed drinks into their hands and they started greeting everyone they knew.In short order they were greeted by Evfra and even Paaran Shie had come to this party. Many guests wore Resistance green—either the dark training colors or the lighter green for full members. Evfra and Paaran were holding court around the food where Reyes was pulled to.Both girls excused themselves to go mingle—Maiko to her beau Tovrel who was with his friends and Julia to go find where Kenax and Vestus had escaped to.

A female angaran he didn’t know kept staring at him from her place to Evfra’s left as she smoked one of the long cigarettes with dream weed in it, the fragrance cloying and annoying to Reyes’s nose and made his eyes water at it’s potency even as it’s anxiolytic effect made him relax. Evfra seemed in his element and would include this woman in his discussions with Paaran. Her face was a light lavender pink with the crest of her head a blue grey, she wore a mauve suit that hugged her body instead of the more popular Resistance green.Noting that her staring had been noticed, She reached across Evfra to greet Reyes.“I’m Keema Dohrgun,” she introduced herself. “You must be Reyes Vidal.”

Taking her hand, Reyes gave it a firm grip as he shook it. “I am.”

“It is time you two met,” Evfra added, a strange gleam to his eyes.“Keema is the leader of our Kadara forces.”

“Kadara?” Reyes asked, dropping Keema’s hand. He’d heard that name before but didn’t know a lot of detail.Most Angarans tended to stop talking about it when Reyes or his friends were around. He’d gotten the impression that Kadara was where the exiles had mostly settled and had caused some friction with the prior, Angaran, inhabitants.

“Yes Kadara.Many of your former colleagues have made it their home,” Keema said as she took another draw off her cigarette. “I would thank them for running off the Kett in spectacular fashion but they haven’t been of an improvement in management.”

Looking at both Evfra and Paaran who didn’t seem inclined to interrupt or contribute, Reyes focused on Keema. “When I left the Initiative I did so with my friends with me.The others who left I have no control over.”

Keema inclined her head, a small smile on her face that made her look mysterious.“I can already tell you are much different from the Outcasts.For one you have much better manners and are much prettier.”

“I was taught to be polite and make friends by my family,” Reyes allowed as he blushed at the pretty comment—he wasn’t pretty damnit, he was handsome and took care of himself. “It would be rude to not extend a hand in friendship to those who don’t shoot me first.”

Keema laughed at this.“You are much different from the other humans I have met, Reyes Vidal.We will be good friends I think,” she said the last part to Evfra who looked pleased.

Tefa joined them at this point, carrying another drink for himself.“Keema it is good to see you again,” he told her.

“Ah ongaan. It has been too long.I was just meeting your good friend Reyes Vidal,” Keema put down her cigarette in order to embrace Tefa with a hug.

Hugging back, Tefa sent Reyes a large grin.“Reyes is a very good friend.Reyes, Keema is my... what do you call them.... aunt. Yes! My aunt—she is sister to my mother’s sister-wife.”Angaran relations were somewhat confusing to Reyes but he got the impression that she was not a blood relation but considered family. Reyes had met Tefa’s true-mother as well as two of her sister-wives as they lived in a communal family whose specific relationship was fairly nebulous to Reyes’ observation. He wasn’t sure it was considered polyamorous or if they just all lived together in a fluid relationship pattern.

Releasing Tefa, Keema also gave a matching grin to Reyes.“You keep track of my nephew? Keep him out of trouble?”

Dryly responding as he took a sip of the drink he’d been carrying, Reyes responded in the positive. “Yes, when I can. Tefa has become a very good friend.”

“He is the one who taught me to surf, to ride the waves,” Tefa went on to tell Keema. Keema listened to Tefa’s stories about wave riding with a pleased smile. Evfra also interjected a few additions to Tefa’s stories as well as expounding on the training as a Resistance member that he was receiving as well as their tsunami/weather project.Keema looked appropriately impressed with their tales of Reyes adventures which sounded much more impressive when relayed by the slightly tipsy angarans.

***

Hours passed with food and drink consumed.Tefa stayed by Reyes side as they drifted from one group to another.Julia had made some good friends with several female angaran trainees and was attempting to teach them old human dance styles such as the waltz, samba and foxtrot. They attempted to get Reyes to dance but he gently, but politely refused citing two left feet (untrue but Julia didn’t know that). Maiko, watching her sister, would occasionally help by pulling her boyfriend into the fray and making him sway with her to the music. Kenax and Vestus had disappeared into a smoke filled room where there were games of chance being played amongst the younger crowd. Alzik had snuck out with Kjaan to work on something that they had been discussing.

The party was starting to wind down when Reyes found himself pulled by Tefa onto a dimly lit balcony, the sound of the surf heard gently below as the wind played in his hair.The wind was appreciated as he’d felt overheated due to the alcohol consumed and the heat of bodies dancing in the main room. Smiling at Tefa, he sat sideways on the bench leaning against the wall of the house, pulling his feet close to his chest as he looked out over the waves that he could see peaking out between the dense foliage of the forest below. The water was silver and gold in the reflected light of Aya’s moon.

Tefa said something Reyes didn’t catch. Turning to look at Tefa, Reyes’ open mouth was caught in a clumsy kiss, Tefa’s hands holding both sides of Reyes face so he could take advantage, his weight pinning Reyes to the bench as he settled against Reyes. So surprised that he didn’t immediately reciprocate, Reyes slowly started to respond.He wasn’t really sure how he felt about this... but when in Aya... Reyes closed his eyes and took control of the kiss as it was obvious that while Tefa had much enthusiasm on his side he didn’t really know how humans kissed. Maiko had mentioned a few days ago she’d had to teach Tovrel how humans physically expressed feelings such as kissing and intercourse—at the time it had been more information than Reyes had really wanted. Now it seemed relevant.

Gentling Tefa’s actions, Reyes opened his mouth and started to use his tongue to tease at Tefa’s mouth which opened eagerly with a groan. Reyes felt suddenly sober as he realized Tefa was under the influence of both the dream weed smoke as well alcohol—the Angaran’s pupils dilated more so than usual.Trying to break away, Reyes’ efforts were thwarted by Tefa’s persistence and weight which was keeping Reyes trapped in place almost causing him to panic—he didn’t like being held down.Tefa’s hands were now wandering over Reyes clothes, caressing and teasing in a way that Reyes’ libido appreciated even if his mind wasn’t fully on board yet. Breaking off the kiss, Reyes turned his head forcefully away.“Tefa, what are you doing?” he panted as Tefa started more aggressively rubbing at his crotch with one of his hands.

“You smell fantastic? Have I mentioned that?” Tefa asked him as he took a deep inhale next to Reyes’ ear, an amused look on his face as he didn’t stop caressing the evidence that Reyes’ body was enjoying what they were doing.“I asked Kenax how to make humans feel good, to show my appreciation of you.He and Vestus gave me advice regarding humans and Tovrel confirmed their advice.Am I doing it wrong?”

Reyes decided that he needed to put a halt to this before it went much further, even if he might decide to pursue it at a later opportunity.Maiko had mentioned that Tovrel seemed to sense pheromones and was very handsy when it came to expressing interest. “You’re not doing it wrong... it’s your timing that’s a problem.”Reyes firmly grasped Tefa’s hands and stilled them. Just because he was enjoying a touch didn’t mean it was okay or something he should do without thinking about consequences.

“What would be better timing?” Tefa asked, a frustrated look now on his face as he regarded Reyes.

Pushing back to give himself some room, Reyes sighed.“There’s too many people here and I’m not an exhibitionist.Also, you could ask me what I wanted.Did Vestus or Kenax mention that?”

Looking puzzled, Tefa shook his head in the negative. Sighing, Reyes had to again prevent Tefa from reaching out to resume his aggressive petting. “You and I have both been drinking and there’s way too much dream weed smoke in the air in there.If you want to do this once you’ve got a clear mind I’m up for discussing it. But not like this and without asking me properly first.”

“Asking what?” Tefa said, a puzzled look on his face.

“Asking if I’d like to date you,” Reyes said. “And not holding me hostage if I don’t want to do this right now,” he said as he tried to get up but Tefa prevented him at first but stopped when he realized what Reyes had said.Reyes had no desire to start something with Evfra’s family without being completely clear about what it was they were doing. Also, he needed to figure out what the hell he was doing and if it was a good idea. He was really stalling for time to think more than anything.

“I didn’t mean to trap you,” Tefa said as he let Reyes get to his feet, his hands coming out to pull at Reyes’ hips to make him look at him which he reluctantly did. Tefa looked like a kitten who’d been scolded.

“I know you don’t,” Reyes said finally.He reallyneeded to have some time to think about this as it could have big repercussions. He’d always stuck to human partners before but he didn’t consider himself a xenophobe.He’d just never really been interested that way before. He liked Tefa but did he like him like that?He’d not even entertained thoughts of dating an Angaran himself when Maiko had brought it up the other day. A noise at the entrance to the balcony made Reyes look towards the doorway.

Julia, her hair a flame halo around her head from the light spilling through her curls onto the balcony looked at him with her eyes wide in surprise. “Oh,” she said softly seeing that she’d obviously interrupted something.

Inwardly both cursing and thankful for her timing, Reyes gave her a smile as he tried to subtly adjust himself and the slight bulge in his pants to make it less noticeable.“Julia.Enjoying the party?”

Recovering quickly, a blank look settled on Julia’s face as she looked over Reyes shoulder at Tefa before looking back at him with a determined look to ignore whatever had been going on. “Yes.I know you said you have two left feet but I really need someone my size to dance with and I don’t believe that a Latino such as yourself doesn’t know how to salsa dance.”

Reyes confessed, “I do know how to dance salsa. Want me to join you?”

“Yes,” she said, taking his arm possessively as she pulled him back into the noisy main room, leaving Tefa on the balcony alone. He’d have to do damage control later after he’d sobered up. And possibly figure out what the hell he really wanted to do about it.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE March 24th_

_SAM tells me that the longer I interact with him the more I will see things like he sees them and vice versa—although I’m not altogether clear how he sees things from my point of view as I thought I gave him all his “sight”.This is getting confusing.... Interacting with Remnant technology is an odd experience and I really don’t have a good way to describe it.Peebee says I’m being difficult but I really don’t know how to describe it. How do you describe color to the color blind?It’s the same thing really. I’m going to really hate the report i have to write to describe all this tech we’ve encountered on Eos so far. It makes me wonder what Dad would have written about Habitat 7._

_SAM gave me a report on Sara before we headed to the vault.They still don’t know why she’s not waking up like she normally should. SAM also told me I shouldn’t despair as he is able to tell that Sara is still intact and just deeply asleep still. I’ll have to take SAM’s word for that._

_We’re currently taking a lunch break in this vault—well, Liam, Vetra and I are.Cora is trying to keep up with Peebee.From the sounds of things on comms that is easier said than done.However, we haven’t had a mayday call yet so I’m going to stay cautiously optimistic about this place. Even with the creepy murder robots that keep shooting at us.I think the robots just don’t like visitors and I make too much noise—we’re getting the robot equivalent of the old man yelling at us to get off the lawn with a shotgun to back it up._

_Ah well, break time is almost over.Gotta finish my vanilla (bland as always) shake._


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

2818 CE September 30th

Aya, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Angaran Resistance Initiate

Status: ‘I am not a fucking damsel in distress’

Waking up the morning after the party, Reyes felt horrible—eyes bloodshot and itchy, bones aching and he had a headache that had come from clenching his jaw too tight when he had finally fallen asleep.And he was dehydrated.He’d slept poorly, mind racing with how to deal with the Tefa situation as he was now calling it.Kenax had gently ribbed him about drinking too much but seemed to have picked up that Reyes had been completely sober by the time they’d returned to their rooms only hours before having to be woken to do mission prep. Vestus hovered just behind Reyes’ left elbow, helping him with packing his gear for their two week long mission to the abandoned station. None of them said much of anything as they packed briskly. Alzik had taken one look at Reyes and gone to awaken the girls and help them prep. 

Their group was going to be split evenly in the two shuttles that were going to be used for transports. Reyes and Vestus in one with Julia, Maiko and Kenax in the other.Alzik was staying behind—as the hostage, Reyes supposed—to guarantee they’d return for their crew mate rather than abandon him.Reyes knew it was what he’d do in Evfra’s position and understood it’s strategic value as Alzik was a useful scientist and in many ways just as useful if not more than Reyes and equally as much as Maiko’s engineering skills. 

The ships they were taking were large transports that would carry several tons worth of supplies.Supplies that were desperately needed from Reyes’ exchanges with Vladimir and, more often as of recent, Vetra.Each transport would have an additional four Angarans with them—one of which was an instructor who was observing this training mission.Tefa had mentioned earlier in the evening yesterday that he would be one of them... Reyes wasn’t sure if he did or didn’t want Tefa assigned to the ship he’d be helping to pilot with one of his Angaran teammates.

Realizing he had just enough time for a quick wash up, Reyes took advantage of it, grabbing his kit of clean clothing, soap, and armor as he made for the sanctity of the bathing pools.

Or at least he thought he’d be able to quiet his thoughts for a while...

Until he actually came to the entrance to the bathing area and saw Julia sitting next to the entrance, her go bag at her feet. She’d been waiting there long enough that she’d fallen into a light sleep but woke quickly at Reyes soft steps.

“Reyes,” She said his name, a slight frown on her face as she squinted in the low light.

“Julia,” he said in greeting as he made to enter knowing he didn’t have much extra time.

“So are you even going to tell me what was going on last night? With Tefa?” She stood so he didn’t have an excuse not to look her in the eye as they talked, her frame slightly blocking Reyes’ escape.

Sighing, Reyes tried to organize his thoughts to give her a reply that was both truthful as well as non incendiary.“It seems Tefa has romantic inclinations towards me.”

“No shit—that’s been obvious for a while now.What I’d like to know is what you’re going to do about it.You’ve been ignoring it since Maiko and I got here.”Julia now had her arms crossed over her chest which was incidentally pushing her breasts up and out at him as they weren’t really too far apart as she had blocked his way. The move almost seemed calculated even if she was only expressing outrage at him.

Backing up slightly to give her space, Reyes held both his hands up to plead his innocence. “I honestly wasn’t aware Tefa saw me that way.”

Julia snorted, her eyes narrowing as they watched him, her face showing her disbelief. “You kissed him back. I know what I walked into even if you did seem to backpedal at the last moment.”

“Julia,” Reyes realized he was pleading with her to believe him.“I did kiss him back but I was drunk at the time and it took me a moment to realize what was going on.”

This didn’t make her any happier with him.“So... is it because I’m a woman or because I’m human that you haven’t kissed me?Because I know you were kissing him back.You stopped because you saw me.”

Reyes’ mouth moved soundlessly for a moment before he could think of what to say, aware that his mouth was open and his eyes were wide in surprise—he really needed to get back on his A game.Julia ambushing him when he was hungover and tired was really unfair.“It has nothing to do with you.Tefa kissed me... I didn’t kiss him.I didn’t even want to be kissing anyone last night!And I didn’t see you until you asked me about dancing!”

Julia smacked him in the chest making him flinch even though it didn’t really hurt him, her eyes aflame with emotion.“So if I had taken you out on to the nice romantic balcony at the party of the season would you have kissed me back if I kissed you?”

“Uh... no?” Reyes said, instantly realizing this was the wrong way to answer the question as Julia started leaking tears from her eyes and looking down, still with a fixed frown on her face. Reaching out, Reyes tentatively gripped her upper arms which were rigid under his touch. “Julia, I just don’t see you that way—mostly because I see you as off limits.All my close friends are off limits.It’s one of my personal rules.”

“Why?” The single word came out almost as a howl.Julia’s gaze was now fixated on him. “Why am I off limits?”

“Because it really didn’t work out well the first time,” Reyes growled back, annoyed now that Julia was poking a part of his psyche that was still raw at times. “I almost got married right out of basic. Luckily, she took that option out of contention by marrying my half brother while I’d been gone.I’ve never dated or had sex with someone I’ve considered a friend since then.”

“What?”At least his outburst had shocked Julia enough that she was now being quieter.

“I don’t date or have sex with my friends.I’d like to keep my friends and in my experience sex complicates things.”

Julia now looked sad.“That is so sad Reyes. And it cuts you off from finding someone...”

“For now I am only interested in short term sexual relationships that don’t come with strings attached. And no.I value your friendship too much to break that rule for you.I respect you as a friend Julia and you don’t deserve to deal with that part of me.”Reyes really had said too much but it seemed that Julia needed to hear it.He compromised on a lot of things but this wasn’t one he was willing to.Matias has taught him one thing very well—don’t get attached to your lovers for they might betray you and it will hurt forever—not kill you but you might wish it had.

Julia was now hugging him and crying into his sleep shirt.What was going on?What god had he pissed off recently?He was sure he could find out which Angaran deity controlled chaos because he needed to make an offering to get them to stop messing with him just as he’d found some stability in life. 

Maiko, who he just realized was hiding in the shadows of the doorway, cleared her throat.Her eyes were sad as they met Reyes. She silently came up and pulled her sister away, pulling her towards the female section of the baths.

What the fuck.... Reyes ran his hands through his hair before rubbing his face trying to stave off his worsening headache. How had he missed both Julia and Tefa?He was going to have words with Kenax for encouraging Tefa... which words they’d be he wasn’t yet sure but they’d be important words.Also, he now probably needed to talk to Maiko as well.

“Reyes?”Vestus’ soft call came from behind him. 

Turning around to look at him, Reyes dropped his hands from his face.“Yes?”

“We can deal with all this later. You need to get washed up.Do you need help?Vestus was being very gentle for a Turian, his voice hesitant as he prodded Reyes towards the men’s section.

“I can wash myself,” Reyes said, his tone defeated.He’d deal with all this later.He had things to do today that did not include figuring out what to do with the strange love triangle he’d mixed himself up in. It was like he was a damsel in some out of date novel but he refused to be in distress. He could fucking take care of himself, he’d done that for years now.

***

Cleaned up, dressed in his Resistance armor and uniform, assault rifle hanging from it’s clip on his armor, Reyes tried his best to look like nothing exciting was going on as he waited in parade rest formation, his gaze fixed on the horizon. They had all gathered at the space port and were standing in formation in their assigned squads for each ship, Vestus stood at his right side and one of his Angaran teammates to his left in the front column of four.The symmetry in his life was disorienting... standing at parade rest and waiting for instructions... he thought he was done with that part of his life and the reminder of the last time he’d had a bad outcome from a relationship made him mentally wince given his current situation.The two ships that they would be taking sat on the launch pad, fully loaded and awaiting their crew.They were waiting on Evfra who was talking to Paaran Shie under the awning that Reyes had first been taken to when he’d arrived. The sun was now high in the sky and the day was beginning to heat up, making him sweat in his fresh uniform.

Finally,Evfra was done with whatever he’d been discussing with Shie and approached them all.He looked over them with pride, which Reyes appreciated. They were doing well as a training group. “I am very proud of this squad’s performance.You have outperformed many of your fellow training groups—so much so that I do not remember such a group unless you go back to my cousin’s class five years ago and you make even them look poor in comparison.”

Evfra paused here for effect and began walking back and forth in front of them, turning as he reached the punctuation parts of his speech. “Your mission, which we are considering a training mission, is to provide supplies for the Milky Way travelers.This is a training mission but the objectives are real as are the consequences.We have made friends with the crew of the Discover and they train amongst us now.By supplying their fellow travelers, we reach out in friendship to them so that we may not repeat the mistakes of the past.”

Evfra paused, directly in front of Reyes, a smile crossing his face as he looked at him. “Reyes Vidal, you have become a dear friend of the Resistance.In three weeks when you complete your training I will be happy to call you a member of our brotherhood.” Evfra stepped back, looking at the entire assembled team. “You have all exceeded our expectations.Go and earn your membership in the Resistance.May your mission be successful. Isharay.”

And they were dismissed. Reyes with Vestus in tow headed for the ship on the right—Paavoa One.They had already stowed all their gear.This ship was much larger than the transport he’d piloted when he left the Initiative. It would be, ahem, fun to pilot this ship through the Scourge.Taking his place in the main pilot chair, Reyes flicked the switches to begin the launch checks as Jarvah, one of his fellow teammates, took the co pilot chair.He wished Evfra would have allowed Reyes and Kenax to pilot together instead of making them work separately.He barely knew Jarvah other than he could outdrink Vestus and had a horrible sense of humor that seemed to be composed solely of dad jokes that didn’t translate well between Shelesh and English. Tefa had actually told Reyes that the jokes even for an Angaran were an acquired taste.

As if thinking his name made him appear, Tefa poked his head into the cockpit and saw that Reyes was busy going through the preflight checklist with his VI that he’d ported over once he knew he’d be piloting an Angaran ship. Tefa looked around, saw that Reyes was not alone, and nodded in greeting before touching him gently on the shoulder as if he was afraid Reyes would shrug it off.Reyes didn’t, choosing to focus on what he needed to do at the moment. “We can talk later about last night?” Tefa asked him softly.

Not looking at Tefa, Reyes nodded minimally.“Later.I’ve got a ship to get off the ground.”

Tefa didn’t press any further, just squeezed Reyes’ shoulder before releasing it and going back to the crew space to get strapped in for takeoff. The ship was much more crowded due to being loaded with the maximum amount of supplies for their outbound trip.They’d have a lot more room to move in a week.

“This is Paavoa One, requesting clearance to begin liftoff procedures,” Reyes said into his comm as Jarvah indicted he’d completed his portion of the preflight checklist.

“Paavoa One you have clearance.Please use the primary route to take your leave. You have priority,” came the reply from flight control.Time to get back up in the air where he belonged and things made sense.He’d worry about whatever Tefa wanted to say later. 

***

It actually took almost 48 hours into their flight for Tefa to get Reyes semi-alone.Reyes was currently the one in the pilot’s chair—Jarvah was asleep in the back on one of the crash couches.Reyes was pretty sure Vestus was just lightly dozing close to the doorway and wasn’t fully asleep so he was allowing Tefa to have a chat with Reyes. Vestus had been keeping a close eye on both of them and Reyes could admit that he got what his friend was telling him—figure this out while you can.He trusted Vestus to interrupt if things got out of hand.The rest of the crew was currently asleep.

Tefa took Jarvah’s co-pilot seat but instead of looking at the instrument readings he looked only at Reyes.Reyes squashed the annoyance he felt as he would still need to keep an eye on the HUD while having a difficult conversation that he really still hadn’t figured out what he was going to do.Vestus had managed to stave off this conversation by taking the co-pilot chair on Reyes’ last solo shift where everyone had been asleep. It looked like he wouldn’t be putting this off any further now.

“I would like to apologize for my actions the other night,” Tefa started with.Tefa’s leonine face was serious and sad.Reyes immediately felt guilty even though he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“What exactly are you apologizing for?” Reyes asked after the silence stretched on, he hadn’t looked away from he HUD except for brief glances at Tefa. They were perhaps an hour out from one of the narrower areas of navigation that would require his close attention.

“I did not immediately stop my actions when you indicated you would like to stop.” 

“You did stop.I should have stopped you immediately so it’s not just you at fault,” Reyes told him, trying to mitigate things.He needed to have a good relationship with Tefa... just would he really want to date him?He still didn’t have a great answer for that question.

“Vestus and Kenax informed me that humans usually like to have discussions about dating first... they did have to explain your social norms as they are not the Angaran way.”Tefa was being careful in what he said, his expression unchanged.

“Spontaneity is not wholly unwelcome—I just didn’t know that you were interested in me that way.” God he really needed to stop hedging what he was saying.

Tefa considered what Reyes had said before replying with a question. “How does one show interest in another in a way you would understand?”

Reyes sighed.“It’s more I missed the cues you were giving. We spend time together, usually with one asking the other for a date.I am usually not so blind as to one’s intentions but I will admit to having been focused on other things.I also was not looking for such signs from anyone.”

“Ah.So I should have been more direct in my asking when I took you surfing, to the tavetaan?”Tefa looked less sad and somewhat hopeful. Fuck.He still hadn’t decided what he was going to do.

“That would have perhaps clued me in,” Reyes hedged. “I have been very focused and I tend to ignore social relationships when I do that.”

“So, are you clear of what my intentions are?” Tefa asked with now a very hopeful look on his face.

“Not necessarily.Are you offering to date and see where this leads or are you looking only for some fun?”Reyes made a minor course adjustment as an excuse to look back at the HUD so he wasn’t looking at Tefa while he waited for an answer.

Tefa allowed for a long pause before replying. “To date and see where this goes.Do humans have such tenuous sexual relationships?We Angarans form long term bonds when we choose to pursue sexual relationships.”

Reyes flicked his eyes to Tefa and then back to the HUD’s display of their current course where he could just make out the reflection of the Angaran’s face in the co-pilot part of the HUD which was minimally active as Tefa wasn’t using it.Tefa was almost studying Reyes’ face while he thought of a suitable reply. “I have had both types of relationships in the past.”

“And would you be willing to ‘date’ me as you call it?” Tefa immediately asked.

“I am not opposed to the idea,” Reyes replied just as quickly. Wow... he hadn’t planned that answer.But had it come from his emotions or the part of him that was coldly calculating his odds of manipulating the relationship for his and his friend’s gain?He’d never thought of himself as a ‘lay back and think of the Initiative’ type of man.He liked Tefa... but did he really ‘like’ like him?Too late to take that answer back now.

Tefa was now smiling.“With your permission then, I would like to start to ‘date’ you, as you humans call it.”

Reyes simply nodded, giving a fake feeling smilie that made Tefa’s own angaran version brighten.Before more could be said, Vestus interrupted, leaning on the back of Reyes’ pilot chair in a relaxed manner but still claiming Reyes’s space as his rather than Tefa’s.“How are we doing?Any issues?”

Choosing to respond to Vestus, Reyes gave a real smile to his friend who was hovering over him somewhat. “We’re still on course.Just minor corrections that need a pilot’s attention.”

Tefa, seemingly realizing that Vestus wasn’t going to leave them alone any time soon, greeted Vestus. “Vestus.Reyes has agreed to ‘date’ me as you suggested I ask him to clarify.”

Vestus side eyed Reyes before replying. “That is nice.I told you to ask Reyes his opinion of things.I’m glad to hear it’s working out.”

Reyes didn’t roll his eyes in sarcasm at Vestus but it was a near thing. “Were you wanting to comm Kenax? He keeps pinging me with questions about what he should do when you both see Vetra again.”

Chuckling, Vestus relaxed and draped his hands around Reyes in a move that was both a way of giving a supportive squeeze as well as showing Tefa that he was protective of Reyes. “He’s still worried about that?It’ll be fine.He just needs to relax.Vetra already indicated she prefers us as well.We just need to get a stable home life and then she’ll be more willing to court.”

“Don’t forget her sister,” Reyes gently reminded Vestus, ignoring Tefa for now.Tefa, for his part, was watching with interest but did not seem to be picking up on Vestus’ body language meaning.Sometimes it was good that Angaran culture was much different from theirs as they could take advantage of it.Tefa had and was assuming that a turaian being touchy feely with a human was normal.Reyes wasn’t about to disabuse him of that assumption.

“How could we ever forget Sid? She’s a delight,” Vestus returned with a flaring of his mandibles in the turian version of a grin. “Although when Sid finds a turian to settle down with I’m going to have to fight both my breed-mate and bond-mate for rights to do the proper shovel speech.”

“What is a shovel speech?” Tefa asked.

Reyes started laughing while Vestus tried to explain.His life was really feeling absurd lately. Just when he thought he had a handle on things something else happened.

***

Luckily for Reyes, Tefa at least was attempting to be an impartial observer as he was their assigned trainer for this mission.Which meant that Reyes didn’t have to deal with a handsy angaran 24/7–only for brief moments caught when Reyes was the only one of his crew mates working during sleep shifts.However, Tefa had made a point of joining Reyes for meals and keeping him company during his piloting shifts when Vestus wasn’t there.Vestus for his part only asked Reyes if he was sure what he was doing.When Reyes hadn’t immediately replied, Vestus told him that when he needed some space from Tefa to let him know and he’d make sure he had it.The explanation of what exhibitionism was had made Tefa more circumspect—as had Reyes’s explanation that he didn’t want favoritism over the rest of his crew mates for this mission.As far as Reyes was concerned, at least from Tefa’s perspective, Reyes was a committed trainee who was on mission and didn’t want to be distracted too much.

This was a double edged sword as this gave Reyes some breathing room... but it hadn’t really solved his problem.And he still wasn’t sure what he was going to do long term.He had managed to figure out that while he wasn’t physically opposed to physical contact he wasn’t sure he was really emotionally involved with Tefa that way.Which meant he felt like he was constantly lying... but maybe not fully? 

He was well aware that sexual stimulation did not require being emotionally engaged and that he could get off physically without really liking his partner.His years in the navy had taught him that shore leave and physical release in privacy was a treasured thing. The ships he’d been assigned to had not always been large cruisers and privacy to get off was in short supply sometimes for months. He’d had several sexual benefits only relationships with both marines and naval officers alike on deployments but he’d always preferred finding someone he didn’t know well if he had the time. His childhood sweetheart had scarred him for life on long term relationships and he liked to keep his friends separate. He wasn’t an asshole to his partners but he really wasn’t interested in deep emotional ties that way and had always made sure it was understood.There hadn’t been any complaints about his technique from anyone. Which made him sound like an uncaring asshole.. which he wasn’t.He had good, deep friendships as Kenax could attest—he just didn’t want to have sex with him.

All of this meant that Reyes wasn’t sleeping that well and felt on edge half the time. Which was getting ridiculous. Vestus had indicated in their last semi-private discussion that Reyes needed to start getting more rest as the circles under his eyes were getting a bit more obvious... and Reyes wasn’t eating as much as he should so he’d lost a bit of the weight he regained. Vestus had actually said Kenax was going to kick his ass for letting their human get stressed which had made Reyes laugh when he said it.

They were less than three hours flight time out from the station now.Jarvah was in his pilot chair as was Reyes, both wearing their space suits with their helmets sitting next to their chairs.He’d already received two messages from Vladimir.The first was to note they were almost at the station, the second to inform Reyes that they’d arrived.Vladimir was just as anxious as Reyes for this to go off without a hitch. Reyes was just glad he wasn’t the one who had to come up with an explanation of where the supplies had come from—that was Vladimir’s and Vetra’s job.He’d gotten the impression that Kesh was covering for them of all people. It seemed politics was alive and well on the Nexus.

The three hours crawled by.The most excitement that he had was minor course adjustments and sending chatter back and forth between the two angaran ships as Kenax was just as anxious as him on the other ship.In fact, Kenax might be even more anxious as he’d been separated from both Vestus and Reyes for a longer period of time.While Kenax was good friends with the girls, he had said in his comms that they weren’t his bond-mate or human best friend and he’d been missing them both.

Finally, the station came into view.The station appeared just as they left it with the only addition currently being a large Nexus cruiser that was in the larger of the two docks.There would be just enough room to land the Angaran shuttles one at a time so they could offload into the Nexus shuttlecraft. According to their mission briefing, Evfra and his team had estimated it would take them almost a full day to offload both ships and load onto the Initiative vessel.Which was good because Vladimir and Vetra were on borrowed time. They could be noted as missing at any time by someone that shouldn’t notice them gone.And then they’d have more trouble hiding where thy got their supples.Reyes wanted to keep this under the radar so he could continue to work out a trade—hopefully eventually with Kesh’s blessing even.

“Nexus shuttle, this is the Paavoa One.Do you read us?” Reyes asked calmly over the comms as he and Jarvah worked in tandem to stabilize their ship for docking.They would need to dock in reverse to make their ship fit.Kenax and his team would dock temporarily on the other side and wait for Reyes’s team to empty their ship and then they’d switch places.In the meantime, their crews would be busy offloading and loading.

“Paavoa One this is Shuttle N-203.We read you loud and clear.It’s great to see you,” Vetra’s voice came over the comms. “We are standing by for you to dock.”

“Good to hear N-203.Stand by for docking, please stand clear.”Reyes nodded to Jarvah who started to shut down the forward thrust and increase deceleration so Reyes would be able to glide them in under low power.Reyes had the highest scores of the entire class on the simulation testing that had been done.He’d been very shocked to learn that most Angaran pilots only flew intraplanetary or a few routes.There wasn’t a strong tradition of fighter pilots like Reyes was so he had blown the entire class away with only Kenax coming in a distant second.Which was why the docking would be handled by them on each ship.“Everyone strap in back there in case of accidental bumpage.”

“Is bumpage a technical term?” Vestus grumbled from the first jump seat that was right next to the door, making his voice carry.

“Technical term Vestus.It’s a technical term,” Reyes said with a grin on his face.He’d take them in without any but he liked to have his safety checks met. No reason to tempt fate.His response to Vestus caused laughing in the back and he could hear multiple voices in the back ribbing Vestus for not trusting their pilot.Reyes tried not to puff up too much from their praise.The entire team knew how good Reyes was.

Docking was then carried out by Jarvah and him in a well coordinated dance, their ship settling on the deck of the dock with a light touch. No accidental bumpage with this piloting team. “Securing deck clamps.Shutting down engines to reserve power. Paavoa One is now docked. Crew, please verify ship securement and prepare for offloading,” Reyes spoke into the comms, letting the Nexus ship know what they were doing while ordering his crew mates to start their tasks.

Everyone jumped to get started, a lot of chatter coming from the back as Reyes started entering the shutdown sequence. Jarvah, knowing that his part was completed, left to join the rest of their crew with a quiet, “Beautiful docking Vidal,” and a clap on Reyes’s shoulder as he passed. Smiling to himself, Reyes responded in acknowledgement to Kenax’s announcement that they were secure in the other dock and finished his tasks.

Tasks complete, he put his helmet on and went to the airlock which was just beginning to cycle, his crew mates all with boxes already in hand. Opening the door, Reyes saw Vladimir as well as a female turian that he assumed was Vetra.Vetra was a lithe female turian, her crest shorter than a male’s. Her face was pale with a beautiful purple colony mark of a chevron that crossed her eyes and made her look exotic. Reyes didn’t recognize the colony mark and made a mental note to ask Vestus or Kenax about it. Vetra also wore a visor that gave off a cyan glow that made her eyes gleam with a mischievous light. Her armor was complementary to her colony mark—white with plum accents. It all seemed to suit her well and she greeted Vestus with a warrior’s clasp which she then pulled him into an embrace, pressing their faces together. Vestus, ignoring all those around him, closed his eyes and trilled which Vetra echoed in an alien song that Reyes found beautiful but very, very alien. 

Vladimir, who had been waiting patiently, stepped forward when Reyes stepped off the ship.“Vidal, good to see you. I cannot tell you what this means for us,” he said as he gestured to the ships.“The supplies are sorely needed. It is a life line you extend to us.”

Following the agreed upon minimal subterfuge—no need to give away all their cards to Evfra—Reyes clasped the offered hand in a firm handshake.“Brecka, I’d like to introduce you to my Angaran crew mates.”Reyes then named each Angaran and introduced them to Vladimir as the Nexus representative. Each Angaran stepped forward and exchanged handshakes.Vestus and Vetra had finished their greeting and she now also was introduced by Vestus.They were soon offloading crates in an assembly line fashion, offloading and transferring from hand to hand until it was loaded on the Nexus shuttle.Vladimir and Vetra had managed to get one of the biggest shuttles the Nexus had and emptied it of all nonessential cargo. They would just be able to fit everything that Reyes had brought them with enough spare room to wedge themselves in the cockpit. Vetra would be piloting per Reyes’s discussions with Kenax. Evidently that was how he’d met her.

As they offloaded, they were joined by the crew from the other shuttle which happily joined the transfer chain.Julia and Maiko were greeted warmly by Vladimir.Kenax was still in the shuttle, impatiently waiting but also using a drone to monitor for any unexpected visitors. Their previous experience at the station had made them cautious. Julia and Maiko took up positions on either side of Reyes in the chain with Vladimir on the other side of Julia and joking with her as they moved crates.

All too soon, Reyes’s ship was empty of all the supplies.Vladimir gave him a nod as they all entered the station so Reyes could start up the engines and exchange places with Kenax. They had said all they needed to say verbally—anything else would have to be a data exchange from Reyes’s VI to Vladimir’s ship. And he had a lot of intel he was going to transfer—but not the keys to Aya.Mostly translation notes and observations on Angaran culture. The parts of the Scourge that he’d mapped out were included but did not specifically list the location of Aya. Anyone looking for Aya would need to know where it was in the Onanon system.He’d also inclosed Angaran navigational notes for thoroughness but didn’t list any known outposts or civilized worlds.He wouldn’t tip off their locations to the Nexus at this point.But if the Nexus found them while navigating that wouldn’t be telling right?

Reyes trusted Vladimir and Vetra to be discrete who they shared this knowledge with.They knew not to trust the Nexus administration. Reyes shared this information only on the happenstance that it might save someone’s life.It would require Vladimir or Vetra to be present for the navigational data to unlock anyway as the biometric locks were coded to them.

He really hoped nobody proved him wrong—he didn’t share knowledge to cause strife.

Reyes accepted handoff on drone control from Kenax as their ships passed each other while changing places. They briefly ribbed each other’s piloting skills but it was mostly reflexive at this point in their friendship.Kenax, when they’d had the mission layout explained, had been upset that he wouldn’t see Reyes for the entire mission even though they’d both be piloting ships.Vestus had hushed his mate and spoken to him quietly, eventually getting him to agree to the plan.Reyes, who was perhaps a bit more cynical, assumed that Evfra had made the assignments to make sure that not all of the former Initiative members were in one place at the same time so they couldn’t decide to leave all as one—or conspire together.

Reyes would also like to cynically point out that wouldn’t stop him if that was Evfra’s goal. He had no wish to rejoin the Nexus but he couldn’t leave them to die. Once upon a time he’d sworn an oath to defend citizens of the Systems Alliance—and while that didn’t exist in Andromeda he still felt a responsibility to help his fellow Milky Way immigrants.

Gently docking in the other bay, Reyes kept an eye on the drone’s flight pattern as the other ship was offloaded. The HUD’s data was reassuring. Nothing unexpected in this system that wasn’t already accounted for. No unexpected visitors but he’d have to keep watch.His omnitool silently also gave a notice that it had finished transmission to N-203 and the data package was verified as intact.It was very quiet in the ship when he was the only one there, his helmet still on as they’d need to open the airlock to let everyone back in.

Before the stillness of the empty ship could get to him, Kenax started up chatter on the comms to make sure he was including Reyes in what was going on.Kenax really was a good friend, Reyes thought as he quipped back and forth with him as Kenax helped unload. Kenax had kept up regular comm pings the entire journey and it had been one bit of normalcy that Reyes was holding onto.

Within hours, both ships had been emptied into the Nexus transport. Vladimir commed Reyes to say thanks again as his crew mates cycled through the airlock.Jarvah sat in his pilot seat with a sigh as Reyes pulled the drone back into the docking bay for Kenax’s team to load back up. Reyes had resisted the urge to say everything had gone well so far as he felt an unusual for him superstitious worry that if he said anything he’d curse the trip back to Aya. Vestus, as he strapped himself into the jump seat that he’d claimed as his informed Reyes that he had a hug from Kenax ‘for their human’ so he wouldn’t feel left out.

Feeling lighter than he had since the night of the party, Reyes chuckled and sent the equivalent of a blown kiss message to Kenax.Kenax wouldn’t receive it until they were under way as he was busy.

Now, they just had to make it back to Aya without any mishaps. Tefa, who perhaps was reading Reyes’s mind, actually said the words: “What could possibly happen now? Let’s get home in one piece.Move out trainees.”

The shiver that went down Reyes’s spine at those words worried him.Superstitions were just a weak man’s version of hubris right?

 

***

 

2819 CE March 25th

Southwest of Promise, Eos, Pytheas system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status:I’m pretty sure the Andromeda brochure lied

 

Murderous robots? Check.Weird shield zapping alien liquid? Check.Too much alien information that I can’t make heads or tails out of? Double check.They’d been wandering around the vault for hours compiling a map of the entire structure.They’d found three apparent dead ends as Scott had felt compelled to check even the areas that the energy conduit didn’t lead down. He’d hate to have missed something big if this was the only chance they had.He had no idea what they should be expecting down here as they moved deeper and deeper into the structure.SAM estimated they were almost four kilometers from the surface—a whole kilometer was just the initial gravity well they’d taken.

Scott had scanned and stored the data sets from innumerable glyph sets that were inset in the floor in square depressions—SAM corrected him and informed them they were at one hundred and twenty-six if he scanned the one off to his left.SAM, perhaps feeling just as impatient as Scott for some progress, noted that even with his processing power it would take several weeks to even begin understanding the complex coding programs that the glyphs stored. Peebee was in heaven.Her excited chatter of ongoing observations was a never ending stream of consciousness commentary. Scott was willing to do many things to make sure that Peebee and Sara did not meet while he was around.He’d never survive them together—he’d end up doing his best Indiana Jones impression and falling into Liam’s spike pit while his sister and Peebee giggled above him. 

Now that he thought of it... hadn’t Indiana Jones been dropped in a pit full of snakes?It was a really old vid and he hadn’t seen it in years but Liam had been describing it to Peebee over comms in order to have something to contribute. Peebee had already extracted a promise from Liam and, by extension, Scott to watch the Indiana Jones vids with her as she had never heard of them before today.

You couldn’t make this up is what Scott decided as he thought about what to write in his report. So far, the murderous robot count for the day was twenty eight of the walking types and another thirty two of the flying ones. And those were just he ones he, Liam and Vetra had dispatched.Cora had been swatting the fliers out of the air on a regular basis as well from her bit off replies on the comms. He was going to owe Cora a lot after today.The last time she’d been telling Peebee to slow down it had sounded like something rather large had fallen down a deep hole with a large crash.Peebee had merely responded with an assurance that “We’re fine, just a bit of ceiling fell on one of the Remnant.”

Scott would like to know how the ceiling fell on the murderbot.He might have to watch the recordings from Cora’s helmet after all this was done.And he definitely owed Cora a drink or two after this.

Continuing to run his scanner over the walls of the hallway they were in, he found another opening with a locked door.The scanner didn’t reveal anything behind the door and he had no way to open it but he dutifully marked it on the map he was making. The stream of the fluid that Peebee was calling ferrofluid flowed along one side of the hallway and was picking up speed.Reaching the end of the hallway, He could see multiple streams of the ferrofluid joining up to create a waterfall that plunged into an even larger abyss than the one in the previous room they’d found. This cavern was easily a kilometer or more in diameter—his scanner couldn’t ping the far side in the dark and the noise from the waterfall echoed off the walls to make it difficult to hear anything but he couldn’t see where the fluid was hitting the ground as it was too dark. The lattice like strands of power danced in the air suspended in the contained valley gave off some light but not enough to see details.The hallway he’d been following with the power conduit below it went off to the right around the rim of the huge hole. With the reflected ambient light the room had a beautiful haunting look to it. 

“Cora, have you guys found the huge ass room with the ferrofluid waterfall?”Looking up he could see that several streams of the fluid were falling from higher up.Based on the information that he was getting for Cora’s omnitool scanner they were somewhere up higher than his team.

“No waterfalls,” Cora replied.“Peebee found a side room with what looks like containers full of spare robot parts.She’s tearing the containers apart to see what’s in them.”

“Noted. Let us know if you run into trouble. Don’t let her make her own robot yet,” Scott said in a teasing tone.He could hear Peebee squawk in fake outrage at him through Cora’s open channel. Smiling to himself, he continued to follow the power flow.

“I think that the ferrofluid is probably powering this place,” Peebee finally said over the comms, sounding distracted.

“Really?” Scott asked.It was an interesting prospect.

“Yes.It’s obviously carrying energy and it zaps our shields to draw energy from them as they’re not comparable tech... the energy needs of whatever this place does is enormous.The ferrofluid appears to be a very stable way of storing energy.”He could hear Peebee opening containers as she spoke.

“Huh,” said Liam.

“So do we have to worry about this place taking energy from us directly?” Vetra asked. 

“I don’t want to find out.Don’t let your shields fall completely by immersing yourself in the ferrofluid.”That was dark sounding—vampire fluid. Ugh.

Continuing on their path, they again encountered remnant bots and a brief firefight later they explored the area they had come to.There was a convergence of multiple ramps with another one of the large mechanical arms that was inert.Small streams of ferrofluid ran down the ramps in channels. Two empty rooms were found off this convergence of ramps.Making his way to the high point, he found a door he couldn’t open.When he scanned it, writing appeared in red on his scanner. A warning? Something else?Neither he nor SAM could make any sense of it yet.

“Some things work and some things don’t,” he murmured to himself. 

“Perhaps to direct and assist with vault reactivation or to mislead intruders,” SAM offered as possible explanations.

“Possibly,” Scott allowed as he fanned his scanner to find the power conduit and follow it around the rim of the cavern. Continuing on, he found one of large doorways that seemed to be airlocks for large sections of the vault like the one they’d first come through after the gravity well. “Cora, found another one of the large doors.Going through.Comm check,” he said as he activated the door and stepped through to show a large hallway that automatic pedestal lights appeared as he walked through.

“I hear you, comm check,” Cora replied.

“Pathfinder, I register no interference on comms with passing through the door,” SAM reassured them.Scott wondered with all the strange metal-ceramic-eezo alloy between him and Cora how long their comms would work as they got further apart.

“Let me know SAM if you start having any difficulty with the signals.”

“Yes Pathfinder,” SAM replied in his standard monotone.He’d have to see what he could do to give SAM some personality inflection to make him more exciting to listen to.

As another one of the pedestals appeared with him walking further into the large hallway, Scott wondered if it was reacting to him specifically or to movement. “That’s one way to light a room,” he said as he scanned the pedestal light.“The atmosphere processor we found on Habitat 7 didn’t require all these steps and Dad just interfaced with it directly” he said to his companions as they continued to follow the power flow.

Vetra had her assault rifle held loosely in her hands and loped easily alongside Scott.Liam looked more spooked by the randomly appearing lights. “That didn’t work out so well for your dad,” he said.Yeah, Liam was feeling the same apprehension Scott was. He was sensing something ahead that felt dangerous.

SAM, unable to not participate, responded to Liam. “Direct intervention was required in that circumstance but clearly unwise.”

Scott didn’t say anything further. They then came to another one of the large doors which opened easily to Scott’s command with SAM assisting. Which revealed a large room with a gravity well in the center that was unfortunately surrounded by Remnant which responded violently to his presence.

Diving behind a column, Scott pulled his M3 and started laying down fire.Liam and Vetra did the same. All was going well until an automatic turret activated which made it all the more not fun. Vetra gave a grunt as she took a direct hit to her shoulder but managed to get out of the spray of bullets from the turret that annihilated the ground where she’d just been standing.

Dodging bullets, Scott ducked andweaved to where Vetra was and pulled her back deeper into a recess behind another one of the columns.Liam had just taken out the last of the fliers which left three walkers and the turret.Vetra, wincing, applied medigel to her shoulder as her shields regenerated. “You okay?” Scott asked her as he holstered his M3 to take out his viper

“Give me my gun and get going,” Vetra snarled, obviously frustrated with her injury. Scott nudged her gun with his foot from where it lay and then took aim at the turret while Liam helpfully distracted the walkers.

Looking down his scope, Scott saw the port where the shots were coming from.SAM silently identified that this spot was the only weak point in the shields that surrounded the turret. Without acknowledging SAM’s information, Scott took two shots in rapid succession.The first made the turret stop firing and the second caused a high pitched robotic screech that if he were attributing emotions to robots sounded like a scream of pain.The third shot that Scott then let loose caused the turret to explode in a cloud of electrical discharges and parts. 

Scott then pulled back from his scope to see what else was going on. Vetra had resumed helping Liam with the walkers and they were circling around the last standing walker, taking pot shots at it from behind columns and barriers that were part of the floor. Liam took one last shot that caused the robot to give a sad grind of metal on metal before slumping to the floor and stilling. Scott’s HUD did not display any other hostiles, the only noise he could hear was Liam’s heavy breathing as he’d left his comm on transmit and Vetra’s steps behind him. “Any robots left?” he asked Liam and SAM. 

“I don’t see any others,” Liam said as he joined Scott by Vetra.Vetra was poking at her shoulder armor which had a nasty looking crack in it.The Remnant shot had hit right at the weak point in her armor and while it hadn’t penetrated her shield it had dented both the armor as well as bruised her shoulder to restrict movement. There was evidence of bleeding as there was blue colored blood that was drying rapidly on her side.

“Are you okay?” Scott asked her, moving to take a closer look at her shoulder.

Vetra, looking embarrassed, gave a sharp nod.“It’ll be fine. The medigel is already working, bleeding’s stopped. It was a lucky hit.”

“You good to keep going?” Scott asked her, he would send her back to find Peebee and Cora if needed.He and Liam could keep on going by themselves if needed.

“I’m good,” she insisted, her green eyes blazing with stubbornness behind her targeting visor.

“Okay.Let’s see if the gravity well is working.SAM?” Scott said as he turned away, starting to scan the room and the broken bodies of the robots.

“The gravity well requires energy to operate.I suggest activating the two consoles on either end of this room to direct flow.”

Following SAM’s direction, Scott quickly found both consoles and was able to activate them with a few flicks of his hand as the code that sprang up looked very similar to the one near the entrance. Both consoles sank into the ground to become even with the floor after activation and a feeling of air movement in the room was briefly noted before it was again absent. Stepping up to the center of the room, a triangular area in the floor opened as Scott neared it and his body was pulled to the opening and down, body wrapped in a blue energy field as the gravity well took him down into the depths.

This gravity well was longer than the first.SAM remarked that they’d passed a barrier of air.The radiation levels indicating that this part of the vault hadn’t been open to the air in several hundred years.

“So it hasn’t been opened since the Scourge occurred?That seems too specific to be accidental.”

“Yes, it seems rather likely that the two events occurred simultaneously or were causative of each other rather than as a coincidence.”He really needed to teach intonation to SAM. It would be very easy to misread SAM’s information if he didn’t learn what sarcasm was for instance.

Landing with a soft touch this time rather than being dumped the last few meters, Scott moved out of the way so Vetra and Liam could land safely. There was a large floor-to-ceiling doorway that was sealed on one end of the room they were in as well as a large console that seemed similar to the one on Habitat 7... except this one was leaking the ferrofluid from the top end and spilling into a small puddle on the floor around it. “Comm check Cora.I’ve got a console with a leak,” Scott said as he moved closer to inspect the console.

“Comm check I hear you.How deep are you guys now?”Cora asked.

Looking around, Scott tried to estimate how deep below the surface they were.His scanner was reading almost ten kilometers deep as an estimate... which with length of time in the gravity well might actually be accurate.“My scanner is saying ten kilometers but I don’t know if that’s accurate.The gravity wells might be throwing it off.”

“Wow you’re really deep,” Peebee answered instead of Cora.Scott could hear Cora huff into her mic but she otherwise let Peebee talk. “I captured the data stream that some of the flying Remnant were using to repair one of the others while we were fighting them.It’s worth a try to see if it works on fixing your console.”

“It’s worth a shot,” Scott agreed as he took a closer look at the console.The console was inert according to his scanner.The power flowed into the console but then stopped and a drizzle of energy readings was noted in the puddle of ferrofluid at the one end that had collected.He wondered how long it’d been broken like this. 

“Sending you the code now,” Peebee said. “We’re going to keep looking around up here.Let us know if you find something interesting.”

Scott’s omnitool pinged with the data package received.Tapping on the program, Scott used his omnitool to interface with the console and tried to patch the leak which to his surprise the odd alien alloy seemed to self heal and stop oozing the ferrofluid. Two minutes after it stopped visibly leaking, the console flickered to life awaiting interface.

“Wow, that worked,” Liam said, standing next to Scott.Scott agreed that it was pretty amazing that Peebee’s idea had worked.

“It’s a patch job that’ll do for now,” Scott agreed, moving to the front of the console to try and open the door.Putting his right hand out like he had before, the console lit up with glyphs that danced in a spectral array puzzle.Scott moved his hand and wrist to manipulate the energy and put the glyphs in the correct order.As the final one slid into it’s slot, the pattern froze and the console activated, opening the energy conduit below their feet to flow through the door.

Dropping his hand to his side, Scott walked to the door which opened before he could touch it, the center part disappearing into the floor as the two sides slid back into the walls. A giant cavern like the one above appeared. Instead of a giant metallic arm in the center, this one had islands of polygon shaped columns with old, giant appearing plants growing on them.There was no sunlight for photosynthesis, no fresh air and no water—just ferrofluid which streamed down the sides of the wall to create a large pool that flowed in currents around the elevated islands.

“Are those plants?” Liam asked, pointing to the large odd looking tree-like plants.

“I don’t know.SAM?”Scott asked.

“I will need a closer scan from your scanner to be able to provide any information,” SAM informed them unhelpfully.

The energy conduit crossed below the ferrofluid and was pointing towards the far side of the cavern. “Let’s go check it out,” Scott ordered his team and setting off.There was a small console similar to the bridge one that when activated made several octagon columns rise up out of the ferrofluid.Unlike the bridge they’d crossed earlier these didn’t stop at one level and the walkway was uneven with large drops between sections where the columns had not risen when commanded. Using his jump jets to vault his body higher than he could normally jump, Scott found himself clambering from column to column until he reached the plant on the island.Scanning the plant, his scanner indicated that the genetics of the weird palm tree/flower was related to the genetics of the plants above ground—albeit gigantic in size comparably. The plant did have chlorophyl but there was no source of sunlight and the cavern had minimal humidity. The plant appeared to be in stasis without any mechanism to make it so.

Turning away from the plant, Scott looked around them and saw another bridge console which he activated which brought more columns up out of the ferrofluid but did not form a complete or even walk surface. More use of jump jets later, they made it to the far side of the cavern and had a brief exchange of fire with several Remnant bots which they easily overcame. Vetra put a few extra bullets in hers indicating she hadn’t forgotten the shot to her shoulder. Each island had a one of the large tree-like plants. The consoles that he activated made him back track multiple times to find a way across to the side where the power conduit flowed but they eventually made it there. While the trees on the islands and several on the periphery of the room were well preserved, there were also evidence of other trees—roots that had almost completely rotted away and a few strangler trunks that had shattered to pieces that needed to be crossed over to get from island to island.

One more large airlock-like door which opened as he approached to reveal another large room.Scott could sense a fine vibration under his feet as the power level ratcheted up making the hair on his arms and legs stand on end from the current flowing around him despite the skin tight under armor suit he wore. In the center of the room was a large column of flowing ferrofluid flowing in a column from the ceiling only it was now super charged and glowed brightly making it hard to look directly at. 

They had reached the heart of the vault—he was sure. The very air in the room seemed to spark with energy as he approached the massive console that sat in front of the column of energy and off to the left from the entryway. The trees in here were old and looked like they’d caught fire, the trunks were just remnants of ash and splinters, their roots old and shriveled as they snaked between the cracks in the floor almost tripping Scott as he approached the console except they crunched under his feet.More disturbing their appeared to be skulls imbedded in the twisted arms of the dead trees. The skulls were not any species that Scott recognized and were not shaped like a Kett’s head.

“Wow,” Liam said, just to Scott’s left.Vetra who was on his right was silent, just staring at the column of energy that was the only light in the room but was more than bright enough to see by as long as you didn’t look directly at it—then it was blinding.

“This has to be where the atmosphere processor is if this anything like Habitat 7,” Scott said with a lot more confidence than he really felt.His feet seemed heavy as he forced himself to approach the console and the energy flow.

“All conduits converge here Scott,” SAM informed him.

“Then this has to be the lockdown console,” Scott replied as he looked up.Looking up the energy stream, multiple large pieces of the alloy that were the size of the tempest moved back and forth to adjust the flow of the energy.How they were moving so quickly and quietly he had no idea but the amount of power that had to be going through this whole place... He had the feeling that this vault did much more than just regulate the atmosphere.Who had built this place and why?

“Cora comm check,” Scott called.

“Comm check.What’s up?”Cora responded briskly, there was now some interference in the transmission.

“I want you to start heading back for the entrance.Now.I’m going to try this console but I want you guys on your way out.We don’t want a repeat of what happened on Habitat 7 if I restart this thing.”Scott closed his eyes as he gave the order, praying that neither Cora or Peebee fought him on this.

“Why?” Peebee immediately replied, challenging him.“If you restart things that means I can get into more of the rooms that are closed off.What happened on Habitat 7?”

“When we reset the atmosphere processor it killed my father,” Scott said, his voice stable but tone severe.“I don’t want any more fatalities.Move it.”Peebee didn’t need to know the details of how exactly Alec Ryder had died right now.They could discuss it when everyone was safely outside and the vault was functioning safely.

“Fine,” Peebee snipped.He could hear Cora over Peebee’s open line ordering Peebee to move it.At least Cora was obeying orders without giving him grief.

Standing in front of the console, Scott waiting a few minutes before exchanging worried glances with Liam and Vetra.Vetra hadn’t said anything at Scott’s order other than to grip her assault rifle a bit firmer. Liam looked worried but ready for anything. “Cora you headed out?”

“We’re on our way.Meet you up at the first gravity well.” Cora replied.He could still hear Peebee grumbling.

Waiting a few further minutes, Scott finally reached out with his right hand and brought up the interface.The familiar fractal glyph puzzle appeared but it was much more complex than the triple helixes he’d seen before... this easily had eight spinning sides that required SAM’s help to manipulate, at times moving three parts separately. A mild headache bloomed behind his eyes as he continued to work. After what seemed like an eternity, the glyph set twirled and tightened into a eight strand braid before charging and dissolving before his eyes.The polygon keyboard rippled like a wave before the keys settled, popping the center key out at him which he grabbed as the other keys settled to become a flat surface without a place for the misplaced key.

Stepping back, he directed his gaze upward. The large movable parts of the ceiling now moved in concert like a wave before the energy flow slowed to a trickle and then stopped as the ceiling cut it off, abruptly darkening the room so the only light came from the ferrofluid that ran along the channels in the floor.

“What’s happening?” Vetra asked, the light from her visor making her face visible in the dim light.

“Wow, this is incredible,” Peebee exclaimed over comms before Scott could answer Vetra.“Whatever you guys just did reset everything. The doors are opening and things are turning on!”

As Scott listened to Peebee, a crackling whisper started in the dark reaches of the roomthat he was in and the air pressure abruptly fell and then increased again. “Scott!” Liam shouted as he pointed to the far corners of the room where they’d entered.A dark cloud was scouring away the dead trees and making it’s way towards them.

“Peebee! Cora! Run for it!” Scott ordered as he headed for the doorway that was open on the far side of the room from where they’d entered. He’d not noticed it beforehand but he’d take whatever way went away from that cloud that was eating the dead trees and sounded like a plague of locusts. Vetra was already in front of him with Liam at his side. They found themselves in a dead sprint down hallways that were lit only by the ferrofluid which made following the turns easy.Scott found himself skidding around corners while still clutching the gift the console had given him. The inset glyphs he’d been scanning earlier now had turned into vents with the dark clouds pouring out of them as well as electrical flames that scorched his shields and ate at them, making his HUD flash warnings at him.

Reaching a part of the large cavern they’d traversed earlier, he frantically activated a bridge console to create a smooth working bridge that extended up the other side. Vetra and Liam shouted directions as SAM corrected their course, preventing them from going down the wrong way as he directed them towards where they’d come from.The dark cloud followed behind them closely, the organic giant trees dissolving as the cloud enveloped them. Reaching a room they hadn’t previously encountered, Scott saw a gravity well and threw himself at the console.

“Get in!” He shouted to his teammates as he activated it. Vetra and Liam were claimed by the well’s energy field and pulled upward. Jumping over the console, he launched himself into the well and was swiftly pulled to the center of the well and then propelled upward.He could see below him the cloud consuming the room where he’d just stood and then following him up the shaft. Fuck. It was following them.

When he reached the top of the gravity well, he realized he knew where he was.He was in the well that had been inaccessible earlier. The doors that they’d first entered through from the first gravity well were only two hundred meters away. Cora and Peebee were there, pounding on the mechanism to activate the door.

And the door wasn’t moving.Vetra and Liam joined the girls at the door and it didn’t budge. Running across the room, his stamina starting to flag, Scott tried to activate the door through SAM and got nothing. He could tell SAM was trying to interface with the door but it seemed to be sealed shut.

They were caught and the vicious storm of dark energy was flowing out of the gravity well that Scott had just left. There was no where else to go as the other parts of the room were filling rapidly.

“Cora!” Scott yelled as he activated his biotic barrier, covering his teammates in a half-circle by the door. Cora, seeing what Scott was doing as a last ditch effort to protect them, reinforced his barrier with her own, shoring it up. Scott felt himself being pushed back into the door, his barrier holding as it was battered with what felt like a dark hurricane of energy and sharp metallic needles.There was no light except from his and Cora’s biotics and the team’s suit lights. Someone, he thought might have been Peebee, whimpered.Liam was pressed hard into Scott’s side as the barrier contracted and the storm intensified. The crackling whisper now roared like a typhoon, the dark cloud battering the shield in waves trying to find it’s way in. Scott didn’t realize it but he was screaming at the top of his lungs as he poured the last bits of extra energy into the barrier to keep it from touching their suits, his hands thrown outwards from his body to physical push the barrier to give them room.Cora’s own war cry echoed his.

It seemed to last both an eternity as well as only minutes. Right as Scott’s vision started to grey around the edges, the storm stopped pushing and then began to gradually recede—centimeters at a time. He didn’t dare drop his barrier.He could feel his blood sugar crashing from the energy pull. He had only minutes left before he’d be out cold and he could feel his knees beginning to buckle and Liam was there with an arm slung around his waist holding Scott to him.

When the cloud had pulled back about two meters, Scott found his arms dropping despite his best efforts and his biotic barrier fizzled out with it.His knees gave out and the only reason he didn’t fall to the floor was Liam’s support. Liam slung one of Scott’s limp arms over his shoulders and held him tight with the other. Scott’s head drooped in fatigue, his gaze not leaving the darkness as it contacted.

A loud thunk behind them was the door unlatching and the lock was now accessible. Peebee wasted no time and activated it, having them tumble backwards into the original gravity well room. Vetra was supporting Cora similarly except Cora was actually out cold. Scott wished he was, the headache pounding in his head and a fine tremor making it’s way through his limbs that he couldn’t stop. He wasn’t seizing but it was probably a near thing.He could feel SAM dampening the tremor to stop it from propagating and his vision was fuzzing in and out. As Liam dragged him closer to his body so he could get a better grip to haul him out of there, Scott’s foot hit the artifact he’d recovered from the heart of the vault.

Groaning, Scott somehow found his feet and pushed away from Liam, falling to his knees so he could grab the artifact as Liam tried to haul him through the door and finally succeeded. “I sure hope that thing was worth it,” Liam ground out, his tone harsh but scared.

“Got... to see if it worked,” Scott panted out.He hadn’t realized he’d been trying to catch his breath.He seemed disconnected from his body as his headache intensified with any movement.

“Yeah, we’ll have to come back later,” Liam told him, manhandling Scott towards the final gravity well. As he turned Scott around, Scott could see Peebee anxiously pacing back and forth just outside the gravity field’s range.The room was mostly unchanged... except for there was now an additional console had appeared, larger than the one’s used to activate the gravity well.

“Need to check that out,” Scott pointed with the artifact.He was aware that he really wasn’t up for much more excitement but something told him he needed to check that console out before they left.

Liam snorted but helped Scott over to the console.Liam grumbled very quietly under his breath about stupid COs and death wishes but still complied. Vetra had slung Cora across one shoulder and was fireman carrying her so she followed Liam closely as they moved closer to the new console. Peebee silently joined them.

Pushing away from Liam, Scott found himself leaning most of his weight on the console as he placed the artifact on it and then pulled off his helmet, setting it to the side so he could breathe.He then thrust out his right hand to begin the interface despite SAM’s silent noise of concern. _Do it SAM_ , he ordered even as his hand shook.

The artifact lit up like a star and the console interface reacted.A star map of Heleus was projected with Scott at it’s center. It was an up to date map as he could clearly see the Scourge causing displacement of system maps that he’d studied with SAM’s assistance. Locating Eos, Scott noted that it was a bright blue, the same as the artifact as were many otherworlds.The black hole at the center of Heleus was surrounded by a orange light that reminded him of a dyson sphere with spokes connecting it to each blue lit planet. Following one of the spokes, he was able to identify Habitat 7.Were all the blue worlds vault containing?The dyson sphere at the center wasn’t exactly the same as the black hole now that he looked closer.

“Oh my,” Vetra said from his left. “Are those all our golden worlds? The ones in blue?”

“That’s Eos....and that’s Habitat 7,” Scott said as he pointed. Silently, he told SAM to record this carefully so he could compare it to their star map records. “I could be wrong but I think all of the golden worlds are blue marked ones... which means they were terraformed? By the creators of these vaults? Multiple worlds manipulated to support life?”

“Who were these guys?Where’d they go?” Liam asked, his arm still supporting Scott as his knees threatened to buckle under him again.

“I don’t know...” Scott whispered, his eyes taking in each world marked in blue in systems across Heleus. “But I’m guessing that the Scourge was either done by them or came from invaders.”

“The Kett?” Peebee asked, joining the conversation as she pressed into Scott’s other side to get a closer look.

“Who knows.Whoever built this place, their technology far outstrips ours.If we meet them we’d better make friends or we’re going to all die.”Vetra also was studying the map closely, a sharp look in her eyes as she eyed multiple systems that they hadn’t yet explored on the other side of Heleus. Cora was still out, draped over Vetra’s shoulder.

Inactivating the console, Scott took his artifact with him which made the star map fade away. “I don’t know about anyone else but I’m ready for a break and finding my bunk.”

“You’re stopping in medbay first,” Liam growled as he pulled Scott more upright and started to help him walk to the gravity well.

Groaning, Scott knew he wouldn’t be getting out of a stop in medbay.He had the feeling that Liam would just pick him up and throw him at Dr. T’Perro if he didn’t go willingly. “Fine,” he ground out as he tried to help walk himself to the gravity well.He tried not to show his relief as the gravity well took hold of his body and took the weight off his joints that all felt swollen—but he was pretty sure Liam noticed. Thankfully, Liam held his tongue and didn’t do anything other than cradle Scott to him as the gravity well pulled them both back up to the surface.

When they reached the top, the first thing they saw was a dead Kett’s body, it’s eyes staring blankly up toward the roof of the gravity well, arms outstretched and gun still loosely held in one hand. Liam dropped his support of Scott as he reached for his assault rifle, making Scott stagger as he pulled his own M3. Three more Kett bodies adorned the room, the last of them half in and half out, a streak of blood showing that the dead Kett had fallen down the ramp and into the room as it died.

“What the hell?” Scott said as a shadow shaped like a krogan appeared at the top of the ramp. 

“You in there kid?” Was the gravely question that came from a familiar Krogan.

“Drack?” Scott asked stupidly, his gun still not raised into firing position.

“It’s about time you showed up,” the Krogan chuckled, pumping his shotgun as he ambled down the ramp, his large form appearing even larger in the relative dimness of the gravity well. “I was getting bored waiting for you to show so I took care of your uninvited guests myself.Hope you don’t mind.”

Scott felt his knees finally give up and was now sitting, looking up at the Krogan who was now peering down at him worriedly. “Guests?”

Holstering his shotgun, Drack gave another one of his gravely chuckles. “The Kett that left their base yesterday showed up.I hope you don’t mind—I know you like a good firefight.”

“No?” Scott said, his voice uncertain and cracking.He’d about had enough for the day.

“Let’s get you back to your ship kid.You did good today,” Drack said as he picked Scott up and carried him bridal-style up the ramp. Scott couldn’t find it in him to protest the lack of dignity as his brain was still stuck on the sudden appearance of the krogan. Liam just laughed as he followed behind. Scott gave up and decided fuck it.He snuggled into Drack’s chest and gave up staying awake as it was a loosing battle.He could deal with this shit later.His headache said unconsciousness would be best.

 

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE March 26th_

_So evidently passing out from low blood sugar makes your personal physician angry because she isn’t sure you’re not dying from some previously unidentified wound—not just that you overextended your biotic abilities in an attempt to save your life.Who would have known? I’d like the record to show I did not plan on this nor did I purposefully skip meals.Anyways, I now have the head scans to prove that I do in fact have a brain. I’ve been waiting years to have evidence of this so I can show Sara and she can stop calling me brainless just because I disagree with her course of action. While I might not have been as academically fanatical about grades growing up, I would like the record to make sure it notes that I graduated suma cum laude. They don’t just give those out for no reason. Even if my degree is in military sciences and strategies.We can’t all be PhD archeologists. On second thought, given Liam’s reminiscing about Indiana Jones I should also make a note to never let him and Sara meet.I won’t survive them both teaming up against me when it comes to movie night selection._

_Also—any remaining evidence that I might have had a close encounter with a certain krogan is currently being scrubbed from all data storage devices by SAM.Some days it’s good to have an AI on your side._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May or may not have an update next week—i’m going out of town and likely won’t have any writing time. Also, I need some input from you readers: Do you want or not want a sex scene between Reyes/Tefa.... I’m torn over it and I could go either way. Leave your vote/input in the comments section.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for sex between Reyes/Tefa ahead.

Chapter Sixteen

 

2819 CE March 26th

Tempest, Eos, Pytheas system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status:I hate office politics

Waking up in medbay, Scott still had a headache but he felt 200% better than he had earlier.Rolling over on his side, he had to rearrange the IV’s that were pulling on his arm but he could see Cora sitting up on her own biobed, her feet tucked neatly under each knee and her back curled forward so she could lean her elbows on top of her knees.Cora was holding her head, her blonde hair falling over her hands.She was wearing a medical gown and had two IVs attached to her.It seemed they’d both overdone it.

“Cora?” Scott whispered, trying out his voice to see how much it would aggravate his headache and mildly pleased when it didn’t make the ache worse.

Cora looked up at Scott’s call, her hands rubbing her face as she tilted it to look at him, her brown eyes with dark circles around them. “Hey,” she said, eyes exhausted but face relaxed. “You’re awake.I think we overdid it.Lexi will be glad to see you are awake.She was worried.”

“I feel surprisingly much better than I last remember,” Scott said, looking at the IVs that were in his elbow and following the tubing to a large bag of straw yellow colored fluid that was half empty.

“Yeah, Lexi gave us something for the reaction headache. She’s already read me the riot act for overdoing it.She scanned both our heads to make sure we hadn’t done something worse.The IV’s for nutrition—our blood sugar was reading too low for her comfort,” Cora said as she carefully rearranged herself to be leaning back on the bed.

Scott winced.The doc had already not been happy with his nutrition and now he was getting more IV stuff. They really had overdone it.His teacher growing up had warned him the dangers of pulling too much and how biotics could and would break down tissue if they continued to pull past their reserves.Biotics burned energy so much quicker than a normal human that it could be dangerous.Some of the first human biotics had killed themselves that way as the Asari who taught them didn’t seem to have as much of an energy burn and had been ill prepared to prevent their students from overextending.Overburn and loss of control were the two ways that you didn’t want to die as a biotic.

As if she had been summoned, Dr. T’Perro entered her medbay and immediately noticed that both of her charges were now awake.Going first to Scott, she pulled a penlight from her pocket and asked him to look at her, shining the bright light in his pupils which made Scott wince and pull back. “Owww....”

“You really need to watch it Pathfinder,” Dr. T’Perro said sternly, a concerned look on her face.“I don’t like having my people come back unconscious.”

Looking at her sheepishly, Scott tried to look young and innocent.“I’ll try not to do it again?”

The asari looked down her nose at him with a look that said she wasn’t buying it. “Do more than try.”

Scott gave her a small smile and squeezed her forearm in reassurance.“I’ll do my best.”

Sighing, the severe look on Dr. T’Perro’s face melted off. “I’ll call for a tray of food to be brought to both of you.I’m not releasing either of you until you’ve kept at least one meal down.”

Scott’s stomach gurgled in protest at the mention of food.His stomach was ready to leave him for sustenance. “I am hungry Dr. T’Perro...”

“It’s Lexi, Pathfinder.”

“Only if you call me Scott,” he insisted.

“Deal,” she said.Scott had the feeling he’d been swindled but figured he owe’d the doc one. Lexi had turned away from him and was checking Cora. When she was finished, Lexi indicated that they should stay put and would bring them trays. Shrugging his shoulders at Cora’s raised eyebrow, Scott laid back down on the bed and curled up to go back to sleep.He’d take every moment of shut eye he could get.

***

Fed and finally released from medbay with a promise not to do anything exciting for the next 24 hours or there were some sharp needles Lexi needed tested, Scott and Cora joined Liam and Vetra in the meeting room. Liam was at the controls for the holodeck and was going through all the data they’d scanned in the vault. Radiation levels that were measured by each FOB were reporting back and the trends that were displayed as graphs showed that the levels were falling rapidly. In some areas, they were now within safe limits for human settlement. The winds that had been delivering radiation were now clean of it—they would only need to wait for the radiation levels to drop. If the levels continued to drop at their current pace, Eos would be wholly habitable and ready for colonization in weeks. Without need for barrier shields.

That didn’t solve the kett problem, but the overall population seemed to be low.The base that they’d taken out almost two days ago now was the largest one on the planet. There was some evidence being picked up from satellite imaging that suggested the Kett movements on and off the planet were minimal and no chatter was being picked up. Which meant the antenna array Scott had watched burn up with the base when they’d used the explosives probably was their main off world communication hub. So hopefully they wouldn’t have reinforcements knocking on the door anytime soon trying to get revenge.

As Scott was reading the information, Peebee walked into the conference area. She’d ditched her jacket and was wearing Initiative ship wear while drinking from a water bottle. She’d redone the black stripe across her eyes as it was freshly made as well. Silently, she joined Scott where he was looking at the data, unsubtly stealing side eye glances at Scott every so often as she took sips.

Finally unable to stand the side-eyes any longer, Scott cleared his throat. “How are you Peebee?”

Peebee froze at his question, another quick sideways glance before she stared straight ahead at the data. “Have you seen the sky?”

Well that was an inane question.“Yes.Why?

“Not just in general but since you reset the vault.”Peebee wasn’t looking at him now at all, her eyes fixed on the data visualization that Liam kept manipulating to show different takes on the collected information.

Confused, Scott thought for a moment.“No?I remember seeing the dead kett and Drack but I didn’t really look at the sky after all that.I was kinda distracted by the blood and you know, krogan.”

“You fixed it.You fixed the sky.” Peebee told him, now looking at him, her eyes exploding with curiosity.“Do you have any idea how strange that is?Even an atmosphere processor shouldn’t have cleared things this quickly.”

“You’re welcome?” Scott tried, trying to figure out what exactly she was excited about.He knew that there was something more about the vaults and thought Peebee had already worked that out for herself.

“I’ve been to terraformed planets before with atmosphere processors—clearing and resetting one vault shouldn’t have a planet wide effect at this rate.It’s... its... amazing!”Peebee was now talking with her hands, jabbing at the data points and pushing Liam out of the way despite his protests so she could take over the controls. Pulling up a graph that showed a huge decline in radiation she stabbed her fingers at it in emphasis.“This is impossible!”

Looking at the data, Scott could agree that it did indeed seem impossible but the readings were showing that it was happening. “I’m going to go with the flow on this one and leave the exact determination of how up to the scientists.How long until we have enough land cleared to have them deploy a colony startup team?”

Peebee let loose a groan of frustration. “Don’t you want to know how this is happening?”

Cora, perhaps getting some revenge for Peebee not listening to her advice while in the vault, took over and just kept trolling Peebee. Scott, realizing that he would need to allow Cora to get her own back, allowed it to go on for a while. “While how it happened is important we do have other concerns.”

“How can you have other concerns?This is beyond anything we’ve ever seen before.”Peebee was now staring agog at Cora, her hands flapping in excitement as she pointed to data point after data point, explaining why it was so out of the normal for recovery with a working atmosphere regulator. Cora, who was definitely trolling Peebee, just kept replying “hmm,” as the asari went on and on.Liam moved to stand by Scott and they both just leaned back with their arms crossed watching the asari get played by Cora. The entertainment value was pretty high for minimal cost.They both knew Cora had studied terraforming extensively to be the pathfinder team expert on it.

Realizing that this would likely go on for a while, Scott quietly asked Liam, “Where’s Drack?Last I remember before my unscheduled nap there was a Krogan around here.”

“He got bored waiting around for you to wake up.Said he was going to go explore the Fairwinds Basin as that would likely be your next stop if you were serious about the colony establishing business. Seemed to think there’d be some kett out there for him to hunt.” Liam had somehow procured a cup of coffee and was sipping from it as he watched Peebee get more and more voluminous with each “hmm” Cora gave her. Eventually Peebee would have to catch on right?

‘Fairwinds Basin... that’s the flat area out by the second monolith we activated right? We deployed a FOB further up in the hills and it had some good mineral deposit readings around there too.”Scott could remember the area, there’d even been a small river wandering through the valley which meant that there’d likely be good water resources there. It’d make an ideal spot to start with.

“Yeah.Before Peebee pushed me out I was comparing the readings for the place with the ones for Promise and Resilience. It originally was scouted as a possible starting point but the radiation was too high in the hills and it could spike occasionally so they settled on the current spots. You want to comm Addison to send a deployment?”Liam now had an eyebrow raised as he drank the last of his coffee.

“Yeah.I’d like to try restarting Promise and Resilience as well.We’ve got all that equipment out there, might as well use it.”Scott wasn’t looking forward to talking to Addison.He had the feeling that even just clearing up radiation levels wasn’t going to impress her.

“I don’t envy your job one bit,” Liam told him ruefully, a smirky smile on his face as he glanced at Cora who still was stone faced and idly listening to Peebee’s now exuberant scientific explanations.Peebee was now referencing radioactive decay logarithms as well as the efficiency ratings of different terraforming processes. 

Sighing, Scott silently acknowledged that talking to Addison was likely to be less than fun. He also should probably comm Tann as the current head of the Initiative to tell him that one of the Golden Worlds was back on it’s way towards golden. “I don’t want to talk to the brass either but someone has to do it.”

“Oh I believe that,” Liam said.“By the way, Tann commed twice while you and Cora were out, demanding a status report. SAM informed me he wasn’t able to pacify Tann with his own report.”

“I don’t suppose you took one of those calls?”Scott asked Liam, wondering how that would have gone with Liam telling Tann that Scott was unavailable.

“I didn’t. Suvi took it and Tann didn’t know what to do with her—evidently politeness puts Tann off.”Liam was chuckling as he finished his coffee, side eyeing Scott but mostly watching Cora and Peebee.

Wincing, picturing the soft hearted science officer answering what he was sure was an upset Tann... “Did she answer the first one or the second one?”

“The second.She told me she’s not taking messages from Tann ever again.He was rude and dismissive—Suvi didn’t deserve putting up with that.Actually, no one deserves that.I vote for SAM answering all phone calls from Tann forever if you’re not available to play peacekeeper.”Liam was now giving Scott an odd look—it was equal parts goofy and serious.

“Noted.I’ll apologize to Suvi later,” Scott mumbled.“Is there more coffee?”

“Yeah, I brewed a fresh pot.You can get a cup and we’ll see if Peebee figures it out before you’re back.”

Scott clapped Liam on the shoulder as he walked past and took the stairs to the galley. He needed caffeine before facing Tann or Addison.

***

Coffee in hand, Scott returned to see that Peebee must have run out of steam and Cora had taken pity on her. In addition, Gil and Suvi had joined his teammates and were looking over the data as Peebee explained the changes taking place on Eos. The changes really were remarkable. Liam was talking about some old 21st century movie that Eos reminded him of—one of the versions of Dune.Scott really hoped they didn’t find any giant man-eating worms out there.No thresher maws please.He’d had nightmares after reading the after-action reports when he was in school and doing a paper on major tactical mistakes of the last two decades. He hadn’t been able to sleep after reading the Akuze reports for two days as he’d awoken each time he’d felt movement, terrified that a thresher maw was going to swallow him whole.

Joining at the point where Peebee was talking about variable radiation levels and the areas that were now completely safe to the point they could go without helmets, Scott was pleased.They’d actually accomplished something big here. Now, they just needed to clear out any remaining Kett and then send word to Addison to send a colony starter mission. “So the Fairwinds Basin—what’s the radiation levels there?Acceptable for a colony?”

Changing the display to bring up the specified location, Peebee answered in the affirmative.“The relative radiation levels are falling dramatically—much more so than I would have first expected.The wind that was bringing in the radiation and trapping it in the valley is now clean so it’s helping clear out the remaining radiation.I can’t tell for sure but the water source—the river that runs through the valley—should also be rapidly clearing as the upriver watershed area is also clearing at a rapid pace.”

Taking a sip of his coffee, Scott scanned the information Peebee had brought up.All the numbers were in the right direction. “What about Kett?Any movement there?”

“Our in orbit satellites aren’t registering any more kett ships landing in the last 24 hours—but they mainly cover this hemisphere.The communication satellites haven’t been registering any new signals either,” Cora answered, tapping on a few data points to bring them up on the bigger display from her omnitool. “The current kett presence is enough that any colony we establish is going to need a robust security detachment, even though current kett activity is low I would not assume it’s going to remain so.Numbers from the Nexus suggest that Eos isn’t a well traveled planet and Pytheas isn’t a system that has heavy traffic either—which is good for us.”

SAM silently told Scott he agreed with Cora’s analysis based on the data he’d taken from the Nexus servers—both openly shared information as well as the hidden information regarding the failed colony attempts that he’d absconded with. “What did Kandros say about security resources?Anyone we can activate to start patrolling Pytheas regularly and a ground presence on Eos?”

Liam shook his head, his fist raised to his mouth in thought before he replied. “There’s APEX strike teams that he can activate but most of them are still in cryo according to Kandros. If we have the supplies coming in, we could theoretically get some security teams for the colony and to patrol Eos.Pytheas might be a stretch but we can always ask.”

“Because the krogan are all MIA...” Scott muttered under his breath.A squad of Dracks would be beyond useful right now.“I’ll ask you to give Kandros a call when we’re done here since you got all the intel from him and he knows your face best.I’ll talk to Addison and Tann,” Scott told Liam, aware that there was a sour frown on his own face as he mentioned his next tasks.

“Anything else I should know before talking to the Nexus?”

A chorus of no’s greeted this.He then dismissed everyone so he’d have privacy for what he was sure was going to be an... interesting conversation.Taking a deep breath, Scott brought up the QEC to contact the Nexus.“SAM, let’s try for Tann first.Get this over with.”

“Yes Scott,”. SAM replied as he dialed the Nexus communications array to connect to Director Tann’s office.“I take it you are anxious about speaking with your supervisor?I am trying to understand why you are—Director Tann should be happy with your progress. You have solved one of the big problems the Initiative is facing. Your father would be proud of what you accomplished in such a short time.”

Scott debated how to answer SAM as he waited for the comms to connect.“I’m assuming you have access to all my records?”

“Yes.Are you referring to your service records including the counseling recommendations?”

“I am.My counselor once told me that I struggled the most with success because I wasn’t sure I was supposed to be praised for succeeding.I expected to be told it wasn’t good enough so I would over perform or could become too demanding of myself or my team.It wasn’t a healthy way of leading a team and I spent a lot of time trying to become comfortable with being given praise for a job well done and giving my team room to perform their jobs without micromanaging them or just doing it myself.I also was told I needed to learn to say no to things.”

“So you think Tann will tell you that your performance is lacking?” SAM asked.

“Being told I need to do better is much easier for me to hear in some ways... in other ways it makes me worried I’ll fall back into bad habits. The stakes have never been higher and I can’t mess this up SAM.”Scott tried to explain his feelings to SAM but knew he was only touching on the surface of the tangled knot of feelings that surrounded being in charge.He desperately wished he had a strong commanding officer to act as a mentor—he’d had some really great ones back in the Milky Way that had made him into what he felt was a not half-bad team leader. He’d never expected to end up in charge of such an important part of the Initiative when he’d signed on.

“You are doing a good job, better than anyone could have reasonable expected.Your father often spoke of how proud he was of everything you accomplished to me when I was primarily with him.”SAM’s robotic, noninflective voice was oddly soothing in some ways.Scott could almost bring himself to believe that SAM was a non-biased judge and that his father had actually said positive things about him—there’d been a profound lack of it in his own experience.Sadly, it was Tann’s and Addison’s opinions that mattered to the Initiative in this situation.

“Director Tann is now available,” SAM spoke a moment before the QEC displayed the waiting Salarian.

“Pathfinder, I am informed that you were unavailable for a status update before now.What happened?”Tann’s quick staccato voice was laced with annoyance, not concern.

Taking a deep breath, Scott put on his most bland speaking-to-the-brass expression and started talking.“Eos, much like Habitat 7, does have an atmosphere regulator.In activating the atmosphere regulator we set off what I’m assuming is a security protocol that purges anyone in the vault itself as part of the reset or perhaps as a defense measure.In protecting my team, I underestimated the energy pull it would take to support a biotic barrier.After leaving the vault I needed some time in med bay to recover.”

Tann seemed to consider this answer and gave a few slow blinks of his large salarian eyes. “You were ultimately successful in resetting the atmosphere regulator?”

“We were.Radiation levels are falling rapidly now that the vault is activated.Our next step will be to survey and clear out any hostile aliens from the most likely areas that are suitable for colonization efforts.We should be able to start this process in the next twenty four hours.” 

“And your team has not suffered any permanent harm?”

“No,” Scott answered quickly. “My XO and myself were seen in med bay and both of us have been cleared for return to duty.”

“I see,” Tann said, his face pinched in a displeased look.Scott wasn’t sure how to interpret his response.

“I will be transmitting my after action report later today,” Scott added then mentally cringed as he caught what he’d just promised. He hadn’t even started the blasted thing.Some days paperwork was the devil itself.

“And it will include all the data regarding possible colony sites and mining resources?” 

“It will,” Scott assured him.Well it would now...as soon as he wrote it. He’d have to see if SAM could help a pathfinder out.

Tann then began to drone on about the importance of the pathfinder mission and how essential it’s mission was with no margin for further errors. Scott found himself giving “yes sir,” answers in the pauses in Tann’s monologue, not paying exact attention to exactly what he was saying for several minutes as further input from him was not needed—Tann seemed happy to listen to himself talk.

Tann began to wind down from his diatribe about errors and sloppy work from pathfinders causing injury and misused resources of time and money.Preparing to change the direction of Tann’s attention, Scott tried but found himself next agreeing to starting out for Fairwinds Basin today—even though he’d promised Lexi he’d take a break. Tann didn’t want to wait for Scott’s reports—he wanted a colony set up immediately and wanted no further delays.

“Is there anything else Director?” Scott said, trying to think of the best way of breaking it to his team that they’d be heading out as soon as they could. So much for down time.

“No.I expect your report in a timely fashion.Addison has also spoken to me about not hearing a verbal report from you.I trust that you will inform her in a timely fashion of your success?

“Yes sir,” Scott did his best not to bite out the answer.He hated bureaucrats like Tann but he couldn’t afford to get on his bad side politically at this time.

“Well then, I will look for your report,” with a sniff Tann signed off. 

Scott was silent for a few moments, staring at where Tann was.He’d really wanted at least a few hours of actual sleep—not unconsciousness. He debated how long Tann would give him before finding him disobeying a direct order.What were the rules when it came to the Initiative?He’d been a late sign on so he’d not had as much time as his Father or Sara to look up the regulations and rules.In fact, he’d only signed his contract after downing a double of whiskey and Sara telling him not to worry about things as he’d tried to read the legalese, given up and just signed it without reading it fully.Not having read the fine print was coming back to bite him in the ass. Was this like the marines and direct orders?Not the marines? What leeway did he have as the human pathfinder?Now was probably not the time to find out—he’d most likely have more “interesting” situations in the future that would require creative interpretation of his orders and he’d need to bank as much trust as he could right now. He’d just have to make due like many marines before him.

He could feel SAM watching his thoughts.“SAM?”

“You promised Dr. T’Perro that you would follow her restrictions in order to leave medbay,” SAM didn’t sound accusatory but it was a near thing.For a toneless voice, there was a lot of sass in that statement.

“I know.It seems we’re being ordered to get going by someone who can override Lexi,” Scott answered him.

“Protocols dictate that if notified, Dr. T’Perro may choose to exercise medical override in this situation.” SAM was totally not happy with Scott’s acknowledgement of Tann’s orders. 

“But is this a situation of its would be nice and best to do so’ or is it a ‘you absolutely must’ type of situation?I’m willing to bet that Lexi would be able to override Tann if I asked her but should I?She might get more push back if we use this type of excuse on a regular basis.”

“Do you plan on becoming unconscious on a regular basis?”SAM now gave Scott the impression that he was scandalized by Scott’s suggestion of repetitive injury to the team.

“Plan? No.But I should be prepared for any situation I can predict will happen.Injuries do happen—and I plan on avoiding them as much as possible.But they will happen no matter what I do.I’d rather be prepared for contingencies as it could save all our lives.”Scott was talking out loud, his hands moving as he talked. It was weird not having another body to talk to.He could feel SAM thinking over what he’d said.Could almost feel the processing of Scott’s arguments. It was an odd sensation and made Scott feel like he was arguing with the angel on on shoulder and the devil on the other from cartoons.

SAM finally just acknowledged Scott’s plan, “I will ask Mr. Brodie to get all the team equipment together. It will likely be enough time for you to start your report.”

Scott was feeling cheered by the first part of SAM’s sentence but was scowling by the second part.It seemed he would be writing his report by himself without assistance. He hated paperwork.

“Would you like me to next try and contact Director Addison?” SAM asked him primly.

“Might as well get all of it over with,” Scott winced.

“Contacting now,” SAM intoned. 

***

The conversation with Addison went very similar to the one with Tann.She expressed annoyance that Scott had purposefully delayed his report regarding the atmosphere processor followed by disapproval of injuries to his team. The one, additional, cutting remark she’d made that had his blood simmering angrily was that ‘your father wouldn’t have made that mistake’ regarding Cora’s and his injuries. He’d barely managed to keep his tone even but his words for the remainder of his report had been sharper edged. Addison implied that the common denominator with injuries to the pathfinder team had been him. He was the reason for injuries.

Fuck Addison and her attitude.

“...so you see why it is essential that you proceed to clear the identified area as soon as you are able?” Addison asked frostily, the kilometers separating them not enough to stop Scott from grinding his teeth hard enough that SAM admonished him he was going to break one.

“Understood,” Scott gritted out. His back was so rigid he felt like he was about to snap.

“When will you be departing to the site?” Addison asked after an uncomfortable pause.

“In the next few hours,” Scott hedged. It would take at least an hour and a half to get all their supplies together let alone get all their armor and ammunition together.

Well then, I will have a colony starting assembly dispatched in eight hours.That will give you approximately 24 hours to have the site cleared and ready for equipment disbursement.”

SAM had to override the muscle spasm in Scott’s jaw so he didn’t actually break anything. “Yes Ma’am.”

“Don’t screw this up any further.You need to be more careful,” Addison reminded him as she signed off without letting him reply any further.

Glaring angrily at the now inert holodeck, Scott punched the hard surface of the table hard enough to cause a dent and make his knuckles bleed as the skin split over the first knuckle. “Fuck you too,” he replied to the now absent Addison.

“Scott,” SAM hesitantly spoke.“You are not responsible for yours and Cora’s injuries. Your actions were appropriate and cautionary.The outcome could have been much worse if you were not present and able to raise a barrier such as you did.”

Scott tried to pull himself together but his rage at both himself and Addison for implying he’d screwed up and gotten Cora hurt... he needed to stop this. This wasn’t going to do anything positive for what they needed to accomplish.Cora didn’t blame him.He just needed to focus on that.Cora. Didn’t. Blame. Him.Finally he replied to SAM whose worry he could feel like an itch at the back of his brain.“I know SAM.I know that.I just... I just need to focus on our next mission. Our next objective.Maybe then I’ll get some credit for what we do.”

SAM was silent for a moment.“You should have Dr. T’Perro look at that hand before you get ready. I will start your report with the technical sections while you get attended to.”

Closing his eyes, Scott gathered himself mentally.He could do this.He would do this.“Thanks SAM.”

***

2818 October 7th

Paavoa One en route to Aya, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Angaran Resistance Initiate

Status: A week in an enclosed space with no outlet and a handsy paramour=trouble

 

Now that they’d offloaded the supplies, there was a lot more space to move about in.Which meant that the crew was able to be more physically active in the empty hold.Reyes still had his responsibilities as the primary pilot—which meant he still had dedicated chunks of time where he had to be sitting in his pilot chair—so he’d been doing some calisthenics with Vestus and the Angarans in his free time while Jarvah watched the controls. Someone, namely one handsy Angaran, had suggested that grappling would be an effect exercise for a bunch of recruits who’d been shut up in a shuttle too long. Which meant that somehow Reyes had gotten assigned to spar with Tefa despite Tefa supposedly being here as an observer.They’d already been circling each other for almost twenty minutes—Reyes had come out the loser each time Tefa had used his reach, height and weight to tumble Reyes to the floor.Each return to the floor had been accompanied by a sly rub and caress as Tefa had allowed Reyes up after he’d given up trying to get loose.

Moving low to the floor to the right, Reyes tried to circle around behind Tefa.His fellow trainee’s were calling out helpful or not so helpful advice to both him and Tefa.Tefa had reach on his side but Reyes had noticed he tended to forget his left foot when he was turning to face Reyes as he circled. Also, Tefa was much more distracted by Reyes’s body than he was distracted by Tefa.They’d both stripped down to ship jumpsuits—of which Reyes had taken the top down and wrapped the arms around his waist to reveal the skin-tight fitting t-shirt he wore underneath with his dog tags tucked safely underneath by his heart.Tefa kept looking at his shoulders—nice to know his hard work was appreciated, but Tefa needed to get his head in the game.

Feinting with his upper body then pulling back, Reyes encouraged Tefa to take the bait and overextend. Which he did, and Reyes went with the movement, pulling Tefa forward and over him, tossing Tefa on his own back to land with a thump as he hit the deck. Reyes did not engage as Tefa rolled as he landed and snapped back to his feet with an agility that was inhuman. Angarans really were feline-like but didn’t always land on their feet. Tefa tried to grab at Reyes twice more, Reyes managing to slide away the first time with just a tease of a touch of the long alien hands but the second time, Tefa got a firmer grip and tried to pull Reyes into a firm embrace to trap him. Reyes, having been taught first to fight dirty by his Tío, punched Tefa right in the nose with his palm to earn his release which he felt the crunch of cartilage breaking as he danced out of reach.

Tefa was bleeding from his nose, likely broken by Reyes, swore and put both his hands up to his face, his eyes showing he was impressed by the hit, not angry.A trickle of dark blue blood escaped from where Tefa’s hands were holding his nose. Tefa was swearing behind his hands, Reyes’s translator struggling to come up with equivalents.At first, there was silence from their observers followed by several jeers and Vestus cheering on Reyes for the hit. Reyes didn’t say anything, watching Tefa carefully from just out of reach, knees bent, arms held up in front of him and ready to react.

Tefa said something from behind his hands that wasn’t a curse and it came out too garbled for Reyes’s omnitool to translate.

“What was that?’ Reyes asked calmly, moving slightly further out of reach as he tried to calm his breathing and his rabbiting heart beat.

Giving a wet sounding sniff, Tefa dropped his right hand but continued to dab at his nose with his left to stop the bleeding from his nostrils. “That was a good move.I did not expect it.”

Cocking his head in acknowledgement, Reyes nodded but did not relax.The rules had been simple, no killing each other but otherwise anything else was okay.It may have been implied to stick to just throwing each other around the mat but Reyes was getting tired of being fondled by Tefa under the guise of practice sparring and the odd, electric, goosebump inducing touch was making his body react despite his best efforts at control. Thankfully the crotch of his jumpsuit was loose but he couldn’t hide how hard and pebbled his nipples were under the tight shirt. Reyes kept his eyes locked on his opponent, Tefa hadn’t said that the match was over.“Thanks.”

Tefa swiped his hand one more time across his nose which hadn’t stopped bleeding before he lunged for Reyes. Reyes wasn’t quite quick enough to get out of range as he was tripped from behind by one of the others as he tried to dodge and they tried to get out of the way. Taking advantage of the situation, Tefa soon had his limbs wrapped tightly around Reyes, pinning Reyes to the deck of the ship, face mashed into the cold rubber mats. Arms pinned to his side by Tefa with the Angaran’s weight pinning his legs, Reyes tried to squirm and wiggle his way to freedom, giving a nasty kick to the back of Tefa’s knee that made Tefa press him more into the floor and spread his legs helplessly under the heavy Angaran.A few breathless swears showed that Tefa was having difficulty keeping Reyes still, his mouth right next to Reyes’s left ear as he breathed through his mouth due to his obstructed nose. 

Figuring he’d gotten away with already breaking Tefa’s nose, Reyes threw his head backinto Tefa’s face, connecting with a solid thwack and a feeling of wet blood on the back of his head as he again hit the Angaran’s nose.Reyes ignored the mild pain in his head as he felt Tefa’s python grip loosen just long enough for him to throw him off and escape as Tefa tumbled backwards off him, swearing as he tried to grab Reyes’s legs.

Scrambling to his feet, Reyes whirled around to face Tefa, Vestus directly behind him and able to watch his back.Vestus had looked pleased at Reyes and given him a nod, Reyes could feel a light touch from Vestus indicating that he had his back covered in case anyone took offense to his fighting style—which so far no one had. The other Angarans watching excitedly were cheering on Reyes.At least his fellow initiates were proud of their teammate instead of siding with Tefa aka the outsider trainer. Tefa had not stood, sitting with his legs splayed out, leaning back on his right hand as his left held his nose to stop the renewed bleeding.

Tefa and Reyes stared at each other, neither moving any further or acknowledging anyone else in the room.Tefa’s gaze broke away first, the Angaran sitting forwards so he could use both hands to tentatively prod at his face. “Whoever taught you to fight taught you well,” Tefa allowed, sniffing intermittently to try and stop the slight trickle of blood that continued to flow from his nose.

Shrugging, Reyes didn’t relax as the rest of his fellow teammates gave encouraging noises of approval. Tefa, giving Reyes a slight smile, realized that Reyes wasn’t going to give up this time.“We are done Reyes.I yield this time.”

Relaxing at Tefa’s capitulation, Reyes tried not to startle when Vestus clapped both his shoulders from behind. “You surprise me more often than you should,” Vestus said in Reyes’ ear as he turned to look over his shoulder at the turian.

“Surprise is the spice of life, isn’t it?” Reyes rejoined, arching an eyebrow at the small smile Vestus was giving him before returning the smile.

Tefa, drawing their attention back to him, grunted as he stood and offered his hand to Reyes. “You had me there at the end,” he admitted as Reyes shook his hand.

Giving a noncommittal shrug and nod, Reyes demurred as he shook Tefa’s hand. “My Tío would have told me to do so sooner rather than let you toss me around like you had.”

“Tío?” Tefa enquired, exaggerating the oh sound, not recognizing the word from his translator.

“My uncle.He taught me to fight,” Reyes told him, not explaining the differences between standard and Spanish. He’d quickly learned that the translator worked well with Standard but not Spanish to translate into Shelesh.

Tefa gave another one of his exaggerated nods.“Family taught you. I did not expect the hitting me with your head move.My nose will be sore for days.”

Finally looking slightly regretful, Reyes apologized.“I’m sorry it will hurt you. We have some medigel from our supplies that might help.”The medigel was only a three pack and had been pushed into his hands by Maiko with a severe reminder to use it only if needed. Repairing inter species relations was probably a good reason.

“I thank you for that but it is not necessarily.I will be better by the time we are home.”Tefa had implied before that angarans healed fast but this was interesting.

“Really?You will not need anything for it? I thought I might have broken it,” Reyes admitted, slightly concerned for Tefa. He’d only been acting on instinct when he broke Tefa’s nose but he usually wasn’t a violent person.

Tefa chuckled and appeared happy that Reyes was displaying concern for him. “We heal fast—I will be uncomfortable perhaps until tomorrow but will be fine thereafter.”Pausing, Tefa grasped Reyes loose hand and pulled it to his chest.“You humans do not heal similarly?I was not gentle always with you when you hit the mat.”

Hand tingling from where Tefa was stroking the exposed skin of his wrist, Reyes flexed his forearm muscles in Tefa’s grip but didn’t shake himself loose. “No.I will have some bruises but it will be minor. No bones broken.”

Crowding in closer to Reyes, Tefa continued to stroke his fingers in a caress down Reyes forearm to the inner part of his elbow, his other hand putting his fingers in Reyes as he pushed his face closer to Reyes, their eyes meeting and holding. The touch of his fingers accompanied the odd electrical hum and cool feeling down Reyes’ nerves that caused all the skin to prickle and shivers to quake through his muscles. Reyes had received a very, ahem, informative email from Maiko about Angaran physiology which had given him advanced notice of some very important differences. To quote Maiko’s email, she had specified that angaran males were “proportional” as Reyes might have guessed as well as that there were no adverse effects from exposure to their bodily fluids.Maiko had informed him she’d asked Alzik as she was sure that Reyes hadn’t bothered to or thought of doing so. The thought of the email still made him blush with how nonchalantly explicit Maiko had been.

Blushing at the thought of the explicit physiology Maiko had described and how ‘proportional’ Tefa was likely to be given his greater height, Reyes found himself coughing, dropping his gaze and moving closer to Vestus and away from Tefa. “It’s almost time for my shift at the controls. Jarvah will be wanting to be relieved soon.I should get something to eat and then go relieve him.”

“Yes, I understand,” Tefa said, eyes briefly sliding to Vestus before landing back on Reyes. When his gaze returned to Reyes it gained a heated hunger. “Vestus won’t mind if I accompany you?Have some time to ourselves?You did say you did not like being observed.”

Face flaming, Reyes gave Vestus a dirty look as the Turian coughed badly trying to hid his laughing at Reyes’ discomfort.“I would not mind at all,” Vestus hacked out between hidden laughs and giving Reyes a slight shove between the shoulder blades back towards Tefa making him stumble as his boots dragged on the rubber mats.

If Reyes’ glare had been weaponized Vestus would have been a smoking pile of ashes.“I am not an exhibitionist it is true.”Turning back to Tefa, Reyes tried to appear to relax but suspected he failed given the sly look Tefa was giving him and he tried to salvage the situation even as his body reminded him it had been keyed up during the sparring and had not yet relaxed. “I would not object to being accompanied to my duties,” he told Tefa, fully intending that no further... erm... activities would be happening right at this moment despite his comments or his body’s reactions.

Happy to have gotten Reyes to agree, Tefa tugged on the hand he had not let go.“Come then.We will get some rations and then I can sit with you for part of your shift. You can tell me of your uncle.”

Swallowing down his nervousness, Reyes waveringly smiled up at Tefa as Vestus continued to laugh. “Yeah, lead on.”

“Have fun you two,” Vestus called after them, not bothering to hide that he was still laughing as they climbed the ladder up to the main cabin, Reyes going first with Tefa following closely behind.

***

Tefa had left off the teasing touches as they’d gathered food and headed towards the cockpit which allowed Reyes to get ahold of himself.He’d calmed down and was enjoying the back and forth conversation that Tefa and he had going about their families and where they’d come from.He’d learned a lot about Angaran culture from Tefa, more so than he would have as a casual observer.Tefa, for his part, was very invested in knowing about human social structures and families, comparing them to his own life experiences.Making an observation, Tefa stated that there was no way Reyes and his people could be like the Kett as the Kett did not have any families from what the Angaran knew.

Relieving Jarvah, they were soon alone in the pilot cradle, Reyes sitting in his own seat while Tefa had taken Jarvah’s. Watching the HUD, Reyes absently ate his fruit and bread that made up most of their meals.The angaran bread was remarkably shelf stable and still tasted as fresh as when they’d left Aya. “Do you miss your family?” Tefa asked him softly, the angaran was now looking at the HUD and not at Reyes although from the angle he was watching he likely could see a reflection of Reyes’ face.

Thinking before answering, Reyes answered honestly. “Some days I miss them so much, others not so much as I barely have time to think of them.I think most of my uncle and grandmother but that was how I was when I was back in the Milky Way.”

“I cannot imagine leaving my family behind but I understand it. You have indicated that family relationships can be complicated—this is not unlike us Angarans but it is also different than us I think given what you have not said.”Tefa now was watching Reyes out of the corner of his eyes, the odd pupils marbled in starlight reflected from the HUD’s navigational charts which made Tefa’s skin glow warmly in the dim light.

“Many families are different from each other,” Reyes simply commented, turning his own gaze back to the HUD he was supposed to be watching for navigational hazards.“My family is not all that unusual but each family is unique and has it’s own set of experiences that shape it. My mother and my father were not big presences in my life like my uncle and grandmother.It is perhaps natural that I miss them most.”He really missed his abuela—his Yaya had told him he’d be a fool if he didn’t go to Andromeda.He hoped the rest of her days had been happy ones.While his Tío had made it possible for him to go to Andromeda, he had gone because his Yaya had told him to seek his happiness in it as she knew that there was more out there for him than there was to be found at home. When he thought about them, just before sleeping some nights, he prayed she was right even though he hadn’t prayed since he was very small and his mother had taken him with her when she went to mass.

“I can see that.They must have been great people to have a son such as you,” Tefa had turned his face to look at Reyes and had an expression that Reyes was uncertain of the meaning.

“I am not that great for a human,” Reyes protested as he made a slight course adjustment to avoid a section of the Scourge that was closer than he liked yet still far enough out not to affect their shields.“I am just trying to make my way, much as any other that has come.”

“You came in friendship to Aya—not all would have done that. Your friends look to you and trust you to take care of them. You freely give of your knowledge, time and effort without a guarantee of payment from us. Even though you have separated from the other Milky Way travelers you still worry about their safety and ability to eat. Enough so that you convince my cousin to help them when others of them have taken over one of our former outposts. What else does that make you if not a good person?” 

Tefa seemed to purposefully misconstrue Reyes’ intentions at times or perhaps it was the translation.Reyes was only worried about himself and his friends, he merely knew what he needed to do for tactical purposes... right?He needed to stop thinking about this.Embarrassed, Reyes didn’t look over to see what Tefa was doing, focusing on the controls. “I’ll thank you for thinking so highly of me but it’s not how I see myself.”

“Then I will merely need to keep telling you so until you see what I see,” Tefa stated, a small secretive smile on his face.

Reyes only glanced at it before turning his attention back to the HUD, aware he was blushing yet again.Who knew being complimented was so embarrassing. He was so preoccupied in not looking at Tefa that the first touch of Tefa’s hand on his forearm made him freeze. Tefa had moved closer and was now pressed against the side of Reyes’ pilot chair, his body heat close enough that Reyes could feel it. The odd, unnerving feel of Tefa’s fingers lightly caressing the hair on his forearm to make it stand up as his flesh pimpled from shivers that were not from cold. “Tefa?” Reyes found himself asking, unsure.

“We are not being watched right now. May I?” Tefa asked, not doing anything further without permission.

Glancing at the HUD, Reyes didn’t see any navigation hazards that needed his immediate attention. Mouth dry, he worked his tongue but found himself unable to say anything and just nodded when he looked back at Tefa.

Having been granted permission, Tefa leaned forward to kiss Reyes.This kiss was much gentler than the aggressive, drunk, clumsy one that Tefa had previously given Reyes.Reyes found himself actively relaxing into the chair as Tefa chased him, closed mouth kissing Reyes inexpertly. Maiko had mentioned that Angarans did not kiss so he wasn’t surprised at the lack of finesse but he was more than okay with it.It would have been stranger to be expertly kissed he absently noted.

What Reyes wasn’t prepared for, but had been warned by Maiko about, was that the odd electrifying touch had the intensity ratcheted up. What had previously been a pleasing, shiver inducing touch now felt like liquid fire running up his nerves lighting them on fire in an exquisite wave of arousal that started at his wrist and arched up over his shoulder and then up and down his spine then out all his limbs.The lighting up of each nerve ending made Reyes gasp as he broke the kiss, his spine arching uncontrollably as his previously mostly abated erection returned and reminded him that he hadn’t had sex in months (or several hundred years depending on how you looked at things).

Unfortunately, by shocking Reyes’ nervous system Tefa had made him move which meant Reyes had accidentally knocked into his nose making Tefa drop the intensity of the stimulation just enough so Reyes could string a few thoughts together.Maiko had told him that the Angaran’s had the ability to manipulate sensory nerves with their touch—she hadn’t told him it would be like a forced millisecond orgasmic wave throughout his entire body. Shaking at the intensity of how raw his nerves felt, Reyes apologized and tried to reach for Tefa to check his injured face.

Smiling, Tefa brushed off Reyes concerned noises even as Reyes struggled to get his limbs to obey his commands. His nerves were on fire with waves of sensation that emanated from Tefa’s continued touch on his forearm. Fuck, if he could do just this with touching his forearm what would it be like to be stroked everywhere else—especially his hot spots that Reyes already knew would probably really enjoy this type of attention. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you again...” Reyes finally panted, trying to calm himself enough to keep talking even as Tefa ignored the fact that he’d been pushed back by accident.

Tefa closed his eyes to slits like a cat, a pleased smirk on his face despite the swelling of his nose. Taking a deep inhale from his mouth, Tefa gave a small rasping chuckle of pleasure.“I had wondered about your pheromones as a human male. Julia and Maiko are very obvious in their desires but I had not detected it from you before now for sure.You are much more controlled than them.”

Scrambled thoughts tried to align themselves into a sentence. “What?”

Taking another deep inhale right next to Reyes’ neck, Tefa’s smile reminded him of a cat high on cat nip. “You smell wonderful when stimulated. You are always so tightly controlled, I was not sure I had it right that night but it was there when you responded to me.”

“You can smell my arousal?” Reyes panted, not sure what to think about this revelation as his thoughts pinged between ‘oh my fucking god’ and ‘keep fucking going.’

“Yes, I can smell your pheromones.They are quite intoxicating and you are very responsive to my touch,” Tefa then increased the intensity of the connection that ran from his fingers and directly through Reyes’ nervous system, making his spine arch as his muscles contracted from the force of the erotic stimulation. Reyes could feel his confined erection weeping precome even as the constraints of his jumpsuit was uncomfortably tight.

“Fuck,” Reyes ground out, his teeth clenching as Tefa sent another wave through his body, his toes curling in his boots as his body broke out in a full, drenching, sweat as if he’d just run miles.Tefa had tucked his head into Reyes’ neck and was tonguing at the skin where his neck and shoulder joined before placing his mouth right behind his ear, a tooth catching the rim with a brief nip of pain that added a sharp counterpoint to the waves of liquid fire spreading from the stroking hand on his forearm. Reyes had not ever thought of his forearm as an erogenous spot before.He’d been so fucking wrong about that.

Distracted as he was, Reyes missed Tefa’s other hand undoing the sleeves of his jumpsuit that had been wrapped around his waist.He didn’t miss the sudden freedom around his aching cock or the warm large hand that pulled his shirt up to splay over his abdomen before following the line down his abs to the crease of his hips and then to wrap around his cock as it pushed aside his boxer briefs adding a third counterpoint to the stimulation he was receiving. He now had three points of his body that were radiating waves of liquid fire directly into his nervous system. Caught between these waves, Reyes gave up control and when his orgasm hit, Tefa had slid the smallest finger of his hand back behind his balls and stroked across his entrance in a tease of future acts. Reyes saw white as his orgasm punched out of him and he spilled over the hand caressing his cock, his muscles tightening in protest as his nervous system overloaded and he came with strangled “Fuck!”

***

Reyes must have blacked out for an uncertain length of time.When he was next aware of things, he was sprawled in his pilot cradle, his shirt rucked up to just below his nipples, pants open with boxers pushed aside and a warm angaran hand still wrapped around his soft cock pushing pulses of low grade shocks through his over sensitive skin and fingers playing idly in Reyes’ drying come and rubbing teasingly low. Tefa’s face was still tucked in the crook of his neck but had loosened his grip on Reyes’ forearm so they were merely resting fingertips on his wrist’s pulse point. 

A low level alert sounded from the HUD making Reyes focus.They were still a good distance out but the navigational VI was suggesting a slight course correction for a narrowing of the pathway through the Scourge but it would need validation from a pilot to make the course correction. Fighting to sit up, he displaced Tefa from his neck and pulled the hand out of his crotch as he shook off Tefa’s grip from his wrist and pulled his shirt back to where it was supposed to be before pulling his boxers over the mess on his skin so he wasn’t sitting exposed in the pilot chair.“Off,” he ordered Tefa who grunted as he was displaced—it seemed the biofeedback went both ways when Tefa had manipulated Reyes’ body which left the Angaran listless and not inclined to move without prodding from Reyes.

Reaching for the controls, he silenced the alert and took a closer look at the suggested change.Tefa’s hands tried to sneakily wrap around his arm which he pulled away from.“I need to look at this so please keep your hands off for a moment,” he gently told Tefa who paused at Reyes’ soft instruction.

“I suppose it is important to let you fly the ship as you are the pilot,” Tefa murmured.From the noise Tefa made as he stood and then sat in the copilot chair, Reyes didn’t dare look at him as he’d never be able to focus on his duties if he did.

Smiling briefly at Tefa, Reyes focused on his work and soon had the course correction approved but slightly altered to save on fuel consumption. Relaxing back into his chair, Reyes looked at himself.He was a mess and badly in need of a wash.Tefa didn’t seem concerned at all but he could smell his own seamen and sweat which made him feel crusty. “I don’t suppose you can watch for alerts for two minutes so I can go change clothes?” He asked Tefa.

Raising one eyebrow, Tefa watched him before replying.“ I suppose so.You humans do seem more obsessed with hygiene than us.You smell fine but I can understand that you have sensitive skin.Vestus informed me about human habits.”

He took a deep breath before replying.Maybe he needed to make sure Tefa was getting his information from a human about humans, not a turian who seemed to get all his information from military intelligence reports and personal observations of differences in humans vs turians. “Next time just ask me please?Vestus and Kenax are not human so they don’t really always get us.”

“I can do that,’ Tefa said with a smile.

Getting up, Reyes pulled his jumpsuit back into place.The uncomfortable dampness of his skin and his crotch told him he needed to exchange suits or he’d be unable to concentrate on his work. “Thanks.I’ll be right back.”

 

_To: Reyes Vidal_

_From: Maiko Fraser_

_Re: Angaran physiology_

 

_Reyes,_

_I want to tell you that I understand what happened with my sister and I want to thank you for being honest with her.Julia, while she’s my sister, tends to throw herself into relationships and gets attached easily—she’s always been this way since we both had our first crushes.I understand your position but also wish that you liked her back as she’s hurt—my first loyalty will always be to my family but you’ve become a good friend in Andromeda.Just give my sister some time and we’ll all be good._

_Which is why I’m writing this email.I asked Alzik if you’d inquired about angaran physiology at all—he told me you hadn’t.I feel, given what Julia’s said about Tefa, that I should share what I know so you can avoid some of the weirdness that comes with having an Angaran boyfriend. I’ve attached Alzik’s notes given he’s more of a biologist than I’ll ever be._

_First thing to know—given Angaran’s body habitus is larger than ours—they are proportional.Everywhere.If you want more details about how large their external male sex organs are, I’m happy to provide them but I’m guessing you will enjoy discovering this for yourself.You may want to consider some additional pre-stretching prior to engaging in any penetrative sex. I’d also recommend that you use extra lubrication than you would normally to be able to take it all. I’d joke about anal plugs but I’m sure you are experienced enough to be able to judge for yourself what sort of preparation you’ll need._

_Secondly, Alzik has analyzed body fluids from another Angaran male and assures me that human physiology should not have an adverse reaction to exposure to it.For the record, you owe me for having to be the first one to have that discussion with Alzik. Salarians just don’t get sex for pleasure.Alzik asked me if I understood how impossible it would be to have hybrid babies without genetically manipulating the embryos first. He now thinks I’m an idiot Reyes—you owe me. But the end result here is that I can tell you for certain that going ahead and swallowing will not cause any issues.I will also say the taste is an improvement over a human male’s in my opinion but your opinion may be different._

_Thirdly, be prepared for the weird touch thing.I’m sure you’ve noticed by now but they have a bioelectric field around them they can manipulate.I’ve been told that I’m blind to how they use it to communicate but its quite an experience when in the moment.I could tell you more but I feel that the experience itself isn’t something I can prepare you for.Just go with it?That’s my advice._

_Good luck_

_Maiko_


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for more Tefa/Reyes Sex, also character violence ahead. Upgrading rating to explicit and tags.

Chapter Seventeen

2819 CE March 26th

Nomad en route to Fairwinds Basin, Eos, Pytheas system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status:Debating the relative merits of Die Hard vs Blasto

 

Tired and frustrated, they’d set out for the Fairwinds Basin even though it was edging into early afternoon. Scott had attempted to work on his After Action Report but he’d soon had to give up as he’d underestimated how motion sick he would get in the back seat trying to read what he’d written. Liam was proving that Scott wasn’t a bad driver, it was the terrain and the nomad’s controls.The nomad was briskly responsive to the slightest touch on the controls—meaning you had to have a steady hand or you’d find yourself fishtailing all over the place. Cora had not given up her shotgun spot in the front so Vetra and Scott were shoehorned in the back seat with all the extra ammunition they may or may not need.They hadn’t taken any more mining probes as they knew where they were going and had a time limit they were operating under.

Thankfully, his team hadn’t been surprised or angry when he’d told them they’d be heading out to clear a spot for the colony drop ships. Vetra, perhaps knowingly, had asked to go along.Peebee had asked to stay onboard so she could continue to look over the data and would provide comm support while she worked with Suvi who was graciously sharing her lab space with Peebee.

It was a beautiful day on Eos for a drive—the sun was warming the air nicely and with the radiation having dropped to negligible levels they were able to have the window vents rolled down to enjoy the fresh air until they got too much sand in due to Liam causing spin outs which aerosolized the fine dirt. Scott had been able to contact Drack via comm to tel him they were on their way to Fairwinds Basin.The krogan battlemaster had simply replied, “It’s about time.I’ll try and leave some Kett for you.”Scott had tried not to smile at the thought of a krogan being generous was leaving some enemies for him to chase down. It was an odd thought to find himself making nice with krogan after all the training he’d gone through identifying weaknesses in various Milky Way species battle tactics as an Alliance Marine. He’d never thought he’d be going off to join a krogan for a hunt. Because that was what Drack had described it as—kett hunting.

They were now driving through the last narrow canyon before making it to Fairwinds Basin.Vetra had been idly checking her weapons as Liam drove so she didn’t clutch the grab bars constantly due to Liam’s less than smooth driving skills. Seeing that Scott was watching her reassemble part of her M-96 Matlock’s firing mechanism, she tilted her head in question. “What?”

“Nothing,” Scott assured her with a slight smile on his face.He really did like being in motion more than being stuck back on the Tempest writing reports.

Vetra watched him back for a moment before going back to what she had been doing, flicking the pin that held the mechanism in place to lock it in.She then picked up the ammunition magazine that she’d wedged in the backseat pocket and thrust it home before pulling the switch on the side that slid the first round into the chamber and loaded the weapon to prime it for use.“I see that you didn’t bring anything other than your M3 and viper. I would have thought you’d want something with more of a spread for coverage,” She said as she finished and settled back in her seat, trying to shift her weight to compensate for the irregular side to side movement of Liam’s driving.

“No.I’m more of a infiltration specialist or sniper—at least that was usually my supporting role during my Alliance days. I’m most comfortable with either a sniper rifle or a handgun.”He’d trained on many weapons over the years but he preferred a pistol or a sniper rifle’s accuracy any day of the week over the inaccurate spray of an assault gun or shotgun.Too much of a chance of accidentally hitting something he didn’t mean to. And yes, he knew he could be accused of having control issues but he was working on it.

“Hmm,” Vetra hummed at him before they both were thrown forward into the seats in front of them as Liam hit the brakes hard.

“Hey!” Scott grumbled at Liam. “A little warning next time.”

Liam turned around to look at them.Neither he nor Cora had issues as they’d both been wearing the safety harnesses that were not available in the back cargo areas. “Sorry,” Liam told him sheepishly as he pointed at the exit from the canyon directly in front of the nomad.“We’re probably better off walking from here.”

Noting that Liam was right, Scott nodded.“Let’s get the drone launched for surveillance and see if Drack is around.Let’s put the nomad off to that side so it’s out of the way.”

***

SAM soon had the drone up and running, mapping the entire basin that was their target.The FOB they’d deployed on their initial run was showing some activity of Kett around a Remnant pillar that was on the southeast side of the basin.The kett seemed to be deploying some sort of monitoring device around the pillar which was inert on scans—there were about twenty of the kett, mixed types similar to those they’d already encountered. The basin was otherwise uninhabited except for Drack who had just joined them on the overlooking ridge they’d chosen as their vantage point.

Further information from SAM showed that the low radiation levels that they’d previously measured were now in the barely detectable range—similar to background radiation they’d encounter on Earth or a similar planet.Helmets would not be necessary but would be useful for HUDs and comms so all of them were wearing them. Scott was really looking forward to getting a visor similar to Vetra’s so he wouldn’t have to wear one—he was unsuccessfully trying to avoid developing claustrophobia from wearing his but SAM was making it tolerable by manipulating his neuroendocrine responses.

Drack, having listened to Cora, Vetra and Liam give their opinions on how to get rid of the kett presence, wasn’t impressed.The krogan was moodily watching Scott listen to his teammates, giving them time to persuade him around to their way of thinking.He was leaning towards Vetra’s approach, two of them would push the kett into retreating towards one of the entrances to the basin where the other two would be waiting to cut them down as they retreated. Vetra and Liam were discussing the minor differences between her’s and his plan and they really just needed to get moving when Drack had enough. 

“We need to get going.We’re wasting daylight and all of your plans are basically the same.”Drack then hiked his heavily modified shotgun over his shoulder and began climbing down the steep side of the canyon wall.

Vetra, amused by the krogan’s attitude gave the turian equivalent of a chortle. “Well, you heard the man,” she said to her teammates as she hoisted her own assault rifle and took a quick jump off the outcropping, using her jump jets to catch up to Drack who was picking up speed as he made a direct beeline towards the unaware kett.

Exchanging an eye roll with Cora, Scott followed Vetra as he fastened his helmet, SAM activating his jump jets so he could quickly jump down the rock face despite his hands working on his helmet’s catch. He could hear Cora and Liam scrambling to keep up with the jump jets firing. As the latch on his helmet clicked, his HUD displayed all the current active Kett in the valley—twenty three to be exact.Two markers that represented Vetra and Drack were rapidly approaching the pillar despite it being almost a kilometer and a half away from where they’d started. The turian and krogan could really move across distances when they wanted to.

Minutes later, Drack hit the clustered kett like a bowling ball hitting the pins just right.Kett scattered left and right as they tried to get out of the way of the rampaging krogan.Vetra was right behind him, her assault rifle taking out the stragglers who just managed to avoid Drack’s shotgun blasts. Cora and Liam had swung out to approach from the left and Scott could hear the hum of Cora’s asari sword as she swung it with great effect. Liam’s war cries added to the kett confusion and the kett life signs on his HUD were rapidly winking out of existence.Scott had taken the right flank and was picking off the kett who tried to escape towards him, his viper accurate from the small hide he’d dropped into as the right side was the most wide open and he’d needed range on his shots.

Overall, despite the numbers being on the Kett’s side, it took less than half an hour for them to take out all of them except one.One lone kett had managed to evade both Drack and Vetra to slip through on the left and make it to safety in the canyon highlands beyond.Drack, expressing professional annoyance at the escapee, took off after it (him? Scott didn’t know which gender pronoun to use and SAM was no help) with a brief “I’ll be back,” to Vetra.

Which left the pathfinder team on clean up duty.SAM continued to fly the drone in a surveillance pattern high above them, the vault calmed winds allowing for them to have intel for three klicks in all directions so they wouldn’t be caught by surprise. Looking at the scattered bodies, Scott debated what to do before comming Lexi. “Pathfinder to Tempest.Lexi, do you or Suvi need kett specimens? For um... autopsy or research?”

It took a moment for the reply to come through.“I’ll take one of each body type if you can spare them,” Lexi finally said, Scott could hear Suvi talking in the background about possible research needs with Peebee.

“Okay. One of each type we find.Tempest, can you come here for pickup? It looks like we’ll have three bodies for you”

“We will be there momentarily,” Kallo replied this time.

“See you soon then. Ryder out,” Scott finished into his comm. Cora, Vetra and Liam had already started gathering the bodies, trying to find the least damaged ones for Lexi and Suvi as their findings could have benefits from a tactical perspective—know your enemy or at least their weak points.The more they knew, the better prepared they could be.As they gathered the bodies, Scott carefully scanned all the equipment looking for any signals being given off that would alert other Kett to what had happened.The kett used surprisingly little armor as their bodies had the natural armor built into it.They still carried small pieces of tech that appeared to be some form of scientific instruments or communication device as well as weapons. 

They quickly had a large pile of stripped tech that he’d give to Peebee after they verified that there wasn’t anything dangerous to them. Cora and he briefly discussed what to do with the remainder of the bodies that wouldn’t be going to Lexi and Suvi.After discussing the relative merits of burying vs burning, they agreed that burying would likely be a better option in case there was any further scientific needs and also felt more respectful than burning. They just couldn’t leave the bodies laying strewn across the valley for the new colonists to find—that wouldn’t be a great first impression.

After retrieving their E-tools from where they’d been stowed in the nomad, they began digging a mass grave on the far end of the valley.It was back breaking work but both Cora and he were too tired to try blasting the area with novas to do it with biotics. Scott quickly gave up wearing his armor as he became overheated and it was too constraining to dig in comfortably and be efficient.Both he andLiam soon had stripped to the waist to try and cool off as they worked since the radiation levels were normalized.Scott was also using his undershirt as a head cover under the warm Eos fading sunlight but could feel the beginnings of a sunburn on his shoulders despite the late afternoon light—he’d need to get the keffiyeh he’d packed in his stuff out and add it to his usual gear as they’d kicked up a lot of dust in the dry environment.

They were only about a quarter done when the Tempest arrived.Lexi and Suvi came off the ship and retrieved the bodies with Gil’s and Vetra’s help to stow them in the science lab where Lexi would conduct the autopsies with Suvi’s assistance.Cora and Peebee sorted through the discarded tech pile and took several pieces back to the ship that Peebee felt might be useful before Peebee wandered away to inspect the Remnant pillar. Gil, good-naturedly, joined Liam and Scott in digging the grave as well as bringing water to give them a break.

Taking a deep pull off the water bottle, Scott took a brief break as he watched Gil and Liam dig as they’d made a hole big enough for two to work in but was a little tight with three. They’d roughly outlined a five by five meter hole and were trying to make it at least a meter deep. Gil, while obviously not a soldier, was working cheerfully next to Liam and making conversation. Scott took a deep breath and held it, feeling his shoulders relax despite the muscle strain from the digging. This was much easier work than playing politics.

“I’m ready for a break,” Liam indicated as he’d not yet gotten a water break.

Scott leaned down and gave Liam a hand to pull him out of the hole which was almost as deep as it needed to be.“Yeah.Let’s trade out.”

Grunting, Scott pulled Liam out. Dusting himself off, Liam took the water bottle from Scott before Scott lowered himself into the hole alongside Gil who gave him a conspiratorial grin before getting back to it. Liam continued the conversation he’d been having with Gil, talking about his love of old 20th and 21st century films—currently he was describing his favorite cop movies, of which the original Die Hard trilogy was Liam’s favorites.Gil had never seen them but was fascinated by Liam’s descriptions of how Die Hard had influenced the Blasto movies that they were all familiar with. Scott listened as he resumed digging but didn’t really contribute, loosing himself in the physical activity and rhythm of Gil’s and Liam’s voices as they discussed Die Hard.He vaguely remembered seeing the Die Hard movies when he’d been a teenager.Of old cop films, he’d have to see if Liam had seen his favorite, Hot Fuzz.Scott may have identified with Sgt Nicolas Angel a little to much at times growing up.He’d always felt British humor was better but that might have been the influence of the old boyfriend who’d introduced him to many classics of British cinema.

“If we get this done, while we’re waiting for the colony ships to show up, we could watch the first one.I have all of them in my data cash,” Liam said.

“I would be fine with that.The girls will be busy doing their science but I should have time.Will you be joining us?” Gil asked of Scott, trying to pull him into the conversation.

Wiping his face of the dirt that was clinging to it, Scott took another deep bite of packed dirt with his E-tool.“Sure.Let’s get this mess cleaned up and I can join you after my report is done.” It would be good to socialize with his crew, get to know them all better outside of a mission. “Assuming no more kett show up I should be able to join you guys.”

“Well, let’s get this done then.I need to see this terrible vid Liam’s talking about,” Gil said.

“It’s not terrible!It’s a classic—well at least the first two are.I’m not going to even count any of them after the third one.” Liam exclaimed.

“You mean there’s more than a trilogy of them?” Gil asked with a laugh. Scott was also laughing at them as he continued to work.He had ended up with a great team. He’d just have to work on their entertainment choices.

***

Bodies buried, Liam, Gil and Scott had returned to the Tempest in the fading light.Both Gil and Liam had been quick to put away the equipment as they wanted to get to down time amusements.Scott had told them he’d join them in time for the second movie as he remembered most of the first one. As he dumped his armor in the cleaner, Scott groaned at the pull of his shoulders which were now numb from digging. He didn’t dare ask Lexi for something to help as she’d already been unhappy with him ignoring her earlier suggestions.SAM offered silently to work on his muscles. _I may be able to help Scott. I have some control over your pain receptors and can augment your body’s natural recovery mechanisms to work quicker and more efficiently._

_You can do that?_ Scott asked SAM.Just how much control did SAM have?

_Yes.I was designed to augment your normal body function for both combat as well as diplomatic and exploring functions._

_So is that why my aim has been better than my last range scores suggest it should be?_ He was pulling his viper apart so the machine would clean it and feeding the parts in as they were asked for.

_I have minimally assisted.While in cryostasis as part of the pathfinder team your muscles, vasculature, nerves, bone strength, lung capacity and reflexes were augmented to a small degree—to just within the maximum allowed adjustments without causing undo problems that would effect your long term health negatively.This was part of your contract as recon specialist.You were not aware?_

Scott was speechless as he finished loading his viper into the cleaner. _WHAT?!?!?_

_Without these augmentations you would have not survived the fall on Habitat 7.It was expected that as the first in on the team you would encounter more austere environments than other parts of the team.You are the only one other than your father who underwent the changes._

Scott sat down on the armor bench that was supposed to be used for assembly. He remembered the fall on Habitat 7.He’d been sore, had some small hairline fractures but otherwise had been mobile despite having his jump jets fail to break his fall significantly. He’d been going at almost terminal velocity and his armor had required major repairs per Gil after that mission. What the fuck had his father signed him up for?Did Sara have similar things done to her?

Taking a deep breath to prevent himself from hyperventilating into a panic attack, he held his head in his hands and curled forward. _SAM... why haven’t I noticed before now._

_Because your nervous system was also augmented I have been able to calibrate your responses. Without this, you would be accidentally crushing things you pick up.It is likely at this point your body has self adjusted as I do not have to adjust your tensile strength as much as I was when you first awakened on the Hyperion._

_Is Sara...?_

_Your sister has some minimal augmentation to make her able to have greater endurance and reflexes as part of the Pathfinder team.However, she is the diplomacy and culture officer and was not expected to be in direct combat as much as you perhaps might have been so she does not have as extensive of augmentations._

Yeah he was in danger of hyperventilating and his hands were shaking.Scott could feel SAM dampening the anxiety racing through him but not stoping it entirely.He knew his mother’s team had been working on what she’d jokingly called ‘super soldier’ enhancements before she’d really gotten sick and couldn’t work any more.He’d never thought she’d get the ethics board approval to actually use them in anyone.It seemed that his dad had steamrolled past that ethics approval process like he had the one that lost Scott his job in the marines. Fuck you Dad, he thought angrily.He’d thought he’d managed to shove the anger he’d felt at his discharge down and be the better, more forgiving person. Evidently suppressing wasn’t the same as actually forgiving his father.

_So Cora and Liam?_

_They also have similar augmentations to your sister, Cora more than Liam to help in possible combat as her role as XO may have required her to back you up. Neither of them have been changed as much as you._

_Do they know?_

_They have SAM implants—while I’m not able to speak to them as I do with you, I am able to help with their minimal augmentations in the background.If something were to happen to you, Cora’s implant is capable of a more advanced interface with me if she were to become the Pathfinder but it is several generations of technology behind yours. Cora and Liam both were aware when they signed their contracts that body modification was part of being on the pathfinder team._

_Did Sara agree to it too?_

_Your sister was aware and signed her contract without any additions made._

Scott felt a sharp burn of anger.Sara had told him to just sign his contract and not worry about things. Did she know what Dad was planning for him?Or had she just forgotten about it, not thought it was something he should know?Sometimes Sara could be just like Dad.... He loved her but goddamnit.

_Who else knows about the augmentations?_

_Your medical team is aware.Dr. T’Perro and Dr. Carlyle both helped perform the procedures necessary after you entered cryosleep._

_But I didn’t sign a consent like I did for the SAM implant._

_It was part of your contract that you signed as it was written specifically for you—it was on page 36, section entitled pathfinder team duties—recon specialist, paragraphs XXI through LII.The SAM consent was different because it required intracranial surgery and all team members had one placed so a standard consent for the procedure was created separately from the contracts. I can send you the documentation regarding the decisions that were made for augmentation—it includes the sign offs of Jien Garson, your father, as well as the Asari, Turian and Salarian pathfinders._

He couldn’t even think of where to begin. These decisions had obviously been made at the top of the Andromeda Initiative Leadership.Garson was dead. His dad was dead.The other pathfinders were missing, presumed dead. What good would it do to see committee meeting notes so he could see them debating his life and deficiencies that needed correction? _So other pathfinder teams were augmented as well?_

_Yes.If we find the other arks you will be able to ask questions directly to the other Pathfinders.I am sorry this is such a surprise to you Scott.I find myself questioning the ethics decisions made but I cannot change them for you. I had presumed that you were aware of what you agreed to.Is there anything I can do?_

_No.There’s nothing we can do now as it’s already done._ Scott stood up, his legs taking a moment to stabilize under him but he still staggered slightly despite trying to pull himself together—there was nothing he could do about any of this now.Suppression seemed healthier than destroying the armory with physical violence like he wanted to. _I’ve got a report to write SAM.Please let Liam and Gil know I’ll still try to make it by the second film._

_I am sorry Scott.I remain available if I can help.I will let them know._

_Why be sorry SAM? It’s not you who did this to me... and in some ways it’s my fault for not reading my own contract. I just... I need some time to think about this and I can’t right now. I have things I need to do. Tann won’t wait on this report and the colony ships will be here shortly after daybreak._

***

He had finished his report just in time to join Liam and Gil for the second Die Hard film.It was a good way to distract his mind from all the things that he couldn’t change. Vetra, hearing them comment loudly about the old effects, plot holes, and general ridiculousness of the plot had joined them halfway.Kallo had followed shortly thereafter. Lexi, Suvi and Peebee remained with their projects but Cora found them towards the end of the second movie and insisted on them starting the third.It had been a relaxing way of spending time with his crew and a needed distraction.

Sleep had been hard to come by after the third film when they’d all begged off to get some sleep despite Vetra wanting to see the fourth one.He’d thought that he’d be easily able to just give into the fatigue from multiple days of physical activity and minimal rest—but his brain had other ideas. He’d finally asked SAM to increase his melatonin levels which had dragged him into a restless sleep. Awakening in the morning, he was stiff but otherwise felt marginally better than he had before bed.

After a cup of coffee and an extended time in the shower trying to get his muscles to loosen up, he was dressed and ready when the first comm of the day came through to inform them that the ships would be there in an hour.SAM, who had been monitoring for Kett activity with the drone and FOB, informed Scott that it was still all clear. He suited up, grabbing his guns and stepped out of the Tempest before everyone else. He wanted some time to walk around the valley without anyone else today as he was still feeling overloaded and needed some time for his thoughts to settle.

Sunrise had made the valley beautiful. The small creek that ran through the valley added to the soundtrack of the sounds of the wind that gently twisted through the alien trees and scrub brush while he could hear some sort of animal cry in the distance. He hadn’t bothered with wearing his helmet which was on his hip, having grabbed his keffiyeh and wound it around his neck so he’d have some protection from the dust if the wind picked up too much.

SAM quietly pointed out from the transmitted colony plans where the main buildings would go, the wind power generators, water wells, and the ideal spot for the off planet communications array. Walking along, his feet sank slightly in the soft dirt.His scanner informed him that with irrigation, the soil had an appropriate mineral content to grow earth crops with some assistance from microculture additions that the colony was brining. The gently rolling hills portion of the valley off to the south would make ideal places to start farming and they could start a tree farm along the banks of the river.The rapidly correcting environment would be suitable for many crops—wheat, vegetables, corn, some fruits as well as nut trees.So far he hadn’t noted any insects on Eos but once they planted flowering fruits and trees they could introduce honey bees. The water would need more investigation to see if they could introduce fish, algae, and other water plants to make a new ecosystem.

He wasn’t a terraforming expert but he could see the possibilities. They just would need to make sure they also planned for defense as he didn’t think the Kett would leave them alone either. The cliffs above where they would likely put the main buildings would lend themselves to putting turrets up there, maybe eventually some GUARDIAN guns for colony defense but those would have to be fabricated once they found enough raw materials. 

Watching the horizon go from red to pink and purple before finally the blue of the daytime sky took over, Scott allowed himself to feel a bit prideful about what he had accomplished with his team.He might not have done it like his father would have but the end result was promising.

“Ryder, this is August Bradley, do you copy?” Came the crackle of an off planet communication.

“I’m here and waiting for you guys.Fairwinds Basin is cleared and ready for colony placement,” Scot replied.As he spoke, Cora, Liam and Vetra joined him where he was sitting on a rock next to where the creek widened into a small lake.

“Good to hear.I’ll be landing as part of the welcome party to verify we have enough flattened areas to place our main buildings with the earth mover.ETA is twelve minutes. See you soon.”

“We’ll be waiting for you,” Scott said with a smile.This was the best part in his opinion—a new colony was about to be born. No gun battles here.

Cora, taking a seat next to Scott, leaned into him in a half hug.“We did it,” she whispered, watching the wind move through the trees on the opposite bank, a happy content smile on her face.

“Yeah, we did.A real beginning for the Initiative.Couldn’t have done it without you guys,” he answered her in the same tone, moving his arm to give her a one armed hug around her shoulders, his right hand hanging down over her arm.

Liam, perhaps feeling left out, thunked himself down on Scott’s other side and gave them both a joking, face-smashing hug making them protest and push him off in the nicest way possible.“Yeah, we did it.Now it’s up to the colonists to make it really work.”

Vetra, standing behind them agreed. “This is more than we’ve had so far to work with.I can actually see the buildings now and the fields over there,” she waved to the south.

Cora, who hadn’t moved from under Scott’s arm gave a happy giggle.“Maybe some roses too—I’ve missed flowers.”

Smiling at his XO, Scott gave her a light friendly squeeze.“We’ll get you some flowers. Red ones?Or do you like those fancy two colored ones like my mom?”

“Either? Both?” Cora said, returning Scott’s squeeze by giving his hand a light grip where it hung around her shoulders. “As long as there’s roses I’m up for learning how to take care of them.”

“Deal.Liam? Vetra? Any requests?”

“How about hops for beer or grapes for wine?” Liam asked.“We could all do with a celebratory drink.”

“Sounds good to me,” Scott told him. “Vetra?”

“Let me think.Those roses sounds like a good idea but I’ll come up with something for me.Maybe some popcorn for movie nights.”

“That sounds good. Let me know if you think of anything else.”Scott wondered if Vetra would be able to eat popcorn or she just wanted to have it for movie nights as it was part of the ambience of traditional movie nights. He’d have to do some investigating. Vetra should get something she’d enjoy too.

“Maybe some fruit?” Came Peebee’s voice over the shrubs as she approached them.“I’ve always heard strawberries are the best.”

“You’ve never had strawberries?” Cora asked her, incredulity in her voice.

Peebee looked sheepish as she joined them on Cora’s other side.“I’ve not had any Terran fruits. I’ve heard they’re delicious though.”

“We’ll get you some strawberries Peebee,” Scott promised her.He had a team to feed and a newly cleared land to farm on.Surely Addison could get behind this kind of plan.

***

2818 October 13th

Aya, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Angaran, Resistance Initiate

Status: Is this home?

The remainder of the trip back to Aya was filled with small stolen moments of intimacy.Despite his initial reluctance, Reyes found himself looking forward to their private moments for more than just the orgasms.Tefa was genuinely curious about Reyes’ life and wanted to build a relationship—which was not a wholly new experience for Reyes but his relationship skills were a little rusty from disuse. His last serious relationship had been a decade plus or minus six hundred years ago.Finding out the little details about Tefa that he catalogued away in his mind for the future became a side hobby. Vestus, the conspirator, made sure that Tefa knew exactly when Reyes would be unoccupied with duties and was alone. Reyes suspected his friend of making sure they weren’t interrupted more than once but also making sure Reyes didn’t spend all his free time with Tefa.

That wasn’t to say that he didn’t do his fair share of the workload or spend time with his teammates—which he did.He did tell Tefa no more distracting him during his piloting responsibilities though.Piloting was the one thing that made Reyes anxious if he was distracted during it—he’d seen too many accidents and had to attend debriefings for lost crews before and he didn’t want to personally be responsible for that sort of error.

Sexually, Reyes was finding that Tefa was like a teenager—always ready for some personal them time with a brisk refractory time that made Reyes blush in embarrassment at how hungry it made him feel to be wanted that much. Maiko had been right about the proportionality of Angaran physique.He’d introduced Tefa to the time honored skill of fellatio, of which Reyes felt his skills were above average but he’d had to work at it to get all of Tefa deep in his throat. The bioelectric feedback that Reyes had gotten from it had made the act even more enjoyable. Tefa was now obsessed with Reyes’ mouth and it had become a personal in-joke for them.Kissing was still something that just didn’t quite work as well as it did with another human as Tefa was enthusiastic but lacked some finesse and Angaran mouths were not exactly the same as a human’s.Reyes usually really enjoyed making out with a lover but he figured the biofeedback was an okay trade off. 

Landing the Paavoa, Reyes settled the ship right on his mark.His copilot, Jarvah, worked in synchrony with him to do the shutdown process now that they had made it home. Reyes’ hand stuttered and he had to rekey the shutdown sequence as he realized he’d thought of Aya as home.Huh. It kind of was now. He could hear his teammates and Tefa in the back getting ready to get off the ship.They were all feeling the cabin fever after two weeks of being cooped up together except for a brief respite on station.

He could see on the HUD that a large group had gathered to welcome them back.Time to go see everyone.

Getting out of his pilot cradle, he stretched briefly as he’d been sitting in it for far too long and even though it was appropriately padded it still made him stiff. Vestus stood in the doorway to the rest of the ship, watching Reyes silently. “What?” He asked the Turian.

“You really are something else Vidal,” Vestus said, his mandibles flaring in a wide grin. “Let’s go see the welcome party.”

“I’m coming,” he told Vestus.

“I’ll bet.Multiple times tonight I’m sure,” Vestus said with a laugh.

“You’re just jealous,” Reyes joked back.

“I’ve got my own bondmate to spend some quality time with. Nothing to be jealous of unless Tefa isn’t adequately satisfying your needs.”Vestus wasn’t even fazed as he riposted verbally.

Scoffing at his friend, Reyes stumbled as Vestus pushed him out the airlock and into the sunlight. “My needs are more than met,” he grumbled back to Vestus right before they were swarmed by eager Angarans greeting them and congratulating them on their mission. The atmosphere was festive as they roughly lined up in formation before Evfra who patiently was waiting out the ruckus of their arrival with Paaran Shie on his left who was more visibly excited at their arrival. Taking his position in the front line on the end, Reyes came to attention as everyone settled down.

Evfra waited until it was silent before greeting the returned trainees. “Welcome back recruits.The reports I have gotten from your instructors has been positive and you have successfully completed your training mission without difficulty,” Evfra paused and began to walk back and forth along the line of at attention initiates. “All of you have distinguished yourself and your teams in the completion of your work.I speak for all of the Resistance when I say you have done well and made us proud with this outreach mission to the Milky Way travelers.”

This statement was met with applause and whistles of agreement from the gathered crowd—except for several wearing the colors of Akksul’s faction on the far fringes who watched silently.Reyes could see them observing Evfra’s congratulations speech but most of their focus was on Reyes and his teammates.They didn’t interfere or say anything, however, as Evfra continued. “.... and this is a great day for us as you complete your training.Tomorrow, we will have an official ceremony to commemorate the completion of your training and induct you fully into the resistance.Tonight, I am sure you all have missed your friends and families that have waited patiently for your return.Please enjoy your time off tonight—you have earned it and your friends and families would like to welcome you home.Dismissed!”

With that, the entire class of trainees broke formation and went to join their friends and families in the crowd.Alzik, who’d remained, ambled up to Reyes with a smile on his usually bland face. “You were successful then?” He asked Reyes.

Clasping the offered hand, Reyes gave a return smile as he noted the rest of his friends gathering around.“Yes.All the supplies were delivered without trouble.Brecka and Vetra send their best.”

“Those supplies were very badly needed.We should see what else we can do to help them,” Alzik said as he accepted hugs from both Julia and Maiko.

“It is good to see you Alzik,” Maiko said from his side. Julia echoed her sister’s sentiments.

“It is very good to be together again,” Alzik agreed.“I have missed you all while you have been gone.”

“We’ve missed you as well Alzik,” Reyes said even as Vestus nudged him in the back.Turning to see what the Turian was wanting, he saw that Vestus and Kenax were nose to nose, their eyes closed as they gripped each other close. A low trill came from them that said they were oblivious to everyone else around them. 

Julia cooed at them. It was pretty cute, in a way, Reyes supposed.

Tefa, joining them, also was amused by the Turians’ display. “My family wishes to invite you to have dinner with us tonight, to welcome us all back home.”

Exchanging a quick look with everyone, Reyes accepted for them. “We would love to join them for dinner. What time?Do you need us to bring anything?”He’d been raised to have manners.

“Just yourselves,” Tefa informed them.“We will start with appetizers and drinks at sundown. I will pick you up before then at your rooms.”

“We can’t wait,” Maiko said, side eyeing Reyes and Tefa as she spoke.“It has been too long since we were all together and we should celebrate.”

“I will see you all then,” Tefa announced as he was flagged down by another group of Angarans that wanted to speak with him.“Excuse me, I have other duties at the moment.”

As he left, Maiko gave Reyes a sly looking smile. “I take it you found my advice useful?”

Trying not to choke as he swallowed his own spit, Reyes rolled his eyes.“You could have warned me about the feedback.”

“But why ruin the surprise?” Maiko asked, a conspiratorial grin on her face making her eyes twinkle mischievously.

“What surprise?” Julia asked, looking suspiciously between Reyes and her sister.

Coughing, Reyes deflected the conversation. “Nothing you need to worry about.Now how was your ship?Mine was not that exciting.”

Still suspicious, Julia let Reyes steer the conversation away from whatever her sister had been implying.Reyes was very grateful that she didn’t ask questions but suspected she would at some point. It seemed she’d forgiven him for not reciprocating and he could work with that. Maiko gave him an approving nod and took his lead, talking about the differences in the two ships and how they’d spent their time while traveling.Reyes knew he’d have to have a further conversation about things later but for now, it was delayed.

***

Tefa came to guide them to his family’s home about twenty minutes before sunset.They’d had long enough to wash up and get dressed in their more Angaran clothing—Reyes wore his rofjinn which Maiko and Julia had both asked if Tefa’s mother would consider making them one.He promised to ask.The only pair of shoes that he had that worked with the angaran clothing was his boots which he’d buffed out until they shone beautifully. The turians and Alzik also wore the clothing that Yaansa had made, they were all very colorful in the flowing clothing.

Yaansa’s home, where Tefa still lived, was warm and inviting.They were introduced to Yaansa’s wives Arrayi and Jerira, their husbands Issam, Qirfal, Kjis, and Arva as well as almost twenty children amongst the family, two of which were Yaansa’s—Hereza and Masteyi who were Tefa’s half sisters and looked nothing like him, having inherited their mother’s beauty per Alzik’s surprisingly silver tongue. Tefa was the oldest of all the children, having come from a relationship of Yaansa’s prior to her marriage to the rest of her spouses—Reyes noted that Tefa quickly brushed over his father and instead focused on introducing them to the rest of the extended clan.

Dinner was a lively affair and after the conclusion of the main part of the meal, Reyes and the others helped with putting the children to bed before returning for desert and drinks under the moonlight.The obvious close, warm relationships of the family made Reyes ache for his Tío and his Yaya, even his mother was missed. It was moments like this that made him miss them with all his heart. Exchanging a look with Tefa over young Khijo’s head as he tucked him in, Reyes could, for the first time, see someday having a family of his own with children.He just couldn’t see who it would be with yet. He liked Tefa, but he still felt guarded in some ways around him and didn’t know if he’d ever feel like his Tío had described feeling about his vida as he’d called him.His Tío’s love had died before Reyes had been born—he’d never met him—but he’d seen the look of absolutely devastated loss when his Tío had talked of him as well as the looks of absolute love.He wanted what his Tío had and realized he wasn’t willing to settle for anything less than that.His mother had called it the family curse—to love so deeply and completely that they were the love of your life.She hadn’t lucked out with Reyes’ father.

 

After dinner and all the dishes had been cleared away, Tefa asked Reyes to come with him as he had something to show him.Feeling relaxed and at ease, Reyes agreed after letting Maiko know he was stepping out so no one would look for him.Tefa took his hand and began pulling him towards the edge of the forest and then up the twisting switchback trail to a side trail Reyes had never noticed during their morning runs that was just outside of the more inhabited parts of the village.The trail led to a small secluded clearing with a hot spring under the rock shelf of the cliffs that emptied out on the far end to create a waterfall as it made it’s way downhill.There was also a small shower of water from above on the one end making a natural waterfall from some unseen water source uphill so the water wasn’t too overheated. It was obvious that the spring was used regularly as there was an inbuilt wooden platform as well as an alcove that Tefa pulled fluffy towels from as well as a bottle of strong Angaran alcohol that was similar to whiskey.

“I forgot cups but I suppose you won’t mind sharing a bottle,” Tefa asked Reyes as he sat on the platform and began removing his boots. “The water is restorative and I’ve arranged so no one will bother us tonight.”

Amused, Reyes stood with his hand on his hips as he watched Tefa steadily undress. It seemed he’d been brought to the local love pool. This was a first for him but it was very thoughtful of Tefa to make sure they wouldn’t be disturbed—it seemed Tefa was taking his preferences into account. He wondered what poor soul Tefa had bribed into standing watch to make sure no one else wanted to use the spring as he hadn’t seen anyone on their way up here. 

“I don’t mind sharing,” he finally said as he reached for his own boots and pulled them off, neatly rolling his socks and putting them inside. Walking the last few steps barefoot, he scrunched his toes in the sand around the pool. Pulling off his rofjinn over his head, he felt Tefa’s hands running along his sides and pulling his shirt out of his pants to pull off with the rofjinn.It seemed Tefa was impatient to get naked. Reyes could go along with this as it was similar to his own thoughts. As his shirt was removed, he placed the clothes to the side, making sure they landed on the wooden deck rather than the sand to keep clean.

As his face cleared the cloth, Tefa kissed him on his closed mouth before kissing both of Reyes’ cheeks and then tracing the outline of his features with his fingertips. “You are a very special person to me Reyes Vidal.”

“You are to me as well,” Reyes replied—and it was true.Tefa was very special to him, if only he could fully figure out the complicated knot of feelings that made him uneasy at times.He had no specific name to place on their relationship but he could say that it was evolving naturally the longer they spent time together—it wasn’t just about physical release like he’d feared it might be.

“You think too much,” Tefa told him fondly, his fingertips brushing across Reyes’ eyes making them flutter closed at the warm, electric touch that he was becoming more accustomed to. The warm progression down his nerves lighting his body on fire was familiar now and welcome. Having been regularly exposed to the bioelectric feedback over the last week, he didn’t jump as his muscles quivered as the feeling spread.

“The water looks nice,” he said as he pulled back slightly in order to continue removing his clothing.Reyes would like to have this last a bit longer than it usually did, drawing out the pleasure as they had time to explore now. Standing at the edge of the pool, his back was to Tefa as he dropped his trousers and boxer briefs as one,flicking them off to the side with his foot before giving Tefa a heated look over his shoulder.Tefa was staring at Reyes backside, his eyes roving over muscles and the firmness of his glutes.Reyes had enough time earlier that he’d freshly shaved and cut his hair, using the light, perfumed oil that the Angaran’s used in place of lotion to make his skin soft and reflect the moonlight over the graceful curves of his body.

He’d also had time to prepare himself for other activities but Tefa didn’t know that yet.

Dipping his toes in the water, the temperature was hot, just the right temperature for relaxing muscles but not too hot. He could see a set of carved stone steps from one part of the decking that led int the water and he used it to enter the pool.Tefa was watching him, eyes gleaming but speechless, nostrils flared. As the water came up his thighs, Reyes turned slightly, showing Tefa that he was half hard as he stretched his arms out to his side making his abdominal muscles flex and pulled his hips to exaggerate the line of his hardening cock. Making sure Tefa was watching each movement, he dove into the water, submerging his head and letting the relaxing water take him under for a few seconds.Surfacing towards the middle of the pool, the water was shoulder deep when he stood on the warm sandy floor. Sluicing water out of his hair, he turned to see Tefa’s reaction.

Tefa looked, in a word, wrecked. Nostrils flaring as he inhaled deeply, he’d taken a few steps into the water but not yet taken off his own pants which were tented appealingly. He moved rapidly towards Reyes, his face showing how hungry he was for Reyes. Reyes, for his part, didn’t move and let Tefa come to him. Tefa, once he was within arm reach, grabbed hold of Reyes and pushed him back into the smooth stone wall under the ledge, mouth attaching to suction bruises along Reyes’ neck at the pulse point and sending a sting of heat down his nerves.

Arching playfully into his lover’s touch, Reyes wrapped his own legs around the Angaran’s waist to roll his hips against the firm abdominal muscles in search of friction for his sex. Locking his heels, he put his arms around Tefa’s shoulders and encouraged the sucking at his neck, petting the back of Tefa’s head.The strength of the feedback increased as one of Tefa’s hands pulled aside Reyes right butt cheek to get access to his cleft before running his fingers down it to find his openingand tease it with the tips of his fingers while the other splayed between his shoulder blades, each fingertip another point from which fire spread down Reyes’ nerve endings. Reyes could tell he was moaning in Spanish but couldn’t tell you what he was saying—he suspected it was a gibberish mishmash of “more” and “fuck” and “Tefa”.

Then Tefa’s fingers found what he’d prepared earlier as the largest finger—the fused last three digits that were as big as Tefa’s cock—sank to the first knuckle in Reyes hole causing Reyes to shout an expletive at the slight burn indicating the stretching and lube application he’d done earlier needed a bit more of both things. It’d been a long time since he’d been on the bottom—he usually preferred to top—and he was beyond tight despite the playful sexual encounters they’d had so far.They had yet to go beyond some light teasing to full on penetration. 

Reyes’ shout made Tefa pull back and pause to evaluate how Reyes was given the shout hadn’t sounded like pleasure. “Reyes?”

Panting against Tefa’s shoulder, Reyes shook his head to clear it.“I need a bit more slick and some time if you want to do that.Thought I’d get a head start on you but I must have underestimated your... proportions.” The word Maiko kept using slipped out and he tried not to giggle at the ridiculousness of it. He’d underestimated how tight he still was but he’d make it.They had time.

Tefa grunted and loosened his hold on Reyes, allowing Reyes to slip against him with a delicious rub and submerge mostly back in the water. They were both breathing quickly as Tefa pulled Reyes back towards the platform by his bicep. Once there, Tefa dropped his hold on Reyes to pull a small bag towards him and rummage through it before pulling out a vial of what Reyes was hoping was lube. Looking at the vial, Tefa looked back at Reyes then pulled him forward and hoisted him onto the platform in a sitting position and pushing Reyes’s legs apart so he could put himself between them.

Reyes had only a moment to open his mouth before it was again covered by Tefa’s. Fumbling, Reyes tried to keep upright but found himself being pushed back to lie on the platform, his legs bent and in the water with Tefa between them as he pulled Reyes’ hips to the edge. Tefa’s mouth left his to trail down his neck and chest, briefly taking a side trip to nip at his left nipple over his heart before continuing down. Trying to sit back up he was pushed back down by a powerful hand that began playing with his other nipple, the electric feedback making Reyes’ back arch as the intensity ratcheted up and he kicked as his muscles danced under Tefa’s influence. He was continually babbling in his native language and knew that Tefa had no idea what he was saying.

Moist heat surrounded his cock as Tefa took him into his mouth, the powerful tongue that Reyes had been teaching to French kiss showing more finesse as it played with the vein along the side before the lips pulled back to give an obscene suck to Reyes’ cock head. Reyes was shuddering, his muscles quivering under the influence of biofeedback and arousal as Tefa took him deep into his throat. The fingers that had earlier roughly pushed aside his muscles to gain access was back, the fingers now coated in the same oil Reyes had used to soften his skin.Tefa, perhaps learning from his first attempt, used his long index finger to enter Reyes.He gave Reyes only a brief moment to adjust before beginning to thrust in and out to the root.When Tefa found his prostate, Reyes felt a spurt of precome erupt and he jerked in Tefa’s grasp.

“There!” He told Tefa, instructing him to keep touching him there.

That was when Tefa used his bioelectric touch directly on Reyes’ prostate, thrusting a second finger in to join the first even as Reyes convulsed in Tefa’s grip and a low pitched scream of pleasure erupted from his throat, hands scrambling to find purchase on Tefa’s water slicked shoulders and legs kicking despite his hips being held captive.Reyes was held in a timeless space where he could only focus on the direct hit to his pleasure center with the counterpoint of suction and another pulse of stimulation from his nipple where a finger mercilessly rolled his nipple until it was bruised and swollen. Tefa was relentless in his assault and increased the suction on Reyes cock even as his lips sealed around the base against Reyes’ pelvis.Reyes gave up holding back at all and gave in to his orgasm, coming down Tefa’s throat that continued to swallow around him as the fingers continued to release pulses against his prostate.

Trembling even as his nervous system was again overloaded,Reyes consciously, when he finally had some control back, spread his legs further to give Tefa more access as his fingers continued to thrust against the bundle of nerves.Tefa, for his part, did not release Reyes’ cock and continued to suck despite Reyes starting to soften against his tongue. Squirming due to oversensitivity edging into pain, Reyes was not surprised as Tefa’s efforts were rewarded minutes later when his body began to respond even though he didn’t think he’d be able to orgasm again any time soon. Tefa grinned around his cock, his lips stretching obscenely as Reyes watched him not surrender his prize. There was no way Tefa was stopping any time soon either.

Releasing Reyes momentarily before pulling him more off the warm wooden platform with his legs hanging over Tefa’s arms.Tefa then guided the blunt head of his sex into Reyes’ entrance.Still overstimulated, Reyes grunted as the pressure increased and his body gave way to Tefa’s girth, his own cock bouncing slightly as it jerked half hard.Tefa chuckled as he paused halfway in.“You are well Reyes?”

Hands gripping the edge of the platform with a death grip, Reyes realized he was trembling all over.“Yes.Keep going,” he told Tefa, taking a deep breath and concentrating on trying to relax his muscles as he felt a burning stretch.Despite Tefa’s efforts at getting him open and one orgasm that should have made things easier it was still a tight fit.

Tefa crooned to Reyes as he leaned down over him. “You are perfect,” he said in Reyes ear even as his hands spread Reyes further as he advanced deeper.Reyes felt overfull, his body sweating profusely and his neck muscles corded as he curled forward instinctively. Groaning, he felt the muscles in his ass flutter as they were forced open wide and Tefa slid deeper until he felt Tefa’s pelvis against his skin. Tefa’s hands slid up until they were petting Reyes’ ribs in a light tickling touch meant to distract while he tried to adjust to how full he was. This was why he didn’t like bottoming—feeling at the mercy of his partner wasn’t something he liked. He hated being vulnerable like this but he pushed at the feeling and just concentrated on the burning fullness that he knew would soon reward his efforts.

Soon, Tefa began to move, pulling almost completely out before thrusting back in.Each push in made Reyes’ back slide uncomfortably against the wood—he was sure he’d have to get splinters pulled out after this—but Tefa’s large cock pressed pleasantly against his pleasure spot. Tefa’s hands had gone back to gripping Reyes’ hips tight enough to bruise as he pushed and pulled them as they mated. Tefa’s hands were big enough that while they had a firm grip on his hips, his fingers clutched and separated the muscles of Reyes’ ass pulling him open even more to allow deeper penetration. The slap of wet skin as the rhythm quickened echoed across the water. Reyes was now back to fully erect but couldn’t tug on himself because if he let go of the platform he would have been pushed off it. Rolling his hips in counterpoint to try and get more stimulation, Reyes was just grunting in time with each thrust as his attention had narrowed to the repetitive stimulation of Tefa’s cockhead against his prostate was making him see starbursts behind his closed eyes.

An uncertain amount of time later, Tefa’s thrusts sped up.One of the hands on his hips migrated to Reyes’ neglected cock and began pulling in time with each movement of Tefa’s hips. As usual, Reyes’ orgasm was pushed out of him by a spike of bioelectric feedback from Tefa’s hand on his cock which ricocheted up his nerves and made his body bow as it contracted from the force of his orgasm. Moments later, Tefa’s thrusts became less coordinated as Reyes felt a spurt within him from his partner’s cock. Tefa was now supporting himself by gripping over Reyes hands on the platform as his hips gave small jerking motions, buried deep in Reyes. Reyes’ own orgasm dribbled out of him after the initial eruption, his muscles going limp despite the waves of feedback still fading from his nervous system. 

Opening his eyes, Reyes could see the stars above them in the night sky which was clear of clouds. His breath was coming in quick pants, his body trembling but he felt better than he had in months. Shaking slightly, Reyes pulled his hands out from under Tefa and tried to pull them both back more firmly onto the platform which Tefa resisted before pulling Reyes into the warm water, their bodies disconnecting as the water surrounded Reyes again and he was pulled to rest on Tefa’s chest, arms going under his legs to carry him deeper into the water, mist from the spring’s heat coating them in a thick blanket of fog.

Floating pleasantly, Reyes enjoyed the heat of the water as it penetrated his body to soothe muscles that had been strenuously worked, surrendering to lie limply against Tefa’s chest. The sound of Tefa’s heartbeat under his head was a rhythmic lullaby. For once, he was happy to give up any control and trusted Tefa to do so. He’d broken a few of his usual rules for Tefa and so far he was pleased with the outcomes. Completely exhausted, Reyes fell asleep.

***

Sleeping outside should have been far from pleasant but fingers of light were just beginning to creep overhead when Reyes woke up the next morning.The towels Tefa had brought were wrapped around them, Tefa spooned behind Reyes with his arms wrapped tightly around him.Squirming slightly, Reyes managed to escape Tefa’s grip and stood on legs that were at first wobbly but solidified under him moments later. Grimacing, he noted he had dried cum between his cheeks and his entrance was swollen and tender which he could feel with each step he took.Looking around, he could see the small bag Tefa had brought last night.Rummaging through the bag, he found a bar of soap.Standing at the edge of the water, he dipped a loose towel edge in it and washed himself off, careful not to get any suds in the pool. Stepping to the side of the clearing, Reyes relieved the pressure in his bladder into the bushes a good distance away before returning.

Chilled in the morning air, he found his discarded clothing and started dressing while taking stock of his body.There were hand shaped bruises on his hips that extended back onto his ass cheeks and his right nipple was swollen and bruised as well.He couldn’t see it but there was also a patch on his neck that was similarly tender—likely a love bite that he’d not noticed at the time. His back felt raw from where it had scraped against the wood and the touch of his light shirt to it made him aware with every movement. A slight noise made him see that Tefa was awake and watching him dress through slitted eyes. “Good morning,” he told Tefa despite the aches his body was giving him he felt overall well.

Stretching like the giant cat he was, Tefa smiled at Reyes and returned his greeting. “Good morning.”

“Breakfast?” Reyes asked simply.

Standing, unabashed about his own nakedness, Tefa approached Reyes and helped him put on his rofjinn. “Breakfast would be good.My mother will be cooking this morning and would welcome us.”

“That sounds good.You should get dressed otherwise it’ll look strange you walking naked down the side of the cliffs,” Reyes teased. Tefa, picking up another gesture from Reyes, exaggeratedly rolled his eyes but began to dress himself.

Walking down the trail in the morning air, Reyes found himself smiling even as they both didn’t say much, just content to be in each other’s presence. They were almost to the tree break where the trail began to switchback when they were met by six Angarans headed the opposite way. At first, Reyes didn’t pay them much attention until one of them deliberately stepped in front of him, blocking his way which made him look at them closer.Fuck.They were wearing Roekaar colors with insignia and were visibly armed. Tefa, who also hadn’t been paying close attention other than to Reyes now stood at his back, rigid.

“Excuse us,” Reyes said politely moving to the outside edge of the trail so they could pass, Tefa following him closely but not saying anything.

The Roekaar didn’t move but folded his arms over his chest and looked belligerently at Reyes before sneering at Tefa. “Was he a good fuck?Nice and tight or well used like the whore he is?” The leader asked Tefa, ignoring Reyes.

Feeling Tefa’s muscles bunch where they touched, Reyes was about to speak when Tefa snarled back his own reply, spitting out the last part like a curse.“What I do with him is none of your business Roekaar.”

This seemed to embolden the Roekaar, their leader smiling even more in a vicious way as his companions spread out to fully block their way towards home. “You are a traitor to your own race Tefa De Tershaav. You lay with these vesagara you come away diseased by their touch.”

Reyes didn’t get a chance to try and stop Tefa before he was leaping at the Roekaar who’d spoken, fists already in motion. Two of the Roekaar grabbed Tefa before he could land a hit and began hitting him, one hitting the side of his head making a sickening crack as it connected.The remainder of the group now had guns in hand. Reyes threw himself after Tefa, determined to help despite being unarmed. Reyes was quickly snagged by one of the Roekaar, his hands twisted behind his back making his shoulder’s protest at the strain as he bucked trying to dislodge the grip. A fist strongly connected with his face making him stagger as he was momentarily stunned by the hit. Several more hits connected to his abdomen and chest before someone’s gun was thrust into his outstretched leg causing something to snap in his left ankle as it was forcibly bent at an odd angle. Curling forward, the grip on his wrists relaxed as he fell forward into the dirt, adrenalin overriding the pain in his body.He could hear Tefa hurling curses and snarled replies that did not translate into anything Reyes recognized.

On all four in the dirt, Reyes felt a foot hit him between the shoulder blades grinding him down. As he bent further, he realized he wasn’t completely unarmed.He’d stuck the blade he’d won from Vestus in his boot like he always did and it was still there. The sound of an energy weapon powering up made him grab for the hidden blade and his fingers tightened around the hilt as he rolled up to face whoever was standing over him. The leader, the one who’d started the fight by insulting him, stood over Reyes with a pistol raised and his finger on the trigger as he looked at Tefa who was being restrained by the rest of them.

“Coward,” Reyes hissed at him, not looking away. He wasn’t going to die without making them remember him. His fingers slid the knife out of it’s holder slowly, appearing to readjust so he could spit at the angaran standing over him.

“You are no better than a kett,” he insulted him again making the Angaran’s eyes narrow as he turned his attention to Reyes.Miraculously he had not figured out that Reyes had a knife that was now fully unsheathed.He just needed a moment to be able to throw it like Vestus had drilled into him during their down time.

“I am here in my home vesagara.I do not go searching in other’s homes for my own because I know where I belong,” The Roekaar leader spat in Reyes face, spilt landing across his eyes and nose.Not able to see, Reyes smoothly threw his knife right in the bastard’s face before rolling to avoid any reflexive gunfire which hit the ground where he’d been milliseconds later. An aborted scream of pain also followed his throw even as he continued rolling towards the edge of the trail between two trees, hands wiping the spit off his face so he could see.

Whatever god watched over him, Reyes throw had been exceptionally good, the vibroblade burying itself in the Angaran’s neck. The angaran had dropped his gun and now clutched at the large slice in his neck which was bleeding profusely over his hands, dark blue blood unable to be stopped from flowing due to the angle and depth of the cut. Reyes had been beyond lucky with his throw, his knife sliding through the thin part of his crest to find it’s home in the major blood vessels that supplied the head. The angaran made things worse by pulling the knife out, increasing the blood flow.

What happened next was confusing to Reyes when he tried to remember it.He remembered a scream from Tefa and those that were restraining him had something happen to them.One of the others had left Tefa to help their leader before realizing that there was nothing to do. He then turned and lifted his own gun to aim at Reyes.Eyes widening, Reyes scrambled backwards, forgetting he was on the edge of the trail with a steep incline full of trees and rocks behind him.The soft ground at the edge gave way under Reyes’ weight and he fell, rolling and tumbling down.A sharp burn to his shoulder was noticed before his head connected with a tree limb and another snap was felt from his forearm as he broke another bone. Whatever happened next, Reyes was not a part of it as he blacked out, concussed, his body caught in a tangle of vegetation and rock.

 

_Excerpt from the After Action Report (AAR) of S. Ryder filed 2819 CE March 26th 22:02 SET (Standard Eos Time)_

_Approach to Eos was performed in the standard manner. This was the first mission flight of the Tempest and was noted to perform within peak parameters.Conditions upon reaching the surface of Eos were similar to those described in the records of the first colonization attempt—please reference AAR: Eos Promise. Upon arrival at colony site Promise, the barrier fence was noted to be functional but power to the colony had been shut down manually. Damage was discovered to the transformers which was repaired by the pathfinder team.After repairs were made, contact was made with hostile Kett force that engaged. No injuries resulted from this engagement, please see telemetry data for exact details of engagement. Upon power restoration, each building was evaluated and stored data examined for next targets._

_Data from scientific surveys conducted by initial colonists suggested presence of alien structures similar to those found on Habitat 7 (H7). Decision was made by S Ryder, Pathfinder to further evaluate these sites for possible location of alien tech capable of improving atmosphere quality. All three sites that were identified by available data were evaluated and cleared of hostile alien species (Designation of new alien species as Remnant). After interface with SAM implant, was able to activate all three alien structures to reveal an additional, larger alien vault._

_...Team performance in clearing of vault was excellent. XO Harper’s conduct is to be commended for her biotic capabilities. Without XO Harper’s abilities, there may have been total loss of Pathfinder team. New team member Pelessaria B’Sayle also contributed significant scientific findings to the mission.It is the opinion of this author that Nakmor Drack be identified as an asset and potential future Pathfinder team member._

 

_Attachments noted on records regarding Eos: Initial AAR filed by S Ryder, Pathfinder, MMAS:_

_Telemetry data and mineral mapping records for Eos records obtained from S Ryder, Pathfinder, MMAS_

_Medical records S Ryder injury summery and therapy plan by L T’Perro MD PhD_

_FOB data Eos, last updated 2819CE 2200 SET_

_Navigational Survey of Eos by S Ryder, Pathfinder, MMAS_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love—and make me write faster. The next chapter is half written—hope to have it out earlier due to the cliffhanger.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *waves magical medigel over Reyes* We’re going to go with a lot of scientifically and medicinally inaccurate things here. I’m going with medigel as a magical panacea.

Chapter Eighteen:

2818 October 16th

Aya, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, new Resistance Member, codename Shena

Status: Broken

Reyes awoke in fits and starts.He had a headache that pounded, eyes light sensitive that even opening them to slits was unbearable and pushed him back into unconsciousness as the pain rose. He could hear his friends saying his name and speaking softly to someone else who he didn’t recognize, their speech in a language that was alien to him. When he finally struggled from the depths of unconsciousness to more awareness, he felt numb.He’d felt this numbness before—it was the kind that he associated with anesthetic and too much medigel. There was a vague pressure on his hand that felt like someone holding it... but he couldn’t move enough to see who it was other than it was a human hand, small and delicate but with rough, chewed off nails—probably Maiko not Julia. HIs head did not want to lift from whatever surface it was on, he was on his side and his right arm was heavier than it should be and was propped up in a restraint to keep it from dropping naturally across his belly. He could see sheets pulled up high on his chest with the soft sleep shirts that Yaansa had made for him peaking out. He fell back asleep into a true sleep as he was too tired, but at least this time it was sleep and not the black of oblivion.

The next time he woke, he was a bit clearer.His head still had an ache to it but instead of a full drum line pounding on his skull it was only a steady staccato that pulsed in the back. Before opening his eyes, he tried to remember what happened—everything felt distant and foggy like he had heavy duty pain killers on board. Sluggishly, his mind recalled having sex with Tefa and falling asleep in the water... and then the morning sunrise which he’d thought was glorious... and then something about his knife and dark blue blood.Anxious, he opened his eyes and looked around for Tefa.Something very, very bad had happened.

He was in the rooms he shared with Alzik but it was dark, barely lit as someone had placed heavy drapes across the windows and door. Trying to move, he realized his right arm was restricted in a heavy splint, his left ankle similarly bound when he tried to roll which set his back muscles on fire. A high pitched whine escaped him as he felt strong, familiar hands help him roll onto his back, adjusting his limbs until the whine quieted. He could hear Vestus shushing him—it had to be him helping Reyes.He could hear a low pitched rumbling growl from his other side but it was comforting as the aggression was not aimed at him.

In the dim glow of a lamp, he could see Kenax in the darkness, perched on his heels on top of a chair, he was armed and had a sharp knife that could have been a triplet to the set Reyes had won from Vestus in his hands. Looking at the knife, Reyes felt his heart rate escalate.Something had happened with his knife.He wasn’t wearing his boots so it wasn’t on him.

“Whaaaa?” he slurred out. Vestus did not pause in his ministrations, tucking the sheet tighter around Reyes only to pull it loose and reposition one of his limbs and tuck it in again. Reyes dimly realized his right arm was propped up on a pillow so it was elevated as was his left leg.It was hard to decide where he was hurt as pain seemed to come from everywhere.

Kenax’s rumbling growl became louder. “Kenax!” Was the sharp, softly spoken command from Vestus.“Go get the doctor.”

Kenax glared at his bondmate before clearing his throat and the growl stopping.He didn’t say anything to either of them as he leapt from the chair and silently walked to the door, pushing aside the heavy curtain briefly as he left the room. The additional light that leaked out from beyond the curtain made Reyes’ eyes water as his headache spiked, another whine escaping him before Vestus caught on and adjusted the curtain to keep out the light.

His mouth beyond dry, Reyes tried to speak to Vestus. “What happened,” he asked, voice rough and dry, barely audible or recognizable to him as his own.

Picking up a glass with a straw, Vestus held it in front of Reyes and would not speak until Reyes took several drinks.Vestus’ face was serious, mandibles flaring slightly but he watched Reyes closely. “What do you remember?” Was the answer Vestus gave Reyes.

Trying to find the energy to glare at Vestus for being difficult, Reyes knew he looked like an upset kitten. Harmless and murderously adorable. “Was coming back from the spring, something happened.... I remember dark blue blood and something about my knife.Tefa was there...”

“He was there,” Vestus agreed, forcing Reyes to take another drink by shoving the straw in his mouth. “Do you remember anyone else there?”

Face furrowing in concentration, Reyes tried to catch hold of his memory which was slippery and fragmented.Moving his face drew attention to the swelling over the entire left side.He could remember a punch to his cheekbone and.... a tree as he rolled uncontrollably down a hill that he couldn’t avoid.He was pretty sure he’d been knocked unconscious by that tree...But had there been anyone else there?Yes there had... several Roekaar... one had called him a whore... “Yes.There were several Angarans I didn’t know.Wore Roekaar colors and Akksul’s sign on their breastplates.”

Vestus’ expression didn’t change but he did aggressively put the straw back in Reyes’ mouth again. “Drink.Your voice sounds like you swallowed broken glass.”

Reyes tried to glare again at his friend as he sucked on the straw but ended up wincing as it pulled on a cut on his forehead. Fucking trees.

“Do you think you could recognize these Angarans if you saw them again?” Vestus asked him, putting the cup to the side as Reyes finished it.

Thinking, Reyes thought he could and nodded. “I think so.”

“Good.”Vestus had a look in his eyes that made Reyes think he’d just signed someone’s death warrant.Whatever had happened... it hadn’t been good but Vestus was making Reyes think that he should start worrying about his friend committing murder on his behalf.

“Did I ever tell you why I was willing to go along with Kenax’s idea of staying with you?” Vestus asked conversationally after a moment. 

Kenax still hadn’t returned with the doctor and Reyes was starting to drift off again. Reyes looked closer at his friend who wasn’t meeting his gaze but staring at the chair Kenax had left. “No.You never did.Just said you’d been assigned looking for Cerberus in the Initiative.Seems a little bit drastic for a mission going six hundred years away on a one way trip.”

“How much do you know about Turian colony marks?” Vestus asked as he pointed at his own marks in what seemed like a really tangential question to Reyes. Vestus’s marks were ones Reyes had seen other Turians wear so it must be a common one. It was a V with the bottom resting on his upper lip, two more diagonal lines coming out from his eyes to his mandible lateral points, all in a pale gold that blended well with his brick colored skin tone.Kenax’s, in contrast, were singularly unique as Reyes had never seen them before on any other turian. Three thick dark, black, vertical lines down the right side of his dark grey-blue face with the most medial one bisecting the pupil line of his eye that looked almost like claw marks.

“Not much.I’ve seen ones like yours before. Never seen Kenax’s except for on him.”Reyes finally said.He wondered where Kenax had gone to get the doctor. This discussion didn’t seem relevant but he was sure Vestus had a point to make.

“My mark is for the colony Thracia.... not actually where I’m from but the colony administrator is known for allowing our special forces to use it when it’s not politically expedient to use our own.I’m actually from Galatana but they don’t like to know that their citizens are involved in the missions I was taking so I wear a Thracian mark because I’ve been given permission to do so.”Vestus looked thoughtfully at Reyes before continuing, his gaze returning to Kenax’s empty chair.

“My point is... I have a colony mark even if it wasn’t the one I was born to.Kenax and Vetra were both born outside of a colony or settled Turian world.Vetra was able to adopt the mark of her family which is acceptable to our people... Kenax was born barefaced—without a colony or world to claim him as he was abandoned an orphan on Omega.He was picked up from an asari run orphanage and put into the Hierarchy’s boarding school when he was old enough to hold his gun without falling over during drill exercises. He was the only barefaced one there for his entire stay.”

“Barefaced.... doesn’t that make him not a Turian to the Hierarchy?” Reyes asked, worried for Kenax and finding himself trying to get up so he could look for his friend to make sure he was okay. Kenax would have been the most bullied, thrashed around, ostracized kid in a very militarized environment without any family or anyone to care for him. That seemed beyond cruel for a friendly, affectionate Turian like Kenax.

“Oh my bondmate is a turian and recognized as such... he just was not considered a valuable asset and was used as cannon fodder for the special forces once he’d gotten old enough for the academy to spit him out and call him trained. That’s how I met him after all,” Vestus had a slight smile on his face, obviously remembering meeting his bondmate with fondness. “He was this underfed, scarred, soft armored, too young brat who had put three marks on his face that made him stand out even more than if he’d been barefaced. Was supposed to pilot the shuttle into the batarian slave station and blow himself and his ship up as his mission.I thought that was a waste of a soldier and disagreed with the mission commander who I hated anyway for his shitastic tactical decisions.Almost got myself demoted for that one but they couldn’t argue with me due to my orders and I got him reassigned to me as punishment for both of us.”

“I take it Kenax didn’t like being assigned to you?” Reyes asked. He found himself picturing a younger Kenax angry and bitter, ready to take on the universe being ordered to follow Vestus around.Reyes was pretty sure Vestus had sprung from the womb fully armed and his usual badass self, ready to take on whoever got in his way.

“Oh he hated me with a vengeance. He was hoping that he could crash the ship and then slip away to get back to Omega. Try and find out where his family had come from since nobody had ever been able to tell him anything.He tried to put a land mine under my desk within days of meeting me.He actually panicked and tried to take it back once he realized I’d stopped him from being given a suicide mission.Blew a hole in three decks of the ship for that one.”Reyes could just see it happening too. Vestus had a fond look on his face but continued to tell his story.

“So after he resigned himself to being assigned as my person gopher he learned what exactly I did.He’s a fast learner when he’s motivated and an exceptional pilot.”

“But what was your assignment?” Reyes interrupted.

Vestus gave him a sharp look for the interruption but did answer the question. “I was assigned to cabal special operations.” 

Reyes sucked in a deep breath.The biotic turian command?Those were just rumors he thought.... turians weren’t biotics—well almost never according to the intelligence reports he’d read. He’d seen no indications that Vestus had any biotic skills to speak of.“But you’re not a biotic?”

Vestus glared at him as he raised his hand and a blue glow surrounded him.“I am.I’m just very careful when I use those particular skills as it marks me as different and other Turians start avoiding me.In some ways, it makes me just as much of an outcast of Turian society as it does Kenax.”

“So Kenax...” Reyes indicated for Vestus to continue his story, relaxing back into his pillows as Vestus fidgeted before settling back into his chair to continue.

“Kenax saw how the entire squad sometimes seemed afraid of me and was puzzled by it.That particular squad had seen me exercise my skills and knew I was a biotic. The command structure for me was separate from theirs so it saved me from their idiocy. When the mission was complete Kenax came with me to my next spec ops assignment.He has absolutely no biotic capabilities of his own but I treated him as I would any other squad mate—an equal.It stumped him something bad.He couldn’t figure me out. Two years later I took him as my bondmate when he’d finally figured out I wasn’t going to leave him behind on assignment just because he wasn’t able to do the same things.I’ve always felt that we balance each other out, he’s a lot more forgiving than I am and I am much more protective of us both.”

“That doesn’t explain why you decided to come with me.You’d likely be able to pursue your mission better if you were with the rest of the security forces in Govorkam.If I was a Cerberus agent that’s where I’d be if I wasn’t on the Nexus,” Reyes answered, thinking over what Vestus had told him.

“Most likely yes.However, you are the first friend my bondmate has ever made outside of myself and Vetra.And it’s not sexual before you ask.He is just trying to figure out how to have a normal friendship—it’s a work in progress and he’s been very excited to finally have just a friend.Most of us go the other way round—make friends and then find life partners out of one of them but Kenax is a special case.”Vestus seemed amused at his absent bondmate as he spoke.Reyes could see the strength of their relationship in how Vestus talked. He’d always thought they had a solid foundation but this explained a lot.

Thinking about what he’d been told, Reyes could see what Vestus was talking about. When he’d first met Kenax he’d been very reserved but he’d opened up a lot on their second flight after Reyes had started talking to try and fill the silence of the cockpit. He’d wanted to get to know his assigned copilot as he’d always felt he did better when flying with friends. He’d been right about Kenax and they’d quickly become very good friends—better than some of the ones he’d had in the navy and he’d struggled with separating from the navy because he knew it would cost him those close relationships. Kenax had been enthusiastic each time Reyes started talking and had picked up quickly on his humor and quirks, sharing his own.Reyes had initially just thought it was Kenax being Kenax but now he could see how Kenax had mimicked him until he’d figured out Reyes was just being friendly and had relaxed, teaching Reyes his dry, sarcastic sense of humor that at times could be self-deprecating.

Vestus hadn’t said anything but just watched as Reyes thought about what he’d been told. “I hope you consider us friends as well?” Reyes finally asked.

Vestus laughed but visibly relaxed.“You have become a very good friend to both of us Reyes.Which is why my bondmate and myself are so upset about what happened.”

“But what did happen?” Reyes asked immediately.He could remember blood and throwing his knife but he couldn’t remember at who.He could see faces he didn’t recognize on the trail.He had a feeling that something very bad had happened to get him this injured.

“Let us wait until after the doctor has seen you and then I will tell you what you want o know,” Vestus said, pulling back.“Rest.Kenax should return soon with the doctor.”

***

It took a significant amount of time for Kenax to return with a doctor and Reyes had fallen back into a light doze.Kenax didn’t just bring the doctor,Maiko, Julia, Alzik and Evfra all accompanied the same healer that Reyes had met his first day on Aya. Maiko and Julia both gave him careful hugs but didn’t say much as they crowded around Vestus to hear what the doctor had to say. 

The doctor was calm and carefully examined Reyes, her light touch on his hands with the familiar tingle of bioelectric signals was soothing instead of the fire that Tefa used on him.He could actually feel her expanding her assessment of him with the touch as well as soothing some of his aches and pains as it spread.It was a neat trick and Reyes felt himself becoming sharper as his mind cleared with less pain interference.

“You will need much more rest before you are able to be up and running around with your teammates,” she finally said with a blink of her expressive eyes. “But you should make a full recovery given time and it should not interfere with your joining the Resistance if you still wish it.The medigel your friends have provided has accelerated your bones healing,” here she looked at Maiko with a severe look, “and I expect you will share how to make it with us.”

“We will,” Reyes assured her before Maiko could say anything. “I feel much better.Thank you.”

His gratitude amused the woman and she exchanged a look with Evfra.“He is a charmer as I suspected.No permanent damage but he will need time to get back on his feet.”

Evfra gave an exaggerated, human-like nod to Reyes.“It is good to hear you will recover Reyes Vidal.”

Hm. Formality and no one was telling him what happened to Tefa who he expected to see here.He’d just have to ask.“Where’s Tefa?”No one was meeting his gaze or said anything to his question. 

Yeah... something very bad had happened and his memory was not being helpful. “I know something bad happened.Where is he?”He couldn’t help how rough his voice soundedat the end.Vestus thrust his refilled cup at him and looked pointedly at the straw. Kenax, who was just behind Vestus had a sub vocal growl going on again that was oddly calming as he knew that Kenax’s anger wasn’t focused on him but on whoever had hurt him.

Evfra struggled visibly before deciding on what to say.“I am informed that you will most likely not remember everything that happened due to being unconscious for some time with a blow to your head.While I can not be certain that the whole of the truth has been discovered, we can say that my cousin and you were confronted by the followers of Akksul on your way back down the trail.You had missed the morning run with your fellow trainees and had been noticed to be missing.Given that my cousin was also missing it was assumed you had wanted some private time together.”

“We did,” Reyes said.“There’s a hot spring side trail halfway up.He took me there to show it to me.”

“So you know that much.Can you tell me what happened when you met the Roekaar?” Evfra asked, his face impassive now so Reyes could not get a read on why he was asking questions that he probably already knew the answer to if he’d talked to Tefa.

Frowning, Reyes tried to sort through his fragmented memories. “There was some sort of confrontation.Tefa was upset by something they said.... I’m not sure what happened afterwords but I remember pulling my knife out of my boot...one of the Angaran’s was bleeding but it wasn’t Tefa.I don’t remember anything other than falling down the incline and a tree hitting me... I think it was a tree.”

“It would seem there was a violent disagreement between my cousin and the Roekaar.You were found by the trainees on their morning run.You had fallen off the trail and were very injured—you were awake enough to move all your limbs but couldn’t stay awake when asked.You were brought here for our doctors to see you. Your medigel has done wonders for your healing—we would not have expected you to be awake and talking so soon.”Evfra held Reyes’ gaze like a snake charmer.Reyes was afraid to look away knowing that Evfra knew where Tefa was and what had happened. But why wasn’t Tefa here—a fear Reyes didn’t want to name clawed at the back of his mind.

“Where is Tefa?” Reyes calmly asked again.He knew what he wasn’t being told... but he needed to hear it.

“My cousin was killed by multiple gunshots from the Roekaar that confronted you.His body was found on the trail which prompted your fellow trainees to look for you.You were found shortly thereafter. Neither of you were armed.”Reyes knew he was crying even as he stared at Evfra.What he feared was correct. Tefa was dead.

“And my knife?” Reyes asked, clearing his throat as his nose began to run he wiped his eyes with his free hand. “I did something with it—I think I got one of them.”

“You had managed to severely wound one of your aggressors,” Evfra pulled Reyes’ knife out of a sheath in his armor to lay it in Reyes’ lap. The blade had been cleaned but Reyes thought he could still see dark blue-green blood on the blade.

“Have you captured the others that did this?” Reyes asked quietly, his fingers running along the sharp edge of the blade even as a few tears dropped on the beveled channel that ran the length of the blade.He could almost see the angaran he’d thrown it at, the surprise and anger that he’d faced in the other Roekaar. On his back he could feel the kick he’d taken between the shoulder blades like a brand, the pain flaring as he remembered it.

“There have been three younglings detained that we suspect were part of the group as they were known to associate with the one you injured. They are not talking but it has not been that long yet.I suspect with you awake, they will be more forthcoming in the following days.” Evfra had a dark look about him, like the calm before a lightning strike. Reyes would bet that the suspected assailants were not being kept well.

“I remember faces... I don’t know any names but I think I can tell you if they were there,” Reyes offered, sniffling slightly. He needed to stop crying... this wasn’t the time for this but his emotions swung wildly from anger to sadness to inappropriately thinking with dark humor about what he’d like to suggest as punishment. Tefa had told him about what happened to Angarans who went dark—those who were withheld from sunlight either real or artificial.Angarans with their bioelectric fields needed regular exposure to electromagnetic radiation—aka light. Without it, an angaran would eventually fall into a coma and die.He thought that would be appropriate for those who’d in hate attacked them for doing noting other than being there.To be shut away and forgotten.

“I would appreciate it if you can identify those responsible,” Evfra said after a moment.Evfra was struggling to hold back his own emotions but seemed sad for Reyes. “We have been waiting for you to wake up. As a family, we will be holding his remembrance ceremony—we would like you to be there with us for it.”

Eyes burning, Reyes sniffled again, the tears continuing to trickle down his face so he closed his eyes tying to stop them. Reyes nodded. “I’ll be there.”

He opened his eyes and looked up as he felt a touch on his unsplinted hand. Evfra gently took his hand and gripped it firmly, his eyes serious as they met Reyes’.“You were not responsible for what happened Reyes Vidal.As the leader of the Resistance it is my honor to call you friend.The Roekaar will not be unchallenged for this.You and your friends are safe on Aya.I still wish for you to join your class and become a full member of the Resistance. The true enemies of us all are the Kett. We only grow stronger by standing by our friends.”

Reyes looked at Evfra who was solemnly promising an alliance between them.He knew he needed to set aside his personal feelings and do this.His friends needed him to do this. He needed to do this for himself too. Tefa would have wanted this to happen. “I want to join the Resistance as I set out to.We are friends, Evfra.Friends stand by each other when they are needed.”

“Then I would like you to know that with the completion of your mission we consider you a full member, no longer a trainee or initiate.”Evfra gave a sad smile before continuing.“I had spoken with my cousin about your designation and he chose it.He indicated it would be an ‘in-joke’ between you and him. Your codename is Shena.It means ‘mouth’.”

Reyes let out a laugh that he suspected sounded like a sob. “Yes, he would suggest that.”

“So you accept it as your codename?” Evfra verified.

Reyes nodded but Evfra was waiting for him to verbalize the agreement.“Yes.I agree to have Shena as my codename. What is everyone else’s?”There was scattered nervous chuckling at Reyes question.

“Nothing as exciting as yours,” Alzik offered to less nervous laughter.

“We will make it through this Reyes Vidal. We will meet Tefa again one day.” Evfra promised.

Reyes knew about the Angaran belief in rebirth and reincarnation.He couldn’t agree with it himself but he knew where Evfra was coming from. He nodded again to acknowledge Evfra’s statement but didn’t verbally agree. He’d have to trust in Angaran spirituality more than his own on this one.

***

Having argued with all of his friends, Reyes was present at the RemembranceCeremony that night, standing with the aid of a crutch that had been hastily fashioned by Alzik. He’d refused to be carried anywhere, wanting to show the Angarans that he would get better and that he may be injured but he was not damaged goods—even if getting down to the beach had been agony with each dizzy step The ceremony was held at the water’s edge, on the beach that Tefa had learned to surf at.Evfra had indicated that it was one of Tefa’s favorite places on Aya for longer than he could remember. It seemed almost all of Aya had shown up for the ceremony and the beach was crowded, standing room only.

At the water’s edge, Tefa’s body was wrapped in the same cloth that rofjinn’s were made of, covered him from head to toe on a wooden pyre set on a flat barge. Torches radiated around him in a circle with an opening towards the water.Yaansa, having seen Reyes struggling to make it down to the beach on his own, had taken Reyes uninjured left hand and given him support to hobble to stand before the pyre, not dropping his hand and sending warm, comforting waves through her touch that strengthened him.Her face had aged since he’d last seen her but there were no tears. She gave him small, tired, sad smiles but kept her hand in his.Her husbands and wives stood around them, greeting Reyes with brief touches to his arms and face before the children of the family surrounded them, several hugging Reyes before being pulled away by their parents.

“He spoke so warmly of you,” Yaansa said finally, her voice barely audible above he conversational din of the gathered Angara and the waves.

“I... He made Aya feel like it could be home,” Reyes replied, gaze not wavering from Tefa’s body.

“Could be?” She asked with a slight increase in the flow of energy through her touch.

“I don’t know anymore,” Reyes confessed. “I just don’t know what to do now.”

Yaansa was quiet at his broken sounding confession. They both watched as Evfra stepped up and eulogized Tefa.Reyes didn’t hear any of it, his gaze fixed on Tefa’s body and the sound of the waves coming in. The only thing keeping him anchored there was Yaansa’s gentle, unobtrusive touch that carried as much grief as he felt.He hadn’t cared for Tefa like he should was the conclusion he was coming to. He’d been too hesitant, unready for it or maybe just in denial of being capable of a permanent relationship. He didn’t know if he could ever be ready for the relationship he’d begun building but now lay wrecked upon this shore. His mother’s family curse indeed—he’d been so preoccupied with never putting himself at risk that he’d forgotten his Tío’s advice. Love would always be worth it, even if it was only for a brief moment in time.

After Evfra spoke, several other Angarans that Reyes knew by name also stood to speak of Tefa.He’d been given the opportunity but declined it—telling Evfra that he just couldn’t. Evfra had understood and given Reyes hand a squeeze with a pulse of electricity through it.Reyes had found that the constant touching from the Angarans he was well aquatinted with was restorative—their method of enhanced communication also a way of sharing energy that was somehow boosting him despite his different physiology.

When everyone had finished speaking, Tapers were handed out.One by one, each angaran present would light their taper from one of the torches before putting it against the dry wood at the base of the pyre. Yaansa and Reyes, as he was holding hands with her, went first followed by Tefa’s family then everyone else. Reyes watched as his friends joined the procession. Tefa’s body was soon consumed by flames.When everyone had placed their tapers, a group of Angarans in Resistance colors pushed the pyre out into the water, the barge underneath pulling into the current and it fluttered away from shore, the light burning brightly in the dark as the moon had already set.

The gathered Angarans then began to depart in small groups and families until it was just Yaansa, Reyes, and his friends left.Yaansa’s husband Arva was the last to leave but she had shooed him away, stating that she wanted to speak to Reyes alone. Reyes had been about to depart but had waited for Yaansa to speak.She had not objected when Vestus and Alzik had pulled the girls and Kenax to wait at the base of the stairs, several hundred meters away from where they stood with the torches starting to sputter and die, the light dimming as the tide came in.

“You have some decisions to be made—yes?Evfra tells me that you have agreed to your position in the Resistance.” Yaansa had turned to face Reyes, her hand still in his.

Shifting slightly to lean more heavily on his crutch, Reyes tried to ignore the worsening ache in his splinted leg. “I’m sure there are.Evfra didn’t seem to want to press me earlier today but most of my fellow trainees will be deployed throughout Heleus.”

“You never expected to stay on Aya?” Yaansa asked him simply.

Tilting his head, Reyes answered her truthfully. “I was grateful for every day I was given permission to be on Aya.I don’t know where Evfra will put me or my friends.I would only ask that we be given the option of staying together.”

Yaansa squeezed his hand. “You have very good friends to have come so far together.They were very worried for you.” She paused and looked out at the water—the fire from the pyre was no longer visible in the night as it had slipped into the waves. “You should talk with Keema Dohrgun.I believe you have met her?”

Reyes remembered being introduced to her.“I know her.Why?”

Yaansa gave him a mysterious smile.“Keema and I are old friends—I almost married her once.She is recruiting for a mission on Kadara and has no love for the Roekaar. She would be more than willing to take on a group such as yours... And” Yaansa paused for effect, “and she would get you away from here to have a new start.I know what it is to see someone who is no longer with us in every shadow, every room, every roll of the waves or gust of wind.Their ghost can haunt you and the sorrow takes hold and never leaves.My son would want you to continue on with your life.He spoke of your wish to help out those you have left behind. With Keema you will be able to do so.”

Leaving seemed a gargantuan task... but staying would not be easy.When he’d agreed to training with the Resistance, Reyes would admit that he’d hoped he’d be given an assignment that required him and his friends to stay on Aya for a longer time period due to the climate and feeling safe on Aya. Now, he could see the appeal of going someplace new as his safe new home had ended up not being safe after all. He needed something, he just wasn’t sure what it was yet.In a lot ways he still felt like Tefa was alive just not here, that he’d run into him walking through the tavetaan or get called by him to go surfing. He hadn’t had time to process anything.

Swaying slightly, Reyes squeezed Yaansa’s hand back.“I’ll think about it.”Yaansa, obviously concerned, tried to help Reyes keep on his feet but she was unable and he ended up sitting in the sand, his leg giving out from under him and unable to keep his balance with one arm in a sling and the other shoulder with restricted movement from a bullet graze.

“Fuck,” Reyes grumbled as he tried to get his splinted limbs straightened out but his muscles were quivering and felt like jelly.Before he could do so, Kenax was there, swatting his hand away and lifting him up.

“Stop it.You’ve done enough today,” Kenax told him as he lifted Reyes to his feet.Watching Reyes waver, he then picked him up in a bridal carry and started towards the stairs. “Don’t even think of asking me to put you down.I watched you totter down those stairs and almost fall flat on your face more times than I can count.Hold still and I’ll think about putting you down when we get up top and it’s a flat surface for you to walk on.” 

Over Kenax’s shoulder, Reyes could see Yaansa following an amused but sad look on her face. Reyes was going to protest but she wagged his crutch that he’d dropped at him in warning when he opened his mouth to do so. “Fine.You will put me down when we get up top,” Reyes told Kenax even as the rest of his friends followed as Kenax started taking the stairs two at a time.He’d have to pick battles he could win and this one was obviously unable to win... and he was pretty sure he’d never physically be able to get back up the stairs on his own power right now.

***

2819 CE March 27th

Fairwinds Basin, Eos, Pytheas system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status:I’m going to trade my helmet in for a construction hat

Watching the first colony ship arrive that was basically just a giant storage container, Scott and his team cheered. As the ramp deployed from the side, Scott walked up to meet Bradley.August Bradley was the first of the colony people off the ship, a lean black man who walked with a slight hitch to his gait wearing what Scott was starting to realize was the basic uniform for the Initiative. He was followed by several others who were looking around eagerly but Bradley had focused like a laser beam on the pathfinder team and headed directly for them.As his feet hit dirt, Bradley paused for a moment, eyes closed before opening them and greeting Scott by grabbing his hand in a firm handshake and a pat to the bicep with the opposite hand.Bradley’s face was serious but Scott could see the excitement in the man’s eyes. “Pathfinder, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”

“Likewise,” Scott returned the handshake. He instantly liked Bradley and had a good feeling about the man.“This is my XO Cora Harper and our team members—Vetra Nyx, Liam Kosta and Peebee.”

Bradley nodded in greeting at each person as he was given their name, finally dropping Scott’s hand.“We’ve all been waiting for this day.I can’t believe I’m standing here, our new home.”Turning back to Scott as he’d let his eyes wander around the valley in appreciation, Bradley gave a huge smile. “Did anyone tell you what we’ve decided to call this colony?”

Shaking his head in the negative, Scott admitted he had not.

“Prodromos.Means forerunner in Greek.This is going to be the place where we start, the forerunner to all our other successes to follow.My people are ready to start as soon as you are.” Bradley started walking towards the back airlock which was opening. 

As the rear airlock opened, Scott watched as a large earth mover—a giant bulldozer—was offloaded first followed by a backhoe and a dump truck.All were larger than the ones he’d previously seen but obviously built to take a beating with extra body armor around where the operator would be and the engines. “We’ve already got a basic scan of the area but we need to flatten out a couple areas so we can get the main buildings down here today and begin digging out a channel for the docks so we can get regular deliveries,” Bradley informed them as they walked together following the machines.

“Looks like you have all the basics covered,” Scott offered, making conversation.

This rated another megawatt smile.“We do indeed. We can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done.With the radiation problem solved we won’t need a barrier fence and be constrained like Promise or Resilience. We’ll be able to have a fully expansive colony that can fit our needs not Eos’ restrictions.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Scott offered.He wanted to do everything he could to help out.

“Sure.Let me introduce you to our chief engineer Cain Fawkes. He can assign you duties if you’re willing to stick around and help us out,” Bradley practically beamed at Scott’s offer of assistance, indicating a blond man who followed a few steps behind who next spoke.

“There are many things your team would be of assistance with,” Fawkes offered.

“Just tell us what you need and we’ll get it done,” Scott told them.Prodromos would be a success. Scott would make sure or die trying.

***

Over the next two weeks, Scott and his team helped with surveying, assembled more equipment than he’d ever thought possible (thank god for easy to read assembly instructions!), dug wells, chased off wildlife, and set up defenses for the colony. Prodromos rapidly took shape, the main core of the colony with focused scientific research space for the scientists that would study Prodromos and the Remnant as well as living space for the first colonists.There was a constant stream of shuttles landing and taking off, dropping supplies and moving empty crates into an area they were calling ‘storage’ but really was just a small canyon next to the valley.The crates would be used again to transport supplies back to the Nexus once Prodromos was producing.

Scott and his team had split up for the day—Scott, Liam and Vetra were setting up mining equipment at several large deposits and calling down mining probes from orbit so Kesh’s shopping list would get partially filled.Gil was helping out with some sort of engineering problem that had been encountered setting up the communication relay with the QEC that had been sent—it had some sort of compatibility issue that made Gil swear a blue streak as he went to investigate this morning. Kallo was working as air traffic control.Cora, Suvi, and Peebee were helping set up another one of the greenhouses so the botanists could get more hydroponics going—they already had one greenhouse that was fully assembled and were filling the water tanks so they could begin planting their first crop in the next few days. The botanists were also setting up a test horticulture site next to the stream and had diverted a small part of it to make a swimming pool for everyone to cool off in at the end of the day.

The sheer amount of equipment that had been set up was staggering, the colony rapidly expanding with survey stakes placed to indicate where further growth would be going.The first priority—according to Bradley—was to get food production up and running followed by colony defense.They’d already sent teams to Promise and Resilience to get their systems back up and running with several scientists making regular trips to and from, collecting all the information that had been inadvertently abandoned during the prior settlement efforts.Kandros had sent three APEX strike teams that were patrolling between the areas and were busy eliminating any Kett they came across—which was thankfully not as many as Scott had initially feared.No one was actively living in Promise or Resilience yet but it would be a matter of time. Drack had been wandering in and out, mainly to get more ammunition for his shotgun and to check on how Scott was doing.

Setting up their third mining operation of the day, Scott and his team had fallen into an easy rhythm. This mining site would be for aluminum but the other two they’d done earlier had been for graphite.Their next targeted site was a bit further up in the highlands but had promising scans for iron and—the more rarely occurring—vanadium which was used in electrical conductors that Kesh had highlighted as an ongoing need. Finishing the survey of the site, Scott called down the probe from orbit that would set up an automated mine. With SAM’s assistance, he guided it to the spot where the readings were best for aluminum with Liam and Vetra keeping an eye out for any Kett or wildlife they’d need to shoo away. As the probe settled with a earth shaking thump and began to unfold, Scott could hear his comm going off, trying to get his attention.

“This is Ryder,” he answered, wondering what someone needed. He’d checked in with Bradley this morning before setting out.

“Ryder, I’m supposed to inform you that Director Addison is on her way.She’ll be here before sundown and she wants to talk to you while she does her inspection,” Kallo relayed the message.

Looking up at the sun’s progress, Scott could see it was easily mid afternoon and at least a two hour trip back in the nomad to Prodromos. “What time?”

“1800.” Kallo’ s crisp reply made Scott want to swear.Three hours from now—which meant she hadn’t commed ahead when they left the Nexus and this was a surprise visit.He hoped Bradley was ready to play tour guide because he didn’t see it going well if it was left to him.So far, Scott had managed to avoid having to give any more verbal reports to Addison—he’d had to give a few to Tann but Tann was mostly interested in how they were using the resources sent and manpower requests.Scott had somehow ended up being asked to independently verify each of Bradley’s requests.He’d simply started asking Bradley to BCC him any requests so that when Tann asked him about them he could agree that they were needed rather than being caught by surprise.They’d had one request go through back channels by one of the scientists for taking someone out of cryo that was inappropriate at this stage—that had been halted promptly by Bradley once he figured out how it had gotten through around his authorization. Someone who worked with Addison named Spender was on Bradley’s shit list for that one. Seriously, he sometimes ended up talking with Tann every eight hours or so if he was within vidcall range.This is why he’d volunteered for the jobs that took him out of it as often as possible. Once Gil got the QEC up and working that would not be possible so he was using the excuse while he could.

“Roger.We’re going to finish up here and then we’ll head back.Should be there by 1730.” Hopefully they’d been accurate with the estimate of when Addison would get there.They’d need to finish up here quick so they’d be back before her as it was.

“Roger,I will notify Bradley,” Kallo said. “Tempest out.”

Sighing, Scott watched the probe continue to unfold and release it’s load of mining equipment. The VI that ran these mining bots was simple to set up but did take some time and SAM made it easy.Time to hurry up. “Vetra! Liam!We need to wrap it up.Fifteen minutes and we’ve got to be in the nomad and headed back.Director’s coming to visit” he called.They’d taken to using voice when possible instead of comms as didn’t get inadvertently picked up by someone snooping on them from the colony.They’d had issues with a few of the workers being nosy and recording everything Scott said.One had said it was for the record but her friends had just said they liked knowing what Scott was up to. Personally, it was making him feel paranoid even though he’d done nothing wrong.

Vetra and Liam both waved to acknowledge his order, Liam who was further out started walking back towards the nomad. Scott instructed SAM, “Let’s get this done with.”

***

They made it back with ten minutes to spare before they could see the contrail from the ship entering atmosphere and Kallo alerted Scott that Addison’s ship was entering atmosphere. Quickly rinsing off the worst of the dust that had embedded itself in his hair, Scott pulled on clothes while still wet—he wouldn’t be able to do anything about the patchy four days worth of stubble growth so he finger combed his hair mostly flat as he stepped into a pair of boots. There was no point in getting armored up if they’d be only going around the colony site so he didn’t bother. Well, if Addison wanted to go exploring she was welcome to but he wasn’t putting his armor back on until tomorrow unless he was ordered specifically to do so. Grabbing his toothbrush he quickly gave his mouth a refresher, rinsing and spitting before taking a quick drink of water.

“Addison’s shuttle is landing now Scott,” SAM informed him.

“I’m coming.Hold your horses,” Scott told him as he straightened his shirt so it fell cleanly without wrinkles and left his cabin.Cora, looking flawless as always joined him as he stepped down the ramp from the Tempest to make his way towards the small landing area that Kallo had directed the arriving shuttle to. He could feel SAM mentally trying to understand the ‘hold his horses’ comment but figured SAM would ask if he didn’t get it.

Waiting for the shuttle to land, Scott and Cora joined Bradley who was calmly waiting off to the side, a datapad in hand.“Did you know she was coming?” Scott asked him quietly.

“No.I had been told she’d likely visit in a few weeks once we’d had more things set up as it would be a distraction to have her here before then. Our work schedules have been so full getting things going that having to shuttle around a visitor was considered unnecessary.” Bradley was even in his tone and his face was expressionless. So this was a surprise for him too. Scott wondered why Addison was here.

Neither of them said anything more as the ramp deployed and several figures stepped onto the ramp and walked towards them.Scott could identify Addison but did not know either of the two human males with her or the salarian. Addison walked directly towards them, not even looking around at the environment like her companions did who were visibly agog at what they were looking at. 

“August.Ryder.I see that you’ve gotten started.I’d expected you to be further along given the resources we’ve deployed,” Addison said briskly as she took off a glove and shook Bradley’s hand. Scott tried not to grit his teeth at the unsubtle dig.

Bradley was more diplomatic and appeared unruffled by Addison’s sting.“We’ve been hard at work with the amount of workforce we’ve had which has been the limiting factor so far.In fact, without the Pathfinder Team’s assistance we’d be even further behind.”

Addison briefly glanced at Scott but didn’t respond to Bradley’s comment.“I expect a full accounting of what has been working so far, what hasn’t and if any resources are going to waste.”She continued walking making them follow her rather than lead her into the colony. “I also expect a full tour—tonight if possible.”

Scott didn’t reply, only looked at Bradley with a “this is your problem” look. Bradley sighed silently but stepped up to walk next to Addison while Scott trailed behind them.“We can make that happen. I still have teams coming in from their day work so not everyone will be present.There may be some projects that will only be available in the morning as we did not expect you today.”

“I suppose that will suffice,” Addison said, ignoring Scott like he wasn’t there.

Addison and Bradley continued to exchange conversation—none of the questions Addison asked were directed at Scott. Bradley showed her the main building complex, the labs, the greenhouses, the water wells, and the colony quarters before Addison started being more complimentary when she saw that the hydroponics in the first greenhouse were ready to be planted in the morning. Her questions otherwise were pointed, criticizing and exacting.

Bradley handled it all with aplomb and Scott wanted to nominate the man for saint given the grilling Addison was giving him.One of the men that had accompanied Addison was evidently the Spender that was on Bradley’s shit list but you wouldn't’ know it from how cordial the man was acting. The other man was named Vladimir Brecka.He was some sort of administrative assistant and was taking notes of everything that Bradley said but when he asked questions they were kind and only to confirm details of things that Bradley mentioned, going so far as to ask Scott questions that he was able to mostly answer.

Their strange parade made it’s way into each corner of the settlement even as night fell and the air began to cool. Having made it to where the Tempest was docked, Addison dismissed Bradley and said she’d join him for dinner but she needed to have a private word with the pathfinder, making Scott’s ears prick as she finally acknowledged him being there. Bradley excused himself and he offered to take the rest of the party back to the colony living quarters where they could get something to eat.Scott motioned with his head for Cora to follow them.It wasn’t like he’d be alone. _SAM—make sure this is recorded for my own records. No trace of this anywhere else._

_Yes Scott._

Addison looked out over the valley as the stars were coming out and the moon was just rising.Scott, ever appreciative of Eos’ beauty would have pointed it out but he suspected Addison wanted to just get down to business. “Did you have something you need me to do?” Scott enquired mildly when Addison didn’t look at him for several moments.

“They’re very eager,” She finally said before turning to look at him.Her gaze was cutting as she examined Scott. “I haven’t seen eager like this in a long time.They’re saying you’ve done the impossible.”

Scott deflected. “I wouldn’t say impossible but it was difficult.”

Addison seemed to find his remark petty. “You’ve made a foothold here but we’ve done this before—albeit with less resources and people committed.I will admit,” she paused and flicked her gaze up and down Scott like he was a specimen under study, “that I am more hopeful that we will succeed this time.However, we’re a long ways away from established.”

“True,” Scott agreed, not giving her anything to argue with.He mostly agreed with what she was saying but thought their odds were better than she was implying.

Addison frowned at him at being denied anything she could argue about.“The report you sent... about the map showing connections to our failed golden worlds that they might too be able to be made habitable like Eos...have you found any other information to lead you to further conclusions?”

Trying to figure out what Addison was getting at, Scott shook his head. “No.I’ve been mainly preoccupied with helping getting Prodromos started given the skeleton crew we’re working with.” He held up his hand to get Addison to let him finish as she appeared to be wanting to interrupt. “I understand that with our limited available food and energy that delaying withdrawal from cryosleep is essential and am more than willing to help get the crops started and get Kesh the things she needs to get her power plant fully operation on the Nexus. So, No.I haven’t had time to do any further recon about the Remnant and I have passed along all of Peebee’s research notes.”

Addison’s frown deepened.“All of them?”

Scott confirmed. “All of them. I’ve also cc’d the relevant science departments as noted in the reports.”

Addison crossed her arms across her breasts. “So you have no more information than what has already been reported?”

“No.As soon as we’re done here on Eos my plan is to resupply at the Nexus and at that time discuss with Tann and yourself my next steps which I was going to suggest should include our former golden worlds that match on the map I discovered.”Scott was speaking slow and clearly as Addison started to pace, almost in agitation if he was being honest about it.

“You do realize what kind of time line we are working on correct?Resources are beyond stretched thin.” Addison was glaring at him full force now.

“I do.I also think that Prodromos,” he gestured to all the buildings around them, “Is the best option we have right now. We’ve been deploying mining bots for the supplies Kesh needs.We’re getting started on a food supply as quickly as we can get greenhouses set up.What we need is time and a high success rate here.”

“You do realize it may not be enough?”Addison paused right in front of him, stabbing her finger into Scott’s sternum.

Scott gently pulled her hand away from his chest and let it go, schooling his face to be unemotional.“I do.But making sure Prodromos succeeds is our best option that I am aware of.If you have another option you feel I should be pursuing I am more than happy to hear about it and consider it.”

Addison didn’t reply right away and turned away and started pacing again before she paused and turned to look at him with now several meters in between them. “Those other worlds that were identified... we need at least one more viable colony started as soon as possible in case something happens here on Eos.We need options and the map you found seems to be the next best step.”

“And I will be pursuing it shortly.I have talked to Bradley and there’s approximately a week’s worth of work that would be appropriate for my team to help with—that will get the QEC online, the mining bots fully deployed and three greenhouses up and running.If I can, I also plan on getting those turrets fully operational so the colony won’t be fully dependent on the APEX teams for defense. After that, I will be back on the Nexus and will hope to have an idea of my next stop—my science team is coordinating with SAM to give the best probability for our next target.” Scott could see Addison wasn’t fully appeased but seemed willing to leave it at that.He had the feeling this wouldn’t be the last time she was critical of his actions or plans but he’d had worse critiques before. He knew he was doing the right thing.

“Well, I expect you back on the Nexus within the week.If not, I will be speaking to Tann about your responsibilities and access to resources without further scrutiny.” She tapped her foot and began walking away, ending the conversation as she headed towards the main building complex without allowing him to say anything more.

What. A. Bitch. Scott mentally said to himself but just trailed along behind Addison.He’d need to make sure she safely made it to the building—if something happened to her it would be him that got blamed. He theoretically got the stresses Addison was under but felt her attitude towards him was unreasonable.What had he done to her to make her act this way?It wasn’t like he was sucking up a bunch of resources without contributing.

_I suspect that the uprising has made her very cautious,_ SAM offered.

Scott, picking his way carefully through the dark mentally agreed. _Yeah... we really need to find out what exactly has been happening on the Nexus—both before we arrived and after.Addison should be happier that we’ve got Prodromos started but she’s acting like we lit all the resources she gave us on fire and claimed it was an accident._

_My information suggests a large amount of resources are not available—when we get to the Nexus, may I suggest some information gathering?I can only verify that crates are no longer listed in the system manifest, not that they are physically not present.The original manifests from the Hyperion do not match the ones I obtained from the Nexus servers—there are very significant differences that suggest someone has been selectively editing them in a way to hide missing supplies. There are also regular entries of new resources that have been noted for the last five months. All of these resources are noted under Kesh’s office._

_New supplies? From where?_ Scott wondered if they’d established trade with someone that he wasn’t aware of.The kett definitely weren’t becoming trading partners any time soon.

_Yes. New supplies—mainly foodstuffs and energy supplies.There is evidence in the Nexus records that they have been altered by multiple users of varying skill levels. Some are quite amateur but others can only be done with significant clearance levels._

_So we have multiple people involved... want to bet that they’re not all working together?_

_Judging on the disorganized appearance of the record altering I would estimate we are working with multiple different groups that do not have a significant degree of coordination._

_So not working together?_

_No Scott._

_And someone with a very high security clearance level is involved in some of it._ Scott wondered who it was.Kesh seemed, of all the top administrators he’d interacted with, the most clearheaded and focused on the mission.Tann was an inefficient meddling bureaucrat who should never have been given such a high position in the leadership structure—that much was obvious based on Scott’s reports to him—but he’d have to work with him but knew how to play that game. Addison almost reminded him of a trauma victim who was unable to realize the situation was evolving from what she was rabidly focused on. Or was it someone just under them that was involved? Spender was on Bradley’s shit list... he’d have to do more investigating but for now he couldn’t rule anyone out as being involved.Shit, what a mess.

_May I suggest you join the others? You are missing dinner and your absence has been noted._

Scott realized he’d stopped at the base of the stairs and stopped worrying for the moment.He wouldn’t be able to solve everything tonight but he’d have a long list of stuff to do when they resupplied.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE April 10th_

_Prodromos continues to go well.Today my team deployed three mining operations, Gil did something with the communications array mess, Kallo played air traffic control (his words not mine) and the girls got hydroponics ready to deploy their first batch.Not bad for a day’s work.Unfortunately, we’ve also had a surprise visit from the director of colonial affairs... and well, let’s just say i have no idea what I did to her in a past life but I’d like to apologize and try to work together. Oh hell, it’s not like anyone’s going to read this except me.Addison has had a target on my back for all her problems since I stepped foot on the Nexus.I’m not sure if my father would have had the same problems or not but come on! I’m your nice friendly neighborhood pathfinder, what could I have done to make her hate me so?_

_Maybe I shouldn’t answer this question but it’s the only thing I can think of that might by some miracle slightly apply but I’m pretty sure she was not present during my basic training prank war.I am still legally required to deny any knowledge of anything that may or may not have happened that week. So I have no idea what I did to piss her off so much._

_SAM thinks that she’s not telling us how many supplies walked off with the exodus that happened during the uprising. I’m more worried that there’s a significant black market going on still—remember that guy we found at Promise?Pretty sure he was scavenging and he was listed as still working the docks not as an exile. Vetra probably knows more than she’s said but I might want some plausible deniability there if she’s doing things in my best interest—which I suspect she might be.Again, if I don’t know for sure or ask, I can’t be held responsible for it._

_I suspect tomorrow is going to be another joy filled day hanging out with dear Addison.Wish me luck._


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy N7 Day to all.

Chapter Nineteen:

2818 CE October 17th

Aya, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena

Status: In limbo

Things did not feel better the next morning.Reyes had expected that sleep would not find him easily and he’d been right.He had been unable to get comfortable with one arm and one leg splinted—he would find one comfortable position and then something else would begin to hurt necessitating moving. Maiko had tried to get him to sleep by singing, which while sweet, just made him think about how screwed up he was with Tefa and her sister. He owed Julia another apology.When he’d finally slept... he’d had what he suspected were flashbacks but it was still confusing if he was remembering what actually happened or was his brain suggesting things based on his worries. He remembered calling one of his attackers a coward and was pretty sure that had been real.He was less sure about what had happened to Tefa.

The angaran healer, whose name was Oshva, checked on him twice a day and reminded Reyes of his Yaya more and more as he became closer acquainted with her.Angarans did have a version of pain killer that worked on Reyes but he found himself refusing it so he could be more alert and feel less dizzy. He’d previously only shared a room with Alzik as the Turians and the girls had gotten additional rooms—he now had to deal with Kenax and Vestus moving back in with him and Alzik as well as the girls coming and going at all hours. Evfra was also a frequent visitor as he stopped by with Oshva. Alzik continually worked on probabilities and, even for a Salarian, was looking fatigued and sleepless from where he sat on the balcony but with direct line of sight to keep an eye on Reyes bed.

In the middle of all this, Reyes was trying not to cry at odd times as his emotions seemed at times to be locked down and distant while at others overwhelming and could swing either way at a moment’s notice.His headache was constant in the back of his head and did not go away, having some slight issues with nausea when breakfast was brought in.Oshva had diagnosed him with the equivalent of a moderate concussion and told him he was exceedingly lucky or the medigel had done wonders—she wasn’t sure which but he should pray to the spirits (her words) watching over him that he was not much worse. Alzik, who knew a bare minimum of human medicine had agreed with her diagnosis and when he wasn’t running probabilities was now reading medical textbooks on humans.

Kenax was barely saying anything to anyone but did not like being separated from Reyes unless he knew Vestus was going to be with him instead. Vestus was calmly tolerating his bondmate’s anxieties but didn’t bother to hide his occasional worried assessments from Reyes when he did them.Kenax and Vestus had slept in Alzik’s bed last night, wrapped around each other but Reyes suspected there was little actual sleep going on and more keeping watch.

By late morning, Reyes knew that something needed to give or they’d drive each other nuts in short order. He calmly asked Alzik if he could get a lightweight splint made for his leg instead of the one Oshva had made for him as he’d had other broken bones in the past and was familiar with the ones used by corpsmen from his time in the navy. At this request, Alzik asked him to elaborate, the rest of his friends who’d all managed to migrate into the room paying close attention.

“The type I’m familiar with are perforated and light weight but strong—it allows for you to walk in them and get it wet unlike this one,” Reyes said as he pointed at his heavy splints that were made of some material that squished around his limbs. Reyes found what he’d been looking for on his omnitool and pinged it to Alzik’s.

Alzik, opening the file Reyes had sent him, considered it before replying.“I should be able to fabricate this in the workshop but will need to model your ankle and arm to do so.”

“I am okay with that,” Reyes offered.He needed to get out of this room just for an hour or two.

“It will depend on how much swelling there is,” Alzik cautioned even as he continued to read what Reyes had sent.

“The medigel did really good work on both—it’s just the bone that’s broken is the problem.That’s what Oshva told me.”Reyes knew he was just short of begging at this point.

“Hmm.... I am willing to try if you are.I may also be able to make an osteogenerator that may help as well.”Alzik was deep in thought about the science leaving the rest of the room to stare at him in expectation which he was oblivious to.

Vestus cleared his throat, mandibles flaring slightly. “What are we waiting for then?”

Reyes decided it was the better part of valor not to ask who invited them.He had the sinking feeling that he was going to have a turian bodyguard or two at all times for the near future. “Help me up?” he asked Kenax.

Kenax huffed in exasperation but carefully helped Reyes move his injured limbs and assisted him in standing, hands gentle. Watching as Reyes put weight on his uninjured leg and got his crutch under his arm but was unable to hide at that distance the intake of breath he took as his sore back complained about supporting him, Kenax whispered, “Are you sure you don’t want me to just carry you?”

“I need to move.Not moving now will be worse later,” Reyes replied just as soft. He unfortunately knew this from prior personal experience.

Kenax gave a very slightly nod and stood, standing close by Reyes as he hobbled towards the door and towards the lab, his friends huddling around him protectively.

***

Sitting in the lab, waiting for the fabricator to finish the splints, Reyes found himself being observed by almost every Angaran he vaguely knew. Alzik was working on the downloaded medical designs for an osteogenerator to speed the healing of Reyes’ broken bones and had gotten Kjaan’s interest as well as Maiko’s to see if they could figure out how to get the fabricator to make all the parts.

There was a steady stream of visitors to the workshop as it seemed the general population took Reyes emergence from his rooms as permission to see the injured human. Vestus and Kenax were bookending him and keeping the curious visitors from being too obtrusive.Most of them at least held hands with Reyes to give him a touching boost. He’d be weirded out about it but he was told by Kjaan that it was the community’s way of caring for someone they considered one of their own.

Which was really goddamn touching but Reyes was trying not to cry again and so far hadn’t but it was a near thing. Julia, not able to help her sister with the technical science things, sat next to Reyes and helped make conversation and was expertly deflecting anything she judged as too invasive for the few very curious Angaran’s that asked questions Reyes didn’t want to answer.

Things were starting to settle down as Maiko, under Oshva’s watchful eye, unwrapped the splint around Reyes’ right forearm and put the newly fabricated air splint on.The splint thatAlzik had come up with was very similar to the ones that Reyes had worn in the past before being put in osteogenesis units to completely heal the fracture over the course of several days instead of weeks. The Alliance had placed a priority in having their service members fully healthy and the two prior experiences with broken bones that Reyes had while in service had meant he’d spent a week with his rec time in one of those units, the rest of the time wearing a splint similar to this. The splint was thin and flexible made of a material that was similar to silicone but more firm with Reyes muscles but held his bones in place tightly so they would not migrate. It felt much better than the heavy angaran splint.Oshva was approving of it and they then settled to wait for the ankle splint to be finished.

That was when Evfra entered the workshop.All the remainder of the Angarans that were there just to see Reyes left like a switch had been flipped without Evfra saying anything making Reyes, and visibly the Turians, anxious about what had brought him to them.Approaching Reyes, Evfra did not appear serious but appeared happy to see Reyes up and about.“It is good to see you out of your rooms.I was informed you are getting something to help your broken bones?”

“Yes,” Reyes said, gesturing with his new splint.“I asked Alzik if we could try something that weighed a bit less so I could get around more.”

“Hmmm,” Evfra hummed, gently taking Reyes injured arm to see the new splint and inspected it as he gave Reyes a small boost like all the others had. “It will work as well?” He asked Oshva.

“It will work according to what I read.Alzik is making some sort of machine that works on human bones to regenerate them faster. It will make his recovery time shorter,” the healer admitted.

“That is good to hear.” Evfra withdrew his hand and looked at Reyes before glancing at everyone else in the room.“Have you had any thoughts about where you might prefer we send you once you are healed for your first assignment for the Resistance?” 

Evfra sounded genuinely curious but he wasn’t saying they had a choice either.Reyes shrugged before responding when no one else spoke up.“I was hoping it was someplace that we could be given the option of staying together.”

Maiko and Alzik murmured agreement while Kenax spoke clearly.“Vestus and I are only interested in assignments with Reyes.”

Evfra’s eyes flicked to both the turians before returning to Reyes. “I had assumed you would work best as a unit—our ambassadors to your people but I had not decided for sure.”

Julia spoke up next. “We should stick together and take assignments from a central place if you want us to work together to coordinate with the other milky way immigrants.” 

Reyes had almost forgotten her next to him since all his attention was on Evfra but he did agree with Julia.If Evfra wanted them to be liaisons between the Angarans and the Initiative it may or may not work.They obviously had the contacts with Brecka and Vetra but they were exiles.Which reminded Reyes of the exiles that he’d been told were on Kadara and Yaansa’s advice to talk to Keema. “I think we would work well as liaisons between the angarans and the milky way travelers… but I do not know if we would be the best directly with the Initiative given we left them when given the option.”

Evra raised one of his brow ridges. “You were very worried about getting this Initiativesupplies.Has that changed?”

Reyes quickly corrected. “No.I think that if they are not supplied the odds of them forcibly taking things increases even if I’m no longer exactly one of their people.I don’t think they’d take us back if we tried as their leaders are not… forgiving and are more worried about those that stayed with them.”

“I see. You worry that if they see you they will think that we side with you in this argument?”Evfra looked thoughtful as he relaxed into one of the benches opposite Reyes, settling in to have a long discussion.

“It is not so much as sides as they may not trust us fully acting on your behalf.I would suggest we act in an advisory role if the Initiative is the entity involved in negotiations.We may be more effective for the Angarans as a silent advisor in that case.”Reyes was trying to figure out what would be best.

“A silent, secret advisor as you are one of us Reyes Vidal,” Evfra added.

Nodding after a moment, Reyes thought that might be best. “Yes. Sooner or later you will need to have an official interaction with them but I would advise you to wait until they come to yours they are very disorganized currently and approaching them may cause them to assume you are hostile.If they saw us with you it may prejudice them against all of us unnecessarily.” 

“If they are weak now would they not rather have an ally reaching out to help?” Evfra seemed puzzled by this.

“If it were me? Maybe.However, the current leader of the Initiative is Jarun Tann. Any threat he perceives is acted against and with so many of us leaving… I don’t think he will be willing to assume you are offering help in good faith. They would have put us all back to sleep but we did not trust them to wake us which is why we left.”Reyes was trying to say he didn’t trust Tann… but he didn’t know how to do this without throwing the entire Initiative under the bus so to speak.

“You do not trust this Jarun Tann?”

“No.There are others within the Initiative that we do trust.The people we gave the supplies to want peace just as much as us but they are not the leader of the Initiative which is Tann.” Reyes tried not to look nervous but Evfra wasn’t giving away what he thought about that. “Most of the people of the Initiative are like that.There was an accident when we first arrived that left many of our leaders dead.Tann is the one who became leader due to those deaths.”

“So he was not who you picked to follow which is why you left?”

“Yes.”Evfra seemed pleased with Reyes’ simple answer.

Evfra leaned back and looked at all of them.“So you chose to follow Reyes?”

Reyes tried to protest but before he could say anything Alzik answered. “Yes.When we left, we chose to do so together. If you were to pick a leader out of our group it is Reyes.”Alzik paused to look at Reyes. Reyes for his part had his hand on his face, his headache that had never gone away worsening slightly as he tried not to bodily shrink away at the responsibility Alzik was giving him. “Reyes has given us choices but we have decided to stay together. We did not need to follow your lead Reyes but so far, you have not gotten us in trouble.”

Waving to himself and his injured limbs, Reyes asked a silent question of Alzik. Alzik, for his part shrugged. “You have not had bad ideas.We are now aware of the danger and will be able to plan for it from now on.I myself am happy to have someone planning the ‘big’ things as long as they ask my preferences.”

“I agree with Alzik.It’s much easier to let you worry about the big picture things,” Julia told him.

“Not you too…” Reyes grumbled but was cut off by Vestus.

“Reyes, in the Hierarchy you are promoted based on abilities. If you are promoted and fail it is a poor reflection on those who promoted you—not you yourself.Career soldiers will find their niche and stay in it without promotion as it’s where they belong with their abilities.I know I am not the leader of this group and I think you are able to think and act like one.”Reyes started to blush at Vestus’ honest assessment. He didn’t agree with it but it was nice to hear positive things about himself irregardless.

Kenax immediately added, “I agree with my bondmate.”

Maiko, the only one of his friends who hadn’t spoken put down the parts she had been fiddling with to stand in front of Reyes and Evfra.“Reyes. Look at me.”

Reyes, who’d put his head in his good hand warily looked up at Maiko.Leaning forward, she put one hand on his uninjured cheek and gave it a slight squeeze. “Reyes, someone has to be in charge and I think you’re doing fine. If that changes, I will let you know.Until then, give yourself a break.”

Turning to Evfra, Maiko spoke to him. “We’re not part of the Initiative anymore and you call us one of your own.We want to help you where it would most be needed and I agree with the others that having us talk directly to our former employers would likely not be helpful right now but it may be in the future.There are a lot of good people still in the Initiative. Reyes is right that by helping them we may make it possible for us all to have a good, healthy relationship that allows for trade and working together against the kett invasion.”

“And those who left like you?”Evfra had a pleased look on his face.Reyes had the feeling that Evfra had wanted this conversation to go this way somehow.

“We will not know until we speak with them—but we may have an in that you do not because of our former associations,” Reyes said. “Vestus… you were part of the security team and know some of those who left.”

“I know some of those who left.I worked briefly for Sloane Kelly but I wouldn’t want to join her forces any time soon.I’m happy with us and the Resistance.”Vestus didn’t look happy to think about joining the other exiles.

“I wouldn’t ask you to join them, merely introduce us as freelancers,” Reyes said as he began to think. “We could work as smugglers or free agents but would have contacts with the exiles while working as part of the Resistance.”

“That sounds like a good idea.I see you started talking to them without me,” said a familiar sounding female voice.Keema Dohrgun stepped fully into the room.She gave Reyes a brief smile before introducing herself to the others who had not met her previously. “I’m Keema Dohrgun.I am the head of the Resistance on Kadara and currently the liaison between the Angarans and the Outcasts.I believe you know some of the Outcasts.”

Keema tapped on an omnitool she was wearing and projected a hologram of Sloane Kelly’s face. Vestus indicated that he knew her. “That’s Sloane.Again, not interested in joining her.”

“Who said anything about joining?” Keema asked.“I would like to have you all join me on Kadara.I find myself in need of Milky Way agents to help us regain what was taken.When the Outcasts arrived—they did us a favor seemingly in removing the Kett that had taken over the port. Unfortunately, they have no interest in letting us back into our homes and shops that we’d been forced to abandon only months ago to the Kett. We’ve been trying to work out how to deal with these Outcasts ever since.”

“They took things and won’t give them back?” Reyes asked Keema.

“No.They will not give things back.We would be happy to share as there is more than we could ever use—many died in the attacks from the Kett that made us leave the port. However, the Outcast Queen has imposed heavy taxes and fees which is making those who can leave, leave Kadara.It is why there has been an influx of Angaran refugees to Havarl that is making things even more difficult there.The Roekaar have also been causing problems and I know you have no love for them.”Keema looked frustrated as she spoke. “I know that you are injured, Reyes Vidal, but I think you could help us very much.”

Roekaar… they had a Roekaar problem on Kadara.Reyes could see the attraction of being allowed to hunt them down as Keema was implying. It would be a change from Aya… and he didn’t think he could stay… but he needed to think about it.“Do we have to give you an answer now?”

Keema looked pleased that he had not outright told her no.“You may have as long as you like.”

Evfra butted in, “But I will need to give you an assignment shortly.You will only be injured for so long Reyes—and the rest of you will need to begin your assignments before long as well.”

“Can we have tonight at least?” Julia asked.

“You may have tonight Julia Fraser,” Evfra agreed.

The fabricator made a dinging sound indicating that the second splint was complete. Alzik and Maiko went to remove the splint which broke the conversation up.Reyes found himself wondering what exactly Evfra was pushing him towards as he watched Evfra pick up a conversation with Vestus and Keema.

***

Later that night, Reyes had asked Kenax and Vestus to take him to the baths.His mind was unsettled with thinking about Keema’s offer. The turians had picked up that Reyes didn’t really want to talk but needed some help and sitting in a warm pool would do wonders for his injured body. Getting into the water had been difficult but the new splints were waterproof which made things much easier.Undressing in the men’s lockers, Reyes had been shocked to see himself in the mirror. He appeared battered and bruised. The splints were a dark grey in color and stood out strongly against his tanned skin from so many hours spent surfing and swimming in his free time.From there, there was a dark purple bruise at his left temple and both eyes were bruised as if he’d been hit a week or two ago instead of days. The swelling in his face had gone down and the cuts to his forehead were healing nicely—again looking better than they should have.A short, uneven beard covered his face as he hadn’t shaved since before they’d left for the rendezvous with Brecka and Vetra, his hair also similarly getting long and he could feel a crusted over cut under his hair by his temple.

That was the last of the good news he found as he looked down the rest of his body.Multiple bruises covered his torso in various stages of healing, the worst of which was over his ribcage and was bigger than his hand and he could feel the ribs under the mark protest when he’d pushed on them.The graze to his left shoulder had scabbed over and the skin was pink, tight, and shiny around it to mark it separate from the bruising mark of an angaran hand on his deltoid. The bruising continued on his back and legs painting him in various shads of green, yellow, blue and purple—leaving only patches of unaffected skin between them. There was an obvious boot print between his shoulder blades the size of an angaran foot. HIs left leg looked like it had been caught in something as there was a friction burn that wrapped twice around his thigh in a spiral before his fingers found the edge of his leg splint. His toes were purple on the left from the swelling that had receded from his broken ankle but thankfully the swelling had decreased dramatically so he could put some weight on his foot.Seeing the violence painted on his body, Reyes had almost had a panic attack—It was only Kenax’s soft calling of his name that snapped him out of it.

“Reyes.You’re safe.We’re here.They will be found and punished.”Kenax’s voice was calm and soft, like speaking to a spooked animal that needed soothing. “You’r getting better.”

“I don’t understand why they did this,” Reyes said to Kenax, his voice breaking slightly at the end.

Vestus herded Reyes towards the shower where he and Kenax gently scrubbed Reyes down as he concentrated on keeping his balance and not falling over despite sitting on a stool they’d found somewhere. “They do it because they’re just as frightened as us. They have lost their home to the Kett and worry about having a safe place. Some react by finding everyone that is different from them as a danger whether or not they really are.” Rinsing off all the soap and accumulated dirt, the two bondmates then helped their human friend to the soaking pool. Hands helping Reyes into the pool, Vestus joined him and pushed Reyes onto the ledge that was built for soaking in the heat.

Sitting chin deep in the water, he allowed the heat to loosen up the muscles that he hadn’t realized were so tight and the anxiety lessened somewhat making his breathing come easier.Everything still hurt but the water was distracting. Kenax joined them shortly thereafter and handed Reyes a water bottle indicating that he needed to drink.He’d been handed a lot of food and drinks today by his friends—and having gotten a look at himself he now got why they were so freaked out. Medigel helped with healing but the energy had to come from somewhere and he’d dropped a few kilos of weight he’d just been regaining. Combined with the badly overdue need for a shave and haircut, he looked like he’d been dragged through a mine field.

Neither turian said anything as Reyes leaned his head back and tried to relax in the steam rising from the pool—it was good camouflage for the fact that he was silently crying. Reyes didn’t say anything when Vestus quietly put his arm around him and pulled him into his side, allowing Reyes to bury his face in the armored chest plate as he continued to cry soundlessly.

When he’d run out of tears, Reyes had continued to sit slumped against Vestus. It wasn’t comfortable but he didn’t really want to move. Crying had released something in his chest that he couldn’t name but he felt emotionally numb now.

Vestus gave Reyes another half hour in the water before he insisted they get out as Reyes skin was beyond wrinkled from the moisture. Helping Reyes towel off like a child, Vestus didn’t say anything but handed Reyes a towel to wrap around his hips to preserve his modesty.

“Do you want to shave?” Kenax asked.One of the first conversations about random things that he’d ever had with Kenax was about how he hated having a beard. Kenax had been fascinated by the topic as turians didn’t have anything similar other than they occasionally had to file down a talon if they snapped it weird. He knew how much Reyes preferred to be clean shaven.

Looking at his face in the mirror, Reyes shook his head making his loose, wet hair flop around. “Not tonight.Tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Kenax said as he grabbed the clean loose clothing they’d brought with them and helped Reyes dress.

When they returned to their room, the rest of their group was already there. Maiko and Alzik were fiddling with a vid set that they’d moved into the room and were connecting to Maiko’s omnitool so they could play something. They’d pushed both beds together into one giant one and both women were wearing comfortable sleeping clothes that Yaansa had made for them.

“Sit down.We’re having movie night and a sleepover since you guys moved back in without us yesterday,” Julia told Kenax. Evidently the girls had felt left out the previous night.

Sitting down on the bed, Reyes began to move backwards and leaned up on the mountain of extra pillows that had appeared magically from somewhere else. Maiko, sitting next to him, pushed him to lay down with his head in her lap. “Lay down Reyes.We’re watching one of your favorites.”

Stiffly laying where Maiko had pushed him to, he tried not to fidget too much. Maiko began running her hands through his wet hair untangling the strands he’d not bothered to comb which felt heavenly to his headache. “You said when I asked you about the telenovelas that one of your favorite childhood memories was watching them with your mother on the couch while she hugged you.You’re a bit to big to sit on my lap so we’re improvising,” Maiko informed him.

“Ah.Well, improvise away,” he said, trying to relax as Julia tossed a pillow for him to put his arm on top of and Kenax tucked pillows around him before sitting behind Reyes feet and Vestus pushing his bondmate around to get comfortable facing the vidscreen.Once he was positioned to everyone’s satisfaction, Julia climbed in next to her sister and put her own hand in Reyes’ hair.He felt he should probably object but they didn’t seem interested in listening to his protests when he opened his mouth to try and was shushed.

Alzik input a command into the omnitool and the screen came to life before he found the only spare space next to Julia just in time for the show to start.Reyes recognized it as one of the serial telenovelas his mother had watched when he was young—he barely remembered the plot but remembered the actors and actresses.It was a ridiculous soap opera love story set in colonial times with government takeover plots and bandits.The main character was an especially ridiculous wealthy man who was a hero to the poor and spent his time robbing his villainous neighbors and redistributing it to those in need while he virtuously worked his own land and was beloved. It had been a ridiculous show when his mother watched it but somehow it was just what Reyes needed to listen to in order to shut off his brain and relax with his friends all around him.

He was sound asleep by the end of the first episode and managed to sleep through the entire night.Maiko told him much later that he’d been so still they hadn’t had the heart to move him as he’d not slept well the previous night and obviously needed the sleep dearly. 

***

The next morning, Reyes awoke with his friends all tucked around him and deeply asleep.Julia and Maiko had overnight turned into each other, Julia’s head tucked into her sister’s shoulder. Alzik was outside working like usual on his omnitool. The Turians were curled up at the end of the bed, tangled around each other taking up much less space than they should have.

Inching himself off the bed, he grabbed the toiletry bag and stood unsteadily, nicking his crutch that he still needed despite his much more nimble walking splint.He then headed off to the baths after adding a new set of clothing to his arms, carefully making his way by himself with his crutch.Alzik asked him simply if he needed help and he shook his head as he left, closing the door carefully so he wouldn’t wake everyone.

The village was quiet and barely anyone was out as he made his way to the baths. Finding himself alone at the sinks after he’d rinsed off, he carefully lathered his face and shaved in steady, even handed strokes to rid himself of his beard. Once his face was smooth, he took the scissors and began trimming his hair before using the razor to trim above his ears into his usual fade. Looking in the mirror, he now looked like his usual self—or as close as he could get without more time to heal.His eyes had changed though, more guarded and blank but he supposed that was a good thing given what he was about to commit to.

And he was ready to talk to Evfra.

***

2819 CE April 11th

Fairwinds Basin, Eos, Pytheas system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: politics are difficult

Addison had stayed only until midday as she’d declined being shown around to the mining sites or Promise or Resilience. After she left, Scott asked Bradley what his opinion was of the Nexus leadership.For usually someone who usually tried to stay positive, the frown Bradley had given Scott made him wince in agreement.

“I only deal with Addison.The rest of them are the most devious den of thieves you’ll ever come across. Good luck Pathfinder,” Bradley had said.

Scott made sure that he did all the things he’d told Addison they would do and they spent the next week getting all the mining probes deployed for the areas that had been surveyed enough to know where to put things.Liam and he had then spent the rest of the week gathering the initial results of the mining operations, loading them into crates, and then stowing as much as they could on the Tempest to transport back to the Nexus for Kesh.

Cora was working on her green thumb and between her and the three botanists they got all three greenhouses full of their initial plantings. There was a variety of earth crops that were being trialed—the most important being the peas and soy plants that would provide the base for protein powders.The Nexus did have an herb garden that was producing but it didn’t provide enough calories or protein content so most of it was being converted to seed and dried herbs for cooking when they would have options other than protein bars. Cora had lucked out and one of the botanists had allowed her to plant several rows of sunflowers alongside one of the buildings as a test crop and as decoration.

Gil finally got the QEC communications relay up and running the day before they were scheduled to leave.From what Scott understood, someone had screwed up and not sent parts that were compatible as there were two different manufacturers for the parts and they had used different standards for measurements. Which meant Gil had to retrofit and rewire large portions of the QEC.He’d even asked Kallo for help—which was something Scott was learning that those two never got along but Gil had been desperate for the manpower to get the task done before they left. The engineer that was assigned to Prodromos was nice but managed to fry several circuits before Gil had exiled him from the project.

Suvi and Peebee had also been able to work with the scientists and for the most part stayed out of trouble other than one day when one of the APEX teams had to rescue them from a small Kett raiding party. No-one had been harmed but it hadn’t done Scott’s nerves any favors to be on the other end of that mayday signal and not be close enough to respond in time.Cora had also been somewhat rattled and had started sticking close to them if Scott was busy with other tasks. He thanked her for her thoughtfulness and got a smile in return from his XO.

Finishing up their tasks, they were now ready to leave for the Nexus right on schedule. While Kallo was starting the checks to take off, Scott and Liam were securing the nomad in the cargo bay, lashing the tie downs tight when there was a sudden pounding noise on the rear cargo door.

“Did you forget something? Run out on your bar tab?” Liam asked Scott jokingly as they both stared at the pounding on the airlock door.

“Not that I know of.SAM? Who’s there?”

“It is Nakmor Drack.He is requesting to join us for a ride to the Nexus,” SAM informed them.

Barely having to think about it before agreeing, Scott told SAM to let him in.“SAM, let him in.Drack’s more than welcome anytime.”

With that, SAM opened the door to the ramp that helped support the ship when docked, allowing the waiting krogan to duck in before the door was even fully open—pushing acrate and carrying one ahead of himself. Going to meet Drack, Scott picked up the one Drack had been kicking along and stowed it to the side before greeting him. “Drack.Good to see you.”

“Hmph,” Drack said as he dropped the crate he’d been carrying on top of the one Scott had stowed. “Was told you’re going to the Nexus and figured I’d hitch a ride there if you don’t mind.”

“Happy to have you,” Scott told him.“Do you need to bring anything else on board or is this it?”

Drack eyed him before indicating that the two crates were everything.“That’s all.How long does it take this ship to get there anyway?Kesh’s expecting me.”

“Not a problem.We should be there in less than eight hours,” Scott informed him.“The galley’s that way along with the crew quarters.If you want to use the communications equipment it’s up on the next level along with the bridge.”

Drack didn’t say anything just nodded and walked away to go explore the ship.

“Not a krogan of many words is he?” Liam asked.

“No he’s not,” Scott said with a smile.He liked Drack.

***

The trip back to the Nexus went smoothly and when docking, they didn’t encounter any issues other than they were directed to a new berth rather than the old dry dock that the Tempest had been previously stored in. As the new docking spot was very convenient, Scott decided it wasn’t worth making a fuss about.Stepping off the ship, he was surprised by the number of dock workers he could see working—there’d obviously been more people awoken than when he was last on station and he actually had to dodge in between them to get out of the docks.The lights were on as he climbed the steps towards operations with a steady stream of people going to and fro, some in a hurry and some not. The Nexus had come alive since he was last here—he hoped that the supply situation looked better with Prodromos operating. As he wandered, his omnitool pinged with summons from Tann, Addison and Kesh as well as several requests from people he didn’t know—some of which the subject headings seemed urgent. Liam was off to check in with his contacts in security. Peebee, Cora and Suvi were taking specimens to the science labs. Kallo and Gil were supervising/arguing about the offloading and loading of cargo.Vetra had disappeared with a mysterious “I’ve got something to arrange, be back in a few hours.”

Telling himself he’d read all the messages after he’d reported in, Scott headed first to Tann’s office as he was most likely to make his life difficult if he didn’t head directly there.SAM also silently mentioned that he had some encrypted logs for Scott to review in his quarters when he had the time which almost made Scott trip on the stairs. _SAM?What kind of logs?_

_Logs left by your father that I’ve been able to decrypt with associated data files.The decryption key seems to be tagged to your progress as Pathfinder and founding one colony has unlocked several parts of it but I cannot access this information without you present.I am uncertain as to why your father did it this way as my own memory of the files is not accessible._

This wasn’t the weirdest thing his father had ever done but it still frustrated Scott immensely that there was purposefully withheld information. Thanks Dad, he mentally said.

Stopping at the door to Tann’s office, Scott waited for the lock to cycle and be admitted, mentally steeling himself for what he was sure was going to be a long discourse on each tactical decision he’d made since he’d last left.Tann had, during his verbal reports, been more interested in hearing himself speak rather than Scott.Scott had a lot of experience with this kind of CO and was, slightly, immune to their kvetching as one of his senior officers had once called it.Most of it was just noise for the sake of noise but he had to pay attention to the gist of the conversation to know what was the most important part of the task for Tann—even if it wasn’t really the mission priority from Scott’s point of view.

The lock cycled and admitted him to Tann’s office.Which wasn’t really more put together than the last time he’d been in here. There was unpacked crates stacked every which way blocking off the majority of the office space.Tann’s desk was still comprised of spare containers stacked in an L shape with a hard surface laid over to look a bit nicer.The only change was a new set of shelving that was against the back wall which had several plants on it that looked like air scrubbers and a large viewing screen that Scott assumed was how Tann had reached out to him for reports but now cycled through security cameras around the Nexus with one corner dedicated to the one outside the office door. There was also now in big block lettering ‘operations’ against the bulkhead over Tann’s desk. It seemed Tann had been otherwise preoccupied instead of setting up his office.Scott wondered what was in all the crates that they hadn’t been unpacked and were stored in the director’s office... seemed fishy.

“Ah Ryder.I saw that the Tempest had arrived.I trust you brought everything Kesh asked of you?”Tann said as he looked up, his large eyes blinking slowly as he stared at Scott.

“We brought everything we could pack into the hold—most of it is for Kesh but there were a few thing the scientists requested we bring along as well,”Scott answered, coming to parade rest—out of sheer habit more than anything.

“Well, that is good to hear. The reports I’m getting say that the first crop from the hydroponics farm will be harvested in approximately fifty Eos days and the soy crop about the same time.Their products will be greatly appreciated by those of us here on the Nexus. Now, I also heard reports about some sort of mechanical issue with the QEC....” Scott listened to Tann drone on. First about whatever “they” had broken with the QEC parts followed by the mine deployments. Most of it did not require a response from him other than “Yes that’s accurate,” or “No sir.”

Tann continued to speak for over an hour before he started getting to the important things—ie the stuff Scott cared about. “...In looking at the data that you brought back from the vault, our scientists have verified that our original golden worlds are among those you identified as being centrally connected.”

“Yes sir.I feel that my next order of business should be independently verify the other golden worlds and see if they have vaults like Eos and Habitat 7.If possible, I may be able to change our fortunes regarding making these worlds habitable again,” Scott stared at a point slightly to the side of Tann’s face and over his shoulder.The Salarian hadn’t seemed to notice the lack of eye contact as he mostly paid attention to the security cameras.

“Hm... that may be the most appropriate use of your skill set but I will need to think about it,” Tann informed him after a moment.What was there to think about?They’d been sitting on this information for weeks now.The reports Tann referenced had been verified information within days of Scott sending it as he’d been copied the results.Tann—for some reason—was delaying him. Scott just wasn’t sure why.They could be resupplied within twelve hours and back underway... he’d not planed on a long layover at the Nexus and told his team so.

“Is there anything else you need me to look into while I await your decision?” Scott finally offered as Tann just stared at the security feeds.

This seemed to make Tann a bit more excited and drew his attention away from the security feeds. “Why yes. I am glad you are taking initiative while decisions are being made.In fact, I’m sure there is something appropriate to your skill set that I’ve been debating how to handle for a few days now.There has been the first murder committed in Andromeda and I’d like you to investigate it.”

“Murder?” Scott asked, trying not to sound incredulous.Surely he wasn’t talking about Jien Garson’s death...or one of the other executive team members who’d died before the Hyperion had arrived.

“Yes.I’ve been receiving petitions from the wife of the murderer and it is getting out of hand as she refuses to believe what happened.Security investigated and has duly tried and sentenced her husband to exile but she keeps petitioning my office for intervention.I want you to speak to her and explain the investigative process and get her to accept the outcome,” Tann said. 

So not Jien Garson.And someone else had been murdered but who? And Tann was being bothered so now it would be Scott’s problem as someone he could assign to take care of things. Scott could feel a headache oncoming. “Who murdered who?”

“You may speak to the woman herself to figure out what she needs to be convinced. The wife’s name is Mariette and she’s been hanging around the militia office bothering them as well. Just speak to Kandros for more details,” Tann waved his hand dismissing Scott. “You are more than capable of figuring it out and getting her to accept reality. I will speak with you tomorrow regarding your next assignment.”

Frustrated with the minimal information, Scott opened his mouth to ask for more information and then thought better of it. “Yes Director.I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Leaving the office, Scott next headed to the bridge where he knew Addison was most likely to be given she seemed to live there every time he’d had to report to her or watched Bradley do the same. She was there along with both Spender and Brecka who he’d met during their visit to Prodromos. Addison was speaking with Spender while Brecka worked at a workstation nearby.There were a few other workers managing the large display screen that displayed the status of the Nexus like a huge HUD. Resource management was on the right with power flow on the lower left and a scrolling log of requests, resource deployment and other communications scrolling superimposed over a view of Zheng He towards the center of the Heleus cluster.

Seeing Scott, Addison finished her conversation with Spender and then dismissed him and flagging Scott towards her.“I see you made it before the deadline.”

“I did.We got everything done that we’d agreed to,” Scott said trying to sound conciliatory.

“I take it you’ve already reported to Tann?”

“Yes.He said he’d need to think before giving me leave on my next mission,” Scott admitted, hoping that maybe Addison would get Tann moving quicker.

“And you were planing on targeting one of the former golden worlds?Which one?” She asked, not hostile like their previous discussions.

“Yes.The reports I’ve been receiving suggest we should head next for Habitat 6 as it’s the closest one.The only concern I’ve heard is that the Scourge is very dense between Zheng He and there but the Tempest should be able to navigate it.”The reports had also suggested Habitat 2 and Habitat 4 but there had been multiple objections raised that made Scott feel he wasn’t being told something.Habitat 4 was further out so Habitat 6 made sense but Habitat 2 was about the same distance.

“I agree.When will you be leaving?” Addison seemed distracted but thoughtful.

“Whenever Tann approves it.”

Addison’s eyes narrowed at this. “I will speak with Tann.In the meantime, Kesh said she had additions to her shopping list for you,” and he was dismissed as she gestured for Spender to come back to her, ignoring Scott.Well, for an interaction with Addison this one had been almost pleasant.

On his way out, Brecka gave him a nod of recognition and waved him out.Scott made a mental note to try and find Brecka during his down time and see if he could develop a professional relationship with him.Brecka had at least been reasonable and friendly when he’d been on Eos. Scott was beginning to realize he’d need to play the politics game much more than he’d previously estimated.

***

Kesh’s office was already occupied when the door admitted him as soon as he approached.Drack was inside and speaking with Kesh about some place called Elaaden. 

“...but the water supplies are problematic.The clan is asking for support from our mutual friend as an intermediary,” Kesh was saying to Drack.

“Ryder,” Drack said, interrupting whatever Kesh was going to say next.“I take it you’ve met my granddaughter.”

Acting like he hadn’t just overheard part of their conversation but filing it away carefully, Scott nodded. “Yes.I was checking to see if the supplies I brought were adequate or if I needed to change anything about what we’re bringing in.”

Kesh glared at Drack before he gaze became more neutral upon switching to Scott. “The supplies are good.The amount of ore you’ve brought back, especially the vanadium is going to good use already.I’m arranging for regular shipments with the supplies going out to bring back more of it.”

“We’re happy to help. Addison mentioned that you might have some things to add to my list?” Scott couldn’t help but notice Drack looked pleased at Scott as he didn’t press about what he’d overheard.

“I do,” Kesh tapped a few commands on her desk screen causing his omnitool to chirp.“If no one else has said it, we’re very thankful Ryder for what you’ve done so far.”

Feeling abashed, Scott tried very hard not to squirm.Kesh was giving him a small smile and Drack continued to look pleased with it all. “It’s what I’m here to do.But seriously, anything more I can do, just let me know.”

Kesh looked thoughtful but before she could say anything, Drack spoke.“You sure you want to get into a political mess by helping the krogan?”

Turning so he faced Drack, Scott tried to figure out what Drack was getting at.Drack had both arms crossed over his chest, one hip cocked in a relaxed stance but his face was dead serious. “My role as pathfinder is for all Milky Way species—not just the humans.”

“But if it doesn’t directly benefit the Initiative?Would you help then?” Drack pressed.

“While my main responsibilities are to the people of the Initiative, I would help out when and where able—for anyone.We need allies and if that means helping out those who left I am willing to do so,” Scott admitted, not dropping his eyes from meeting Drack’s assessing look.

“Hm... you’re young, haven’t gotten jaded yet.I like you Ryder.Don’t let anyone else change your mind from that and you’ll do better than the rest of us,” Drack told him, laughing slightly and reaching out to give Scott a clap on the shoulder that sent him staggering from the force of it.

“You need to be careful who you say that to,” Kesh added in warning. “I saw the reports that suggest Habitat 6 as your next stop—be careful going there.The Scourge is thick between here and there. We’ve lost ships going that way.”

“And you wouldn’t happen to know why everyone seems against checking out Habitats 2 and 4 would you?” Scott prodded.

Kesh paused a moment before replying, her eyes sliding to her grandfather before coming back to rest on Scott. “If you manage to get another colony up and running I will tell you whatever you want to know.Just know that you need to be careful who you trust around here—if nothing else the krogan should be a reminder of what happens when deals aren’t honored.”

“Yeah... and no one wants to let me know just exactly what happened to make all the krogan leave...I just keep getting warned about trusting the Initiative I belong to.” He’d made the mistake of asking Tann a few questions when he’d given his longer verbal report his second week on Eos and had SAM scour all the data they’d been able to get their hands on.Tann had rapidly shut down all questions with deflections about entitlement and krogans being pushy. SAM’s information had been incomplete and he noted that there were traces of record alterations in the system done at a high clearance level. Scott knew there was more to this story and he trusted Kesh and Drack to tell him honestly more than he trusted his own boss about this.

“If you get a second colony ask me again,” Kesh only replied.

Drack however had something else to add. “If you have room on your team for another squad mate, I’d like to volunteer.You’re not bad for a kid, still green as a drell but you’ve got some skills.”

“We worked good together on Eos.I’d be happy to have you along, we can always use your skill set.”And he was being truthful. A krogan would be beyond useful if they had to bash their way in somewhere.Also, he needed to have allies and having Kesh on the Nexus as one seemed the right way to go. Politics, he reminded himself, politics is a game you have to play.

Kesh looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself. “Again, be careful going that way—the Scourge eats ships that way and if it doesn’t get you then there’s the Kett ships. We need our pathfinder out there pathfinding but do it with caution.”

“Always.I know what I need to do,” Scott assured her.

He was pretty sure she was dubious about his chances and that he hadn’t just gotten lucky on Eos.Kesh and he continued to exchange some updates about how the Nexus was and how the supplies he’d brought would be used.Kesh kept giving Drack glances that said she needed to talk to him further so Scott excused himself after a while. He had other stops to make including, evidently, at security to inquire about a murder.

***

Before doing any other work, Scott took the tramway to the Hyperion to see Sara.Stepping into the infirmary, he could see her laying on one of the bio beds in the far, semi-darkened corner, away from everyone who was awake.It appeared as if she was just sleeping off some sedative but in some ways, her looking like she was fine was almost worse to Scott. His lively, full of life sister asleep like sleeping beauty. Slowing his approach, almost dragging his feet as he went to her bedside, he was immediately noticed by the medical staff and he could hear Harry being paged that the pathfinder was here to see his sister.

Snagging a chair, Scott put it next to the bed and sat on it, his hand reaching out to touch his sister’s. Sara’s hand was warm, her pulse reassuring under his fingertips as her chest slowly rose and fell with her breath underneath the blanket covering her.She otherwise didn’t move, no flutter of her eyelashes, no wriggling in bed to get more comfortable like she did when they’d had sleepovers as children. Sara hated sitting still and had chosen her profession—anthropology and archeology—purely because she wanted to do field work rather than sitting around in a library writing papers and doing research. His sister idolized the greats of archeology from Mary Leakey to Kathleen Kenyon—she’d even told him that she hoped to discover an ancient alien species in Andromeda. Sara should be out wandering around with Peebee taking in the Remnant sites, not here, confined to a biobed.

Scott spent several minutes alone by her bed, holding her hand before Harry appeared from wherever doctors went when they weren’t with their patients. Scott had turned up the light in the corner—Sara had hated the dark as a child—but otherwise not moved from her bedside. “Hi Harry,” Scott said to acknowledge the doctor.

“Scott,” Harry greeted him, just as softly. “Has SAM given you an update recently?”

Wondering what Harry meant by that, Scott sent SAM a silent query. _I didn’t want to get your hopes up buy I might have a way for you to speak to your sister, SAM said. You should ask Dr. Carlyle for details before we do though._

“Not really,” Scott said.“He said to ask you for an update.”

Harry sighed and sat at the edge of the bed by Sara’s feet, his gaze troubled as he looked at Sara. “With SAM’s help we’ve managed to get her out of her cryo bed. That’s the good part.The bad news is she’s still deep in a coma.”

“But she’s okay?I mean, getting her out of cryo is the first step right?”His anxiety rose sharply when Harry mentioned she was still in a coma.Getting out of cryo was a big thing though. He did give SAM a slight mental glare for not informing him of that at least but Scott hadn’t exactly asked either and they’d been busy. God, he’d forgotten to keep asking about his own sister. He had no excuse either.

“She is okay, for a definition of okay.SAM was able to access her implant to allow her to be taken out of cryo but she remains in a deep coma.I was actually hoping you might be able to help us given you also have a SAM implant though.”Harry’s tone was conciliatory and gentle.Scott knew he’d do whatever was about to be asked of him if it was for Sara.

“What do you need me to do?”

“I want you to use your implant to try and connect with hers, see if you can talk to her,” Harry said, shifting on the bed with a concerned look at his patient. “She’s in a coma, her vitals are stable.If you’re able to speak with her, you may be able to push her out of the coma, get her brain function back towards a normal level.”

SAM also voiced his support for the idea. “I will be able to connect you implant to implant, and I hope you will be able to speak to each other. Knowing you are awake and here may be what she needs to wake up.”

Scott touched his forehead to Sara’s hand, looking at her face, his own scrunching up trying not to cry.He couldn’t help the wave of relief and a renewed wave of grief for what they’d lost at being able to talk to her again—he had so much to tell her about Andromeda... and Dad. “I’ll be able to talk to her?”

“Yes Scott,” SAM told him. “I believe you’ll be able to directly communicate with her.”

“What do I need to do?”He’d missed her so much more than he could find words to say.

“I would suggest getting comfortable,” Harry told him.“I’m not sure how aware of your surroundings you’ll be during this and I’d hate to have a second patient.The other biobed is free,” he said pointing to the next bed over.

Laying down on the biobed, Scott could feel it activating and monitoring his vitals as he fidgeted to get comfortable. “SAM?”

“Connecting you now,” Scott heard as he felt his eyelids grow heavy and felt like he was falling asleep. Sara...

***

The transition from his eyelids closing to wherever he was now... was abrupt.The area around him was light and he was standing on a gray surface but everywhere he looked it was as if his vision faded out and the light was only right next to him and darkness surrounded him.He could feel SAM in his head and suddenly, his sister was there, standing still and staring off into the distance.She didn’t notice him, her arms lax at her side as she stared unblinkingly ahead.

“Sara?Sara!” He said, hesitantly reaching out to touch her shoulder before taking her hand.

“Scott?” Sara said as if she was waking up, her face turning towards him and looking mildly confused as she focused on him. “Where are we?Am I dreaming?”

Scott could feel tears running down his face as he gave a short, happy laugh. “No Sara.You’re not dreaming exactly.I’m so very, very happy to see you. I can’t believe how long its’ been.”

Sara’s face scrunched up even more in confusion and worry as she looked at him, her hands coming up to hug him which allowed Scott to bury his face in his sister’s neck despite the height difference. “Scott?It’s alright.I’m here.”Scott lost track of time as he cried into his twin’s shoulder, his arms tight around her and holding her like she was really there.He could smell her usual perfume, feel her breathing against him like she was physically right there hugging him back. She continued to make soothing noises as he cried until he finally settled.

“Scott?” She asked concernedly. “What’s going on Scott? Where are we?”

Wiping his eyes, Scott stepped back out of the hug to give them a little space.“We’re talking SAM implant to SAM implant.I guess this is a space created by SAM so we can talk.”

Looking unimpressed around them, Sara arched an eyebrow.“SAM needs to be a bit more creative.He could have at least made it look like home.That couch I had in my last apartment is made for cuddling and making little brother tell their big sister who she needs to go rough up because they’re being mean to him.”

Laughing again, Scott couldn’t help it.How classic Sara—big sister (by five minutes) was going to make all her brother’s troubles go away, even if he was a bad ass special operations soldier who could take care of himself. “I’ve missed you so much,” he admitted.

“So what’s happening? Why are we talking here with SAM?” Sara asked again.

Swallowing, Scott tried to think of how to say this.“There was an accident when we arrived in Heleus.They were in the process of waking you up and your cryopod was damaged putting you in a coma.”

“So I’m not able to wake up?” Sara asked him, crossing her arms across her chest as her face told him she wasn’t impressed with his explanation. Scott could see her mind working through what had happened.

“No. They’re working on it.They’ve been able to get you out of cryo but you’re still in a deep coma.The only reason we’re able to talk is because we both have SAM implants.”

“How come dad isn’t here talking to me too then?” Sara asked, following the logic of using the SAM implants.“Scott what happened?You better tell me what happened.”

Scott hesitated, aware he really wasn’t able to hide anything from Sara as he saw her frown looking at him and rapidly figuring out something bad had happened. “Dad is... Dad died in an accident.”

Sara’s face was a picture of denial. “No... how could this happen?Dad can’t die!The man is invincible... he’s.... he can’t die!” Sara said, beginning to cry and curl up on herself.

Scott hugged his sister to him, now allowing her to cry into his chest as he held her, running his hands through her hair and down her back soothingly. Sara continued to sob into his chest about how their dad couldn’t die.

Scott again lost track of time, just holding his sister as she cried, her body heaving with sobs.When she finally quieted, he sat and pulled her down and into his side to sit next to him.Neither of them spoke for a long time.

“How’d it happen?”She finally asked, her voice hoarse from crying. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye...”

“There was an accident on Habitat 7,” he began but she interrupted him quickly.

“Is it as beautiful as we were told?”

He paused.How to tell his sister about the disaster that was Andromeda... he needed to find words and quickly as she was beginning to glare at him, anger taking over from the grief. “Tell me Scott. Whatever you’re debating telling me about—tell me.”

“There was an accident on Habitat 7. I...” he swallowed nervously. “I fell and my helmet faceplate shattered.I was dying and Dad... Dad put his own helmet on me.”

“Why would he need to do that?” Sara’s voice was sharp, her eyes watching Scott closely and almost accusing him of killing their father even if she didn’t say it.

“The golden worlds... they’re... they’re wrong. Something happened and they’re not like they should be.The atmosphere on 7... it.... Dad suffocated.”Scott tried to find more words but they abandoned him at Sara’s angry thump to his chest from her fist and she pushed him away.

Angry and grieving, Sara lashed out. “Why?How could you let this happen Scott?How... He’s dead? You’re wrong.This isn’t real!This isn’t real! “ Sara was screaming at the end, crying and her face red as she lashed out at her twin.

With a grief stricken scream from Sara, Scott was pushed out of wherever they’d been and awoke on the biobed. He could hear Harry asking him what had happened but he couldn’t say anything.Scott curled up on his side, face in the pillow and cried, shutting out the doctor’s worried words.He’d killed his own dad... Sara had been right. It was his fault.

With a pinch to the neck from a needle, Scott felt the darkness enclose him. Unconsciousness beckoned him... it was what he deserved.

 

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE April 11th_

 

_So Sara isn’t waking up anytime soon.And that’s maybe my fault.I was honest with my twin—I’ve never been able to keep anything from her. Never.She’s always been able to tell if I was lying... so I told her the truth.And now Harry says she’s even deeper in her coma.SAM says he’s unable to connect back to her like I was able to the first time. SAM didn’t say it but I think that’s Sara’s way of telling me to fuck off. She was right after all—how could I let that happen? All the years of training, all the years of preparation for missions that were much more difficult and dangerous than Habitat 7 and I still managed to screw up and Dad died because of it._

_Harry and SAM are still hopeful that Sara will wake up eventually as there’s no neurological damage to her brain. I can’t help but find myself wondering though about the damage to my sister’s soul though.People always talk about someone dying of a broken heart—that it’s actually possible—and I’m scared that Sara may actually do that. Sara was always daddy’s girl.I was momma’s boy so I suppose it was fair... but really, she was Daddy’s little girl. they were always much, much closer than I was with him or even, I think, with mom. Mom’s death was horrible.. but I had work to immerse myself in and Sara... I didn’t have anyone to blame for Mom’s death and at the end it wasn’t unexpected since she’d been fading for so long. I was as ‘prepared’ as you could be for when she finally died._

_Sara... I don’t know how to fix this... if I can fix this.She’s got to wake up so I can tell her I’m sorry, that I didn’t mean to have Dad die. I... I can’t change what happened but I can do whatever it takes for her to talk to me again. I need her to wake up and give me a chance to explain... please Sara. Please wake up so I can ask for your forgiveness...I don’t deserve it but... please. Please don’t leave me alone. I can’t do this alone.... Without you Sara, I’m all alone.You promised me when I signed up that you wouldn’t leave me by myself.Please let me try..._


	21. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

 

2819 CE April 11th

Medbay, Ark Hyperion, Nexus, Zheng He, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Investigating is hard work

 

Whatever Harry had given him had a hangover effect when Scott woke up an hour later.The effect was to make all his emotions feel distant—so it was most likely an anxiety drug of some sort.Curled up on his side looking away from Sara, Scott just stared at the row of biobeds.There were a few patients further down the row that medical staff came and went from the bedside but nobody approached him. He didn’t know whether he should thank Harry or scream at him for sedating him against his will. _SAM?_

_Yes Scott?_

_What did he give me?_

_You were having a panic attack and unresponsive when I or Dr. Carlyle tried to get your attention.He gave you a medication to abort the panic attack since it was unknown what effect of taking implant to implant was having on you. There was some concern about seizures given your no response to repetitive attempts to get your attention but I did not note you having any according to my monitoring but Dr. Carlyle was still very concerned. Dr. Carlyle acted in what he thought was your best interest._

Closing his eyes, Scott clenched his hands into tight fists.He was fine. He would have to be. No time for freaking out. _SAM, am I allowed to leave?_

_Dr. Carlyle would have to determine that given he administered medication._

_Fine.Let him know I’m awake._

SAM didn’t try to make conversation which Scott was glad for.He sat up at bedside, put his legs over the edge of the biobed and glanced briefly at Sara’s prone form before looking back towards the rest of medbay. He couldn’t really start thinking about Sara right now or he’d risk another panic attack.Running his hands through his hair, he tried to push away the sensation of fuzziness to his thoughts. Harry approached with a reluctant drag to his feet, his face serious and eyes worried.

“Scott, how are you feeling?”Harry asked.

“I’m fine. Can I go?” Scott responded, dropping his hands from his face into his lap.

Harry didn’t look like he believed Scott but he did look at the readings on the biobed before answering. “Your vitals are stable but I’d like to keep you for observation given the response you had to our communication attempt.”

“Do you need me to physically be here for monitoring or is SAM capable of alerting you if something happens?I promise to not leave the Nexus for the next twelve hours.”He was pretty sure that Harry wouldn’t have a reason to hold him physically in the medbay.If necessary, he’d agree to having Cora or someone else accompany him but he wasn’t staying here.Not where Sara was and he could physically see her.

Brow furrowing as he scrutinized Scott, Harry reluctantly answered. “No.SAM can monitor you and theoretically I would be able to respond anywhere on the Nexus if needed but I would feel better if you would stay overnight.”

“The pathfinder quarters are on the Hyperion.How about I promise to stick to my quarters and SAM can monitor things,” Scott bargained. He wasn’t staying in medbay.

Harry stared at him but seemed to figure out that Scott wouldn’t agree to staying and sighed. “Fine.I’ll have a tray sent to your room—you need to eat. Your weight is still too low for a biotic. I expect to see you tomorrow for a check up.”

Scott didn’t verbally reply, just nodded and stood. Harry didn’t stop him as he walked out of medbay without looking back. He needed some alone time outside of medical and away from everyone.

***

Hiding in his inherited quarters, Scott found himself staring at the blank part of the wall between his bed and the sitting area, huddled seated with his knees bent on the carpet in a corner between the bookshelves where he could make himself as small as possible. SAM had tried to engage him a few times before he realized Scott really just needed to shut down for a few moments. Sara... she hadn’t taken what he’d said well... but how could he lie to her? Like that would have been better? He’d never purposefully deceived someone like that and it left a foul taste in his mouth to even think of doing so. Which meant what she’d last said to him—that it was his fault, he was wrong—his thoughts kept skittering away from looking at that too closely. He wanted to rage and scream back that he’d rather have died than what Dad did... but it hadn’t been his choice. So many things were never his choice but choices made for him.

Choices... they supposedly made you what you were... but what if you weren’t allowed your own choices? What if they were constantly being taken away from you?Were you then responsible for outcomes?Fuck. He needed to turn his brain off. Stop thinking. Stop feeling like he was going to start crying again.

Which was when he realized he was crying as a sniffle escaped him, his throat full of phlegm. Letting out a sudden yell of frustration and pain, Scott punched the wall as hard as he could, making a large dent but his changed body didn’t do anything other than the skin broke over his knuckles and some slight bleeding from the broken skin. No broken bones for the super soldier. Several punches later, he just gave in and started fully crying.

SAM was obviously worried, telling him that unless he responded that SAM was going to contact Dr. Carlyle and Cora.

“I’m fine SAM.I just screwed up, like usual. Nothing to see here. Don’t bother them.I just need some time,” he finally told his AI. Hah. His. Was SAM really his?

“Scott... you are in need of medical care. You are bleeding,” SAM said, his inflection actually portraying concern. It seemed SAM was learning to emote instead of being an emotionless robot.

“It’s just split skin SAM.I saw some medigel in here last time that will take care of it. It’s not something that Harry will need to look at.” Scott dragged himself to his feet and went to the kitchenette, opening the cabinet with the emergency medical supplies including medigel.

“I see that you don’t feel that your personal health is a concern but my protocols...”

“SAM.It’s a minor injury. I just need to be more careful next time,” Scott interrupted.

There was a pregnant pause before SAM continued. “I would prefer that you not hurt yourself. There should not be a ‘next time’.”

Opening the medigel packet, Scott winced at his own wording. “I misspoke SAM.Sometimes I need to just hit something.Next time I’ll find a gym with a punching bag and wear the proper protective gloves.That better?”

“I understand that significant painful emotions sometimes cause physical reactions.I would prefer the gym as it seems to be a more healthy coping mechanism rather than punching walls.”SAM almost sounded offended.

“I’m sorry for causing you worry SAM.I won’t do it again.I wasn’t expecting Sara’s reaction and wasn’t prepared for it.”

SAM’s electronic avatar actually pulsed several times as he thought about Scott’s answer. “You are not responsible for your Father’s decisions.You did not purposefully break your helmet and could not have anticipated the events that caused you to fall off the platform.Your sister was grieving and will likely regret what she said to you based on my prior interactions with her.”

Scott wasn’t really convinced about that but knew convincing SAM otherwise wouldn’t happen. “How about we agree to not talk about it?” He said as he applied medigel to his hands. He’d really done a number on his skin and the medigel sank in rapidly causing a tingle as it began working, stopping the bleeding and knitting an artificial skin barrier over his knuckles.

“You are not responsible for other’s choices,” SAM finally said as Scott returned the medical kit to where it was stored.

“So I keep being told,” Scott murmured as he turned to look at the wall he’d made a dent in. Examining the wall, he’d caused separation in the layers but could see a space behind where he’d made a hole the size of his fist surrounded by multiple dents where he’d not completely gone through the wall. Damnit... what space had he made a huge hole into?Sticking his hand in, he activated the flashlighton his omnitool to see if he could see a bunch of wires or pipes as he couldn’t feel a second wall behind the first.Looking through, he saw what looked like a second office space with a desktop workstation and multiple view screens, all powered down with some locked cabinets off to the side. “SAM?What do the floor plans show is behind this wall... I thought that SAM node was on the other side but this doesn’t make sense—looks like an office.”

“I am showing just wire and pipe conduits... there should not be an office space according to the official blueprints,” was the reply.

“And there are unofficial blueprints?” Scott asked, looking at the avatar with an eyebrow raised in question.SAM had phrased it making it sound like there was more than one blueprint set.

“I have several older sets of blueprints, of which the oldest shows just a blank space in the area you are asking about,” SAM sounded annoyed now. Scott wondered if the meds he’d been giving were making him attach emotions to a robotic voice or if SAM was actually learning inflection.He’d have to get a second opinion to make sure it wasn’t just him.

“Well it obviously doesn’t connect to outside the ship since I’m not dead yet...” Scott pulled back and started his scanner, running it along the wall. Closer to the doorway, he found a lever disguised as part of the wall panel.A few pokes and prods later, he found a slight give to the wall and with pushing it, an entire section of the wall folded back in a pocket door to reveal an office space that had more stuff in it than the one next to his bed. “It was Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with the candlestick...” he murmured as he stepped into the room. A hidden room right out of his mother’s favorite murder mystery novels.

“Colonel Mustard did what?” SAM asked him, obviously confused.

Turning on the workstation, Scott sat and absently replied to SAM. “It’s from a really really old board game that my mom used to play with Sara and I. It was a murder mystery game called Clue.”`

“And this relates how?” SAM was most definitely confused sounding and it wasn’t Scott’s imagination.

“Hidden room SAM. It’s straight out of my mom’s Victorian mystery novels.She and Dad used to read them together.Sara liked them a lot too.”Scott watched as the workstation booted up from not being used for a while. Did his dad even use it before departing for Habitat 7 or had it last been used before leaving for Andromeda?

“I notice you don’t include yourself in that list,” SAM prodded.

“Oh, I didn’t mind them. Read a lot of them so I could keep up with family conversations but my favorites were always the action adventure novels or really the science fiction space opera stuff, even the classic sci-fi stuff.”

“Ah.” 

Distracted, Scott didn’t reply to SAM although he could feel the AI watching what he did.The screen displayed the generic pathfinder credential login that Scott had inherited from his father.Pulling the keyboard closer, he typed in his password to see if it had transferred the login credentials and it worked, the workstation unlocked and he was staring at a generic startup screen that quickly changed to the workstation layout his father preferred with the background picture of their last family portrait before his mom had been diagnosed.The picture had been taken at his boot camp graduation and he was actually smiling in it compared to a lot of other family photos he’d been forced into over the years. HIs Dad had his arm slung around his mom and Sara while his Mom was hugging Scott and pressing a kiss into his cheek. They actually all looked happy in the photo... which tugged at Scott’s emotions but he quickly shut it down. He had stuff to do.

Quickly bringing up the data filing system, Scott browsed the titles to see if anything stood out.It looked like a bunch of log files from the planning stages of Andromeda going back almost five years before the Ark Hyperion’s launch.There were also two newly dated ones that ended right before he’d met up with his father to go down to the surface of Habitat 7. There were no more recent entries. A subcategory identified the dossiers he’d been given on all the people in the Andromeda Initiative and a brief glance at his own seemed identical to the one he’d read only a few weeks earlier—it omitted his military discharge and contained the promotional paperwork as complete even though he’d never filed it in reality. “SAM?Can you access this system?”

“No.You will have to do a manual copy to upload to your other workstation to give me access.” 

Well there went the easy way of asking SAM to cross reference all the dossiers to see if there was any new information.Scott went to the control panel and selected to copy the entire data bank to a new hard drive and set it to prepare as he stepped out into the main room and grabbed the blanks that were sitting on his desk along with a cord to connect them for faster transfer times. Attaching everything to the new workstation, he watched as the system began the mirroring.It estimated it was going to take hours given the amount of data and manual need for transfer.

In the meantime, Scott pulled up the oldest logs and began to read from the beginning to try and make sense of it all.He evidently had a lot of catch up reading to do.“SAM—all this stuff—it needs to be kept under wraps.My eyes only and Cora’s only if something were to happen to me.”

“Yes Scott,” was SAM’s snarky reply.Really. Emotions were a new thing for SAM and it wasn’t just him.

***

Scott lost track of time.A loud knocking at his door made him startle and almost fall out of his chair, blinking owlishly at the reports on his screen. “SAM who is it?”

“It’s Cora.She’s been waiting for quite some time for you to open the door.”

“Ah.You should have alerted me sooner...” Scott said as he began to shut down the screens to not show any information, allowing the data transfer to continue.He didn’t miss what SAM said next though.

“I’ve been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes,” SAM said with a slightly annoyed tone.

“I’m sorry,” Scott apologized, hitting the light controllers for the room which were manual and hitting the lever to close the door. He couldn’t do anything about he hole in the wall but hopefully Cora wouldn’t look to closely at it.

Opening the door, he sheepishly looked at Cora.“Sorry, I was reading and distracted. SAM tells me you’ve been trying to get my attention for a while.:

Cora, holding a tray with what looked like military rations, didn’t look impressed as she handed it to him which he opened the box to see protein bars—his favorite.“Must have been some reading.”

“You can come in.I should share some of what I found with you,” Scott offered, stepping to the side to let her in.He should share with Cora—she would need to know as his second in command some of it.

Looking around his room, Cora had one perfectly arched eyebrow raised as she noted the dent in the wall but didn’t say anything about it.“What have you been reading?”

“Did you have access to all the dossier’s on the Initiative’s leadership structure?” Scott asked instead, setting the tray down on the coffee table. “Want some coffee?”

“Sure.I don’t have access to everything you do,” Cora said as she continued to look around, noticing the desk area with the screens set to display navigational data streams which was their default when not in use and the rooms were occupied.

Going to the coffee maker, Scott preoccupied his hands with the task of making a fresh batch of coffee. “I’m going to copy what I have to you—I trust that you can keep it to yourself as some of it’s sensitive information.”

“Of course,” Cora agreed, sitting on the couch and putting her right leg over her left as she relaxed into the cushions.

“I’m concerned about the accident that happened when the Nexus arrived in Heleus—specifically how so many of the leadership team ended up dead,” Scott said as the coffee began to brew, retrieving two mugs from a nearby cabinet and setting them out.He then grabbed an empty datapad, stepped to the computer and copied all the dossiers onto it with a few taps. He then handed Cora the datapad which she took with interest.

“What specifically are you concerned about?” Cora asked as she browsed the available document titles.

Returning to the coffee maker, Scott poured both himself and Cora a cup before joining her in the seating area, taking the chair across from her.“It’s very odd that specifically so many of the chain of command died. I didn’t know much about them so I’m trying to find anything between them that linked them.It just feels like the odds of this happening by sheer coincidence is very unlikely.”

“You think someone made it happen that way?” Cora asked, looking at Scott over her datapad.She looked thoughtful and wasn’t dismissing his concerns right away.

Meeting Cora’s gaze, Scott just inclined his head.“I’m saying that it’s an awfully big coincidence that seven people died to make Tann director and he’s not the most effective administrator.And,” Scott paused for effect, “The situation with the exiles seems to be the worst possible outcome possible given we lost it seems like over a third of the Nexus crew to it.”

“I can think of worse outcomes,” Cora murmured, looking again at the index of dossiers on the datapad. “Also, do you know anything about some murder investigation that Tann assigned us? I had the oddest conversation with Liam.He was going on and on about some turian that’s locked up in security and how we’d been assigned to investigate.”

Taking a drink of his coffee, Scott remembered belatedly Tann’s assignment and winced. “Yeah.Tann wouldn’t give us permission to load and go.He told me he wanted me to get rid of the murderer’s wife as she’s being claiming he didn’t do it and trying to petition Tann.”

“You could have mentioned it...” Cora muttered with a glare. “Dr. Carlyle told me something happened when you tried to talk to your sister but wouldn’t go into details. He said if you felt like telling me you would.I’m assuming that’s why you didn’t tell me about our new assignment.”

“I kind of forgot after talking to Sara,” Scott said, looking at his own hands around the utilitarian and plain coffee mug.“Sara didn’t take the news of Dad being dead well.She... well, she isn’t awake at the moment. Not sure if I made things better or worse,” he stopped himself from rambling further by taking a gulp of the still too hot coffee which burned his tongue as he swallowed it despite it’s heat.

“I’m sorry you had to tell her that way,” Cora said, her tone empathetic as she gently placed her hand on his arm and squeezed.“I really am Scott. I know that while Alec was a great mentor for me, he’s still your dad.It couldn’t have been easy telling her what happened. It really hasn’t been too long and we’ve made you jump right into being pathfinder.” 

Scott looked up at Cora, he could feel the tears being just held back but he really appreciated Cora’s support. “Thanks,” he said with a sniffle he couldn’t quite suppress.“I just... I just had to tell her.I’ve never lied to Sara and she would hate me even more if I had held it back and lied. It’s just... really hard some times so I don’t like to think about it—just focus on our mission and I’m okay.After telling her, I needed some time to just shut out things.”

Cora looked like she might cry herself and her smile trembled as she gave him a sad look. “I miss him too.I can’t imaging loosing your father that way and still doing what you do. I... I wasn’t really happy with your promotion at first but you’ve done so much better than I would at this point.”

With a loud sniff, Scott changed the topic back to business. “Thanks. Tann did mention the murder.I, at first thought he was talking about Jien Garson but he indicted that this Mariette is causing him trouble... I don’t think we should just brush her aside.Did Liam find out anything?”

Cora accepted his topic change gracefully and didn’t press further although it looked like she wanted to. “He talked to this Mariette, evidently she flagged him down on his way through the main corridor.She’s saying that her husband, Nilken Rensus, was convicted and sentenced to exile for murdering his team leader Hiram Reynolds during one of the first colonization attempts on Eos. He’s being held in the security cells on the Nexus and they’re planning on exiling him in three days.When Liam asked Kandros about it he mentioned that Tann had assigned you to look into it because of Mariette.”

“That’s more than Tann told me.He mentioned it was the first murder in Andromeda,” Scott admitted.

Cora frowned.“But you think he’s not actually the first murderer?”

“I’d say I remain skeptical. Tann seemed more annoyed with Mariette than interested in solving things but I guess we can look into it further and find out the truth,”Scott offered.

“It’s not too late.I can go down to the holding cells and interrogate Nilken if you want me to,” Cora said, starting to get up.

“No, why don’t I come with you.Tann did assign this to us and I need to move around a bit.I can get back to my reading later after SAM has time to index it.”

“Eat first!” Cora ordered.“Dr. Carlyle said I had to make sure you ate!”

Laughing, Scott grabbed the rations and started wolfing down two of the protein bars and made a face. One of them was butterscotch. Bleh.

***

The holding cells were on the opposite site of the main concourse of the Nexus from security. Liam, who Cora had commed to say they were going to go interrogate the turian prisoner, had joined them.Scott could see Liam chatting with the security officer in charge of the holding cells, a sergeant Aker, who was a pale grey faced Turian who was serious but friendly. When Scott indicted they were there to see Nilken, Aker was surprise.“Why are you bothering with that poor excuse for a Turian?” Was the surprised response.

“I’ve been asked to look into the murder by the director,” Scott demurred, not expanding on his answer.

“Well, you’re welcome to talk to him.I don’t think you’re going to find out anything new though that you couldn’t find in the investigation report,” Aker informed Scott as he escorted them down a side hallway to the holding cells and gestured to an occupied cell with a force field door between the cell and the hallway before calling out to the occupant to wake him up from the huddled sleeping form in the corner on a bed. “Nilken! You’re moving up in the world.The Pathfinder wants to talk to you.”

A pale, almost white faced Turian with a face absent of colony marks looked out at Scott, Liam and Cora.The turian inside stood and approached the force field but didn’t try to touch it, standing loosely while he looked them up and down. “Come to stare at the murderer of Andromeda?” He asked them, his tone stiff and cold.

“No,” Scott said, crossing his arms across his chest and gazing appraisingly back at the turian to show he wasn’t impressed by his attitude. “I’ve been tasked with looking into what happened on Eos with the death of Chief of Security Reynolds.I’d like to hear from you what exactly happened.”

At this, the turian visibly perked up. “I didn’t kill Reynolds.I argued with him because he was leading us to take back to the site but I didn’t kill him.If we’d followed his plan we’d all be dead.”

“Do tell,” Scott said. He’d browsed the investigative file very briefly with Cora’s summary on the way down here. “I’m told the incident occurred June 25th 2818 CE on Eos.Chief Reynolds had given the order to turn and retake Promise after you’d been forcibly ousted by a kett attack.”

“Yes.Reynolds had ordered us to turn and return to Promise.He and I argued about this decision and we were then attacked by Kett.Visibility was poor and I panicked.I shot at the kett and the next thing I knew Reynolds’ chest exploded and he was dead.”The turian sounded somewhat sad at this, crossing his arms across his own chest as he stared back at Scott. “I argued with him, disagreed with him, but I only shot at the Kett.”

“So you didn’t mean to kill Reynolds?” Scott asked to clarify.

“I didn’t mean to shoot Reynolds.No one else saw the Kett so they thought I was making it up in the confusion. Now I’m going to be exiled for something I didn’t do!” Towards the end, Nilken sounded plaintive and had a whine to his voice.

“We’ll see.Who else can speak for you that was there?” Scott asked him.

“Cassidy was there but she didn’t see anything, just said I wanted Reynolds dead.” Nilken whined.When he opened his mouth to continue Scott held his hand up to silence him.

“Cassidy?”Scott asked for clarification

“Cassidy Shaw.She’s colonial affairs.You can talk to her if you want.She’ll tell you she didn’t see me shoot Reynolds,” Nilken ground out.

“I’ll speak with her.Anything else to add in your own defense?” Scott asked.He was going to try and keep an open mind about this until he saw evidence.

“I didn’t kill Reynolds,” the turian sneered. Yeah, Nilken wasn’t doing himself any favors.

“I’ll be back,” Scott informed him and turned to leave, aware both Cora and Liam were following him silently.Aker, who had watched everything with a smirk of amusement locked the security doors behind them as they exited.

Standing outside in the concourse, Liam spoke up.“There’s a security recording you should hear before talking to Shaw.It’s archived in the security logs for the case.”

“Lead on,” Scott told Liam. “Did you listen to it already?”

“Yeah.I don’t blame them for finding him guilty after listening to it but there’s a lot of holes in the case.Nobody got a clear view of what exactly happened and they didn’t retrieve the body so there’s missing evidence too.”Liam sounded doubtful as he kept talking. “Tann supposedly told them it was too dangerous to retrieve the body—probably why we found all those other bodies on Eos too.”

If Liam’s cop senses were not happy then Scott doubly agreed they’d need more evidence.“Let’s listen to the logs and then go find this Shaw if she’s available.We may need to take a trip back to Eos and retrieve the evidence if Tann will let us.”

Cora nodded while Liam verbally agreed. “Honestly, there’s not that many of us.We need to be sure before we condemn him to exile.”

“Agreed,” Scott said as they entered the security offices.Tiran Kandros nodded to Scott but he was busy on a vid call as they entered and did not stop it to speak to Scott.Liam took him to a corner where he quickly loaded the murder case file and selected the security team’s audio log for the day, cueing the recording to the section involved in the incident.A set of headphones hung on a hook next to the workstation and he handed them to Cora and grabbed another pair for Scott and himself. They all put on their headsets and listened to the file.

There was a lot of interference in the recording, obvious sound of a sandstorm and heavy breathing from the team as well as loud clattering from small objects hitting shields and armor consistent with small rocks or occasionally with something larger. The could hear a lot of random directional commands from the voice that was identified as Security Chief Hiram Reynolds. He was heard clearly ordering the team back towards Promise to retake it. 

Scott closed his eyes so he could picture what was happening more clearly, his hands holding the headset close to his ears. A voice they recognized, Nilken’s, loudly argued with Reynolds saying that going back was suicide and he wasn’t going to let Reynolds get them all killed. The recording was supposedly from another team member’s suit so this was over comms—the recording from both Nilken’s and Reynold’s suits were not included which was odd. There were several shouts from other team members followed by the sound of gunfire from an assault weapon followed by a female sounding scream after a brief delay.“He’s dead!You killed him!” Said the female voice.

Nilken could be heard arguing with the female but the recording was incomplete and there was a lot of sound interference. SAM?Any way you can clean this up? Scott asked

No Scott.This audio has already been analyzed as much as possible—because it is not from any of the speaker’s suits this is the best that can be done.Frowning, Scott opened his eyes to see Cora and Liam continue listening to the recording closely which rapidly finished.

“Well?” Scott asked them, wanting to see what they thought.

“It doesn’t sound good for Nilken but... it’s not the same as direct evidence of him shooting Chief Reynolds.There’s a lot of room for interpretation,” Cora said. 

“Yeah,” Liam agreed.“It’s also not from their suits or Shaw’s. The teammate this is from is currently in cryo as he was considered non-essential when they started cutting back on resource use.”

“Why don’t we have their recordings?”Scott asked.

“Nilken’s was corrupted and unable to be salvaged during the uprising—which seems really convenient but it did happen. Shaw’s suit’s recording function is manual as she’s colonial affairs—their suits don’t automatically record because they frequently have sensitive conversations. Her suit wasn’t recording at the time,” Liam reported as they walked towards the bridge where SAM indicated Cassidy Shaw was currently located according to her omnitool ping.

“That’s unfortunate,” Scott sighed.At least the busy work Tann had given them wasn’t boring. “I’m going to let you take point on talking with Cassidy due to your background Liam.”

“You’re doing pretty good so far, but yeah...” Liam trailed off, his chest puffing out with the responsibility.Liam was obviously happy to use his skill set.

***

Interviewing Cassidy Shaw just confirmed that she hadn’t actually witnessed Nilken shooting and killing Chief Reynolds.She had, however, been one of the team members who’d helped pull him off the dying man.Shaw, similarly to Nilken, had what Scott would term an interesting attitude for a first on the ground colony team.Thank god that the current colony team wasn’t like this.Shaw had primly told Liam, while sneering at Scott behind him, that Nilken had done it and she didn’t know why there was such a fuss.That he should just be exiled. What exactly had happened before the Hyperion arrived and what had the screening entailed for joining the Initiative?This is ridiculous was all Scott could say to SAM when Shaw went off about how obvious it was that Nilken didn’t like Reynolds order and had shot him in disagreement.Her parting shot was that thanks to Nilken shooting Reynolds they actually had survived to get off Eos.

After they’d left Shaw’s workstation, Scott exchanged a look with his companions.“We’re going to need to get Chief Reynolds body if we want real answers.If there’s a slug from Nilken’s gun in him then that answers the question of if his bullet did it.Also, his suit should have been recording if it’s not too degraded from being out in the elements for so long.”

“Do you think Tann will clear us to go get the body?I mean we’re capable of fending off Kett if that’s the issue,” Liam asked.

“We can also do a supply run and dump for Eos while we do it.It’s not like Tann knows where to send us off to next.I’ll speak with Tann,” Scott told his team. “You guys are dismissed for the night.I’ll see you in the morning—enjoy some rec time.” 

Cora and Liam both took off, Liam inviting Cora to watch another one of his twentieth and twenty first century films which she seemed intrigued by as they walked away.Scott silently asked SAM if Tann was still in his office which SAM confirmed.

_Scott, may I ask a question?_

_Sure SAM._

_If in fact, Nilken did accidentally shoot Chief Reynolds... what would you do?He did not mean to shoot him._

_While motive maters SAM, it also depends on whether this was a friendly fire situation.I don’t know what to say—obviously things got heated and Chief Reynolds ended up dead, possibly from friendly fire.If I, in the marines, was to accidentally shoot and kill an ally accidentally I would be subject to discipline up to and including being charged with manslaughter and discharged, possibly to serve time in prison. It all would depend on the exact circumstances._

_And in these circumstances?_

_I think that I wouldn’t want to be Nilken.It’s obvious that he was arguing his orders which the rest of the team did not argue about or disobey.And yes—they might have all died if they followed Chief Reynolds orders but we don’t know that for sure. Most of the colonists were evacuated from Promise and Resilience according to the reports._

_Yet we still have found bodies._

_Yes.I said most.The problem with all this is we don’t know for sure what would have happened if they’d returned to Promise.The Kett haven’t been shown to occupy the colony sites even if they are abandoned but timing wise they wouldn’t have had that intel.They might have come back to a deserted Promise with no Kett there or they might have been facing an entrenched enemy force. I don’t know if I would have given the same orders as Reynolds but I don’t think they were unreasonable either._

_So Nilken will most likely be exiled?_

_I think we need Chief Reynolds body before I make a recommendation._

_I see..._

And they’d arrived outside Tann’s office.Scott reached for the door and it immediately cycled open.Tann greeted Scott as he walked in, “Pathfinder, did you have more questions for me?I saw that you have been to security.”

Yeah, watching all the security feeds instead of doing anything productive.Tann was like a spider sitting in a web in his office. “So I’ve been following up on that murder you asked me to look into.I’d like to request permission to go to Eos and retrieve the body.”

Tann blinked.“Previously it was too dangerous to retrieve Chief Reynolds’ body... but I suppose you are more than up to the task. However, I had discussed with Addison sending the Tempest out to it’s next destination tomorrow.”

Scott internally rolled his eyes.Tann had assigned him a task and he was going to complete it—even if he’d originally thought it wasn’t something that should be assigned to him.It shouldn’t take more than two days to go to Eos, retrieve the body and return. Two days where previously Tann wouldn’t okay him to leave ASAP like he’d wanted to.And it seemed the investigation hadn’t been completed properly the first time. “Sir, I think you and I both need to work together.You asked me to look into Andromeda’s first murder and I’ve found that there are inconsistencies that need to be clarified. I can roll this recovery mission into a supply run for Prodromos and get more of the raw materials that Kesh’s been asking for.”

Tann sat back on his chair, his hand coming to his mouth in thought as he stared unblinkingly at Scott. “You think this investigation is that important?”

“I think I was given a task to complete and I’m doing so. You need me to get things done—I’d like to think that I would follow through with the missions I’m given.”Scott was curious what exactly Tann was thinking but knew it was probably not the same as him. Besides, if he completed this task for Tann maybe he wouldn’t assign his own nuisance work to Scott in the future.Not that Scott felt this was a nuisance—murder was serious and the record needed to be correct.He’d also need time to do some snooping around the administrative wings and doing open ended tasks should give him the reasons to be there.It was just easier if Tann gave him the excuse.

“I suppose we do need each other, don’t we Pathfinder?” Tann finally said.“I’m allowing this trip to Eos and we’ll talk when you return.”

“Agreed.I’ll see you in a few days then,” Scott agreed before leaving the office.He always felt like Tann and he were having two different conversations. He’d have to let his team know they were going to Eos in the morning.

***

2818 CE October 18th

Aya, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena

Status: Time to make plans

Exiting the bath house, Reyes wasn’t surprised to find Kenax lounging outside doing his best to appear to be innocently loitering at sunrise when everyone else was asleep. Seeing Reyes, Kenax took his toiletry kit off of him and took his bundled clothes but didn’t say anything. Reyes, walking stiffly with his crutch, started in the direction of their rooms to drop off his things with Kenax silently shadowing him.

“So you’ve made your decision then,” Kenax observed when they were about halfway there.

“I have,” Reyes agreed.

“You’re going to join up with Keema Dohrgun.”Kenax didn’t seem to have an opinion one way or the other about Keema but Reyes would be that Vestus and Kenax had discussed it in detail already.

“I think so,” Reyes allowed.“I... need to keep moving forward and Keema is offering me a place to go.”

“Moving forward? Is that what we’re calling it?” Kenax asked, poking gently.

“I can’t stay here and just be sad,” Reyes finally softly said. “And I can’t change what happened.”

Kenax nodded at this but he didn’t stop side-eying Reyes worriedly when he stumbled slightly as his crutch caught in an uneven stone on the path. “I hope you’ll give your bones time to heal in gravity before we leave.You’ll never heal properly in zero g.”

He’d heard Kenax say yesterday that he was only interested in assignments with both Reyes and Vestus, which hearing it repeated that it was assumed he was going with Reyes was heartwarming and lightened the stress in Reyes’ shoulders. “Hopefully Alzik and Maiko can get the osteoregenerator working and it’ll only be two or so weeks. Otherwise we’ll be here closer to two months.”

“They’ll get it working.We’ve got some of the best minds we know working on it,” Kenax assured him. “When do you talk to Evfra?”

“As soon as we get this stuff dropped off I was going to go to his office to talk,” Reyes said as they came to the door to the living quarters, Kenax giving a sharp nod of agreement. Kenax indicated for Reyes to wait there so he wouldn’t have to navigate several steps while he dropped off the bundled clothes and toiletry bag.

***

Evfra was in his office despite the early hour and did not seem surprised to see Reyes there with Kenax in tow. Reyes entered Evfra’s office and was pushed gently into the only chair across from the desk while Kenax leaned casually against the wall behind him with, as Reyes noted with annoyance, a direct look at the door and at Evfra.Really, he didn’t need a bodyguard.

“Are you feeling better Reyes?” Evfra asked, having briefly clasped hands with Reyes to give him one of those startling boosts that every angaran seemed determined to give him.

“I feel better than yesterday,” Reyes said with a shrug. “It’ll take time but I’m sure I’ll be better tomorrow still.”He wasn’t going to admit that he still had a residual headache that refused to go away and was very happy it wasn’t brighter out yet—the rising sun had made him aware he still had some photophobia with his concussion.

Evfra gave him a look of concern like he didn’t totally buy what Reyes was selling but he didn’t verbally prod.“Keema is hoping you will come to a decision quickly on whether Kadara will be your assignment—although I admit that I hoped you would stay posted on Aya for some time.”

While Aya was beautiful... Reyes knew he needed to have a mental and physical separation for a time from the place. He’d still come back to surf when he could. “I thought it over last night and I think I would be most useful with Keema. I love Aya and it has become like a home to us... but I would be most useful working as a Milky Way contact and agent for Keema.”

Evfra nodded, this time the gesture more natural and less forced.“I see.I hope that Keema will have reasons to send you to Aya frequently.She has been eager to hear your answer. I will have her find you later today.”Evfra paused and his eyes flicked to Kenax. ‘I take it you and Vestus will be going with him?”

“Where he goes, we go,” Kenax replied with a grin.

Evfra nodded and then dismissed them.“Go then and enjoy your morning. Once Keema starts giving you assignments you will not have much recreation time.”

“Let’s go sit on the beach and enjoy the warmth of the sun and the water while we can—I hear Kadara is more like the mountain highlands.It’ll do you good Reyes,” Kenax told him as they left. Reyes supposed he could do that as long as he could find some sunglasses first.

***

An hour later found Reyes ensconced on a beach towel, sunglasses sitting next to him as he lay on his abdomen with his face pillowed on his forearms, sunning himself in the early light.He was dozing lightly while Kenax and Vestus tussled in the sand with a few of their former classmates in a wrestling match. Julia had joined them while Maiko and Alzik had gone to the workshop—Maiko was determined to get the osteoregenerator working. Maiko had simply nodded at Reyes’ informing her about his decision and said she’d already sent notice to Keema that they—Maiko and Julia—would be coming along with the rest of their group.Maiko’s boyfriend had also gotten himself assigned to Kadara as had half their classmates. Keema had been recruiting aggressively.

Alzik had just looked hurt when Reyes had asked what his plans were, stating “Of course I’m going with my friends!”Reyes had sheepishly informed the salarian that he hadn’t wanted to assume that everyone would want to do what he decided which had mollified Alzik. The Salarian then informed Reyes that he considered them all very close friends and would not want to be separated from them—even when Reyes asked if he, as a scientist, felt he would have more resources on Aya.Alzik had responded, “I’m a biochemist and geneticist.All of Andromeda is interesting to see new examples of biodiversity.From what I’ve heard of Kadara, my skills may very well be necessary given the water problems.”

Reyes had stopped at the mention of water issues. “Water trouble?”

Alzik sighed and began to explain that with high sulfur content the water was acidic and required filtration to be safe for consumption.If they were to set up hydroponics or aquaponics farms they would dearly need Alzik and Maiko as they could use their complementary skill sets to set the farms up and run them.Julia would also be an asset once they had large volumes to organize moving as she’d done inventory management work prior to Andromeda. Alzik had then informed Reyes that he and Maiko would be fixing Reyes’ bones so they wouldn’t have to wait around forever while he healed. Reyes had shut up after that and gone along with the beach day suggestion from the Turians who had invited half their Resistance training classmates.

Letting out an “oof” as a giggling angaran child landed on him, Reyes opened one eye to look at the squirming youngling that had landed on his back and now was sitting on his lower back, his ribs creaking threateningly at him to remind him they still were unhappy with the small additional weight. It was one of the children that Maiko liked to make sandcastles with—whose name escaped him.Giggling, the child placed both of his light cerulean blue hands on Reyes shoulder blades, just outside of the bruised area and pushed in one of the neuro electric pulses into Reyes’ muscles which instantly relaxed and caused the background low grade pain impulses to stop.

“Thanks,” Reyes said as the child upped the output and he found himself falling asleep.

“Don’t overdo it,” was the soft Angaran voice Reyes heard as one of the parent’s of the child approached them and the weight lifted off him.An adult angaran hand placed carefully over the bruising and another pulse of energy put Reyes out as his muscles relaxed and he felt blissfully pain free. He was really lucky that Maiko had made him slather on sun screen if he was going to take a long nap on the sand.

***

Keema found Reyes almost at midday, the group of rowdy classmates having calmed down as they took to playing in the water or sunning themselves.Maiko and Alzik had reappeared with what appeared to be a functional osteoregenerator which she immediately captured Reyes’ ankle and inserted into the machine. The cool hum of the machine working felt similar to his prior experiences so Reyes shrugged it off, flipped over onto his back and tried to even out his tan, slipping on his sunglasses and fell back to sleep when Maiko rolled out her own beach towel next to his and Julia’s while Alzik pitched a beach umbrella to give them some shade. Keema joined them while he was asleep. Reyes only found out after the machine made a noise indicating the treatment regimen was complete which awoke him to find a curious Angaran poking at the machine wrapped around his leg.

“This thing works to fix bones?” Keema asked with skepticism, seeing that Reyes was awake finally. She also wrapped her fingers around his unimpeded ankle and sent a warm feeling pulse of energy.He really couldn’t repay all the Angarans that were sharing their own energy with him.

“Should,” Reyes said and then flinched when Maiko snapped out and slapped his arm with a thwack, correcting him that it would work. “Will work, sorry,” he added with a wince, side eying Maiko who hadn’t moved otherwise from where she was sunbathing with a ridiculously large hat and sunglasses on her red and white striped blanket.

“You shouldn’t doubt my work.I do good work,” Maiko said with a smile as she sat up.“It works to encourage osteophyte regeneration and mineralization—speeds healing broken bones up so they take a third of the time.”

“You’re not a doctor,” Reyes grumbled as he rubbed the red spot on his skin.

One perfectly arched eyebrow was all the response Maiko gave his complaint. “Keema’s been waiting for you to wake up for almost an hour.”

Giving Maiko an unimpressed look, Reyes turned his attention to Keema who was watching Reyes and Maiko like they were great entertainment. “Did Evfra tell you I spoke with him?”

Keema took a seat in the sand between him and Maiko, facing them both, ankles tucked neatly below her knees as she settled in to chat. “He did.I am very glad to hear you have chosen Kadara as your assignment.We have much to discuss.”

Maiko, realizing that the machine had completed the day’s treatment for the ankle, got up, detached it from Reyes’ foot before grabbing his wrist and wrapping it around to cycle again.Reyes calmly watched her do it and debated protesting but found he didn’t really object to getting better quicker. Meeting Reyes’ amused glance, Maiko rolled her eyes. “Talk,” she said with a wave of her hand to Keema’s expectant look.“She came to talk to you, oh great and fearsome leader.”

“Great and fearsome leader?” Reyes asked, amused.

“Don’t push it,” Maiko said as she finished inputting the commands to the machine which began it’s cycle with a barely audible hum.Maiko then got up and tugged her sister towards the water, leaving Reyes alone with Keema.

“Your friends have placed great trust in you,” Keema observed, her gaze now taking on a calculating look as she watched Reyes’ friends play in the waves.

“I know.I worry I may let them down, even if it is unintentional.” Reyes confessed softly, frowning at the dark thoughts that he was trying to avoid let take hold. 

“If you worry about them then it means their trust is well placed. A good leader is concerned for their people, makes sure their needs are met even if it is not what they want.It is very difficult to be a good leader—Evfra has told me that you show concern for others, go out of your way to be helpful and not destructive.”Keema’s purple eyes were serious even as her face remained neutral. “The journey you took as part of your training—the supply mission for the others of your kind who remained with this Initiative—you would like to continue these yes?”

“I would.I would also like to get a sustainable farm set up to grow those supplies so we are not a drain on Angaran resources.By keeping the Initiative in minimal supplies they will be less likely to raid and take the supplies by force.Once they get a toehold on one of their worlds, we can set up a regular trade route,” Reyes offered.The vague beginnings of a larger plan Reyes had been working on continued.

Keema let out a hum as she considered what Reyes had said.“You said toehold—I assume you do not assume Kadara is this toehold?”

“My understanding is that the Milky Way peoples who have come to Kadara have left the Initiative like myself and my friends.The Initiative is more numerous with more supplies if not more food,” Reyes admitted, choosing to tell Keema more of the situation to persuade her to his way of thinking. “They are exiles like my friends and myself.”

“But they do not act as you do?” Keema queried.From the rumors Reyes had heard he would agree that Sloane and the others were not like him or his friends.

“No.... we are not the same. When we chose to leave, we left separately from those that have taken Kadara,” Reyes tried to think of a way to explain their situation without giving Keema too much information.“If you need spies or liaisons with those in

Kadara, my friends and I would be willing to work on your behalf.”

“So you do not belong to either group of peoples like yourselves...” Keema gave him a sad look.“That is very lonely Reyes Vidal.”

“I would like to think that we have found a home amongst the Angaran—if not a place on Aya.I will go where I can serve the interests of both myself and the Angarans, which is why I told Evfra I would join you.I am willing to be used as a tool by my friends—you—in order to have the best outcome for all of us,” Reyes was well aware it would be in Keema’s best interest to use Reyes in this way.

“Evfra thinks that you are one of the tavetara—a reborn one.It would be unusual indeed for one of the people to be reborn in a body such as yours but I can see where he thinks this.You remind me of many of our sholaon, what you would call an adopted one, who are separate from us and then rejoined with the families as if they are a trueborn member. “

“I am honored to be thought of as this,” Reyes said with more confidence than he felt.He would need to see what the others knew of tavetara and sholaon... he’d heard the terms used by Tefa’s family...

“Needless to say whether you are tavetara or not, I agree.You will be very useful as an intermediary when it cannot be one of the people representing us.I agree that your plans to farm and trade supplies will be in the best interest of the Resistance.We cannot fight another war on top of the one we already are in.The Outcasts—those that now control Kadara—are not an enemy but they are not our ally either.We would have more allies and less enemies with your plan and I will support it.”Keema seemed satisfied with her pronouncements.

“When did you need us?” Reyes asked, looking at the osteoregenerator.

“Yesterday,” Keema said with emphasis, “but we will wait for you to be healed.I will have much to tell you of Kadara in the days to come.You will be part of my ships going back and we will wait for you.It is safer that way.”

“Safer?”Reyes found himself asking, interrupting Keema.

“The kett are not forgiving if they find lone ships—they are more hesitant to attack a caravan.They patrol the traveling lanes around Aya but cannot find their way here, you must have seen the wreckage of their ships when you traveled here?”

“I did.”

“Then you know how complex the path is through the Scourge to Aya.Kadara is a known home of the Angara before the main port settlement was taken over by Kett.The port is now run by the Outcasts but there is a large Kett presence in that system.We will need more resources to take back the port and the system but it can be done,” Keema was deadly serious.She looked at REyes as if he would have all her answers.Just what had Evfra told her he was able to do? 

“So we plan to retake Govorkam?”Reyes tried to figure out what exactly Keema was planning. “Drive out the Outcasts and the Kett? What then?”

“I prefer to persuade those that can be persuaded.The kett we will persuade with the force of our bullets but the Outcasts may have those worth stealing away to our side.After all, Evfra has convinced you to our cause, has he not?”Keema borrowed the arched eyebrow look from Maiko—it was almost identical and it made Reyes want to inappropriately laugh at the absurd ness of an angaran with human facial expressions. Keema was obviously a quick study.

“He has... but I prefer to see it as a mutual decision,” Reyes said with a wry twisting smile.He liked Keema’s style.

“You and I will work very well together I think,” Keema said with a chuckle as she extended her hand for a handshake. 

“To a beautiful working relationship,” Reyes agreed as he took her hand.He almost shivered as a chill went down his spine despite the warmth of the day.He just felt like he’d agreed to something that would have big consequences but he couldn’t figure out what they’d be.He’d just have to go with the flow for now.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE April 11h_

_We got this busy work assignment from Tann—I’m not sure why—to look into this murder that occurred around the same time as the uprising. I think the main reason we got this is that Tann is being harassed by the wife of the accused and wants me to just silence her.Unluckily for Tann, I don’t like doing things just because I’m told to that smell bad, I’m going to do them my own way—Dad could give him some pointers on my bad attitude about following the spirit of orders I don’t like.It’s why I was a marine and not in the navy. ._

_So far, the evidence in the case is all indirect—no one actually saw Nilken shoot Chief Reynolds.The previous investigation didn’t bring back Chief Reynolds’ body so I’ve gotten permission to do so. I suppose I could just call Bradley and ask one of his teams to look into this but if Tann is going to assign us busy work then I’m going to make a point of doing it. And we’re going to do this investigation right._

_SAM asked me what I think will be the outcome of this case—and I honestly don’t know at this point.If it was an accidental friendly fire death then I think Nilken has already served his time for this and should not be given another job that puts him in a similar position in the future. If, however, he did purposely shoot his CO?Well, then exile would be appropriate since we don’t have the resources to just imprison him long term. I have to admit if he murdered him in cold blood that it makes me nervous to just release him into Andromeda and hope for the best—but i don’t think we can keep him here. If it was really the Kett?Well, then he’s more than served his sentence already for disobeying an order but I would hesitate to put him back on a field team. Either way, I don’t think anyone’s going to trust Nilken in the field so he’ll be a clerical worker for the rest of his time with the Initiative—and one with minimal responsibilities at that._

_In some ways, I’m glad for this to keep me busy along with my most recent discoveries of what Dad left behind. It’s easy to bury myself in the work and ignore than try and process things.Any time I think of Sara I now feel so raw... and alone. She promised I wouldn’t do this by myself but guess what? I’m alone like I feared.Leaving the marines, being forced out of that brotherhood—it was like loosing a limb. Andromeda was Sara’s dangling carrot. She told me that we could do things as family and I’d be able to just come along for the ride with Dad in charge and responsible for all the big decisions._

_When I dared to let myself to believe what Sara said, it sounded like a pipe dream.I find myself afraid in some ways of getting too close to my team—I don’t think emotionally I’m built for another big loss any time soon. It’d be easier to die protecting them than to loose another person I’m close to—especially with Sara’s reaction.I now really get the fraternization standards the alliance has—you’ll fight to the death for your brothers and sisters—but getting too close is just as bad for those left alive when someone dies, let alone a lover._


	22. Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-one

 

2818 CE November 1st

Aya, Onaon system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena

Status: Isharay Aya

The last two weeks had flown by in a flurry of activity interspersed with periods of forced inactivity as he sat with the osteoregenerator either on his ankle or his arm which would leave him pinned in place for a few hours.With all the supplies and things to coordinate, loading followed by unloading and then reloading the ships the right way, and never-ending strategy meetings, Reyes felt like his head was spinning from information overload.Keema was treating him as a junior officer being trained to some day take over command—he was included in all strategy meetings after he agreed to being a member of her team.And the meetings never seemed to end. He’d been given datapads full of information he needed to read and know, been quizzed by Keema on various different factions of Angarans from the Roekaar and Resistance through the different home worlds. He was very happy he’d found Aya instead of Voeld—he wasn’t a winter person at the best of times having tried to get out of the annual family winter related activities since he was able to voice an opinion (not that his opinion had changed anything—his Tío wasn’t fazed by Reyes’ puppy eyes).

And that was just the beginning of things.Kenax and Vestus, having realized that Reyes was indeed still going to be putting himself regularly in harms way, had begun mandatory ‘how to escape anything’ training as Kenax put it.Reyes now knew the various strengths, weaknesses and escape options for a variety of restraints. He was also constantly being quizzed about his observation skills.Vestus, ever the practical part of the turian pair, just made sure Reyes got practice time with his knife, both throwing as well as hand to hand. He’d learned more about assassination techniques than he’d ever thought existed at this point.

Maiko, Julia and Alzik were no less busy.Julia was an organizing wiz who somehow managed to track every crate and piece of equipment that had been requisitioned for the trip as well as repack their entire ship they’d arrived with to hold even more stuff. Alzik and Maiko had managed to get a fabricator like the one in the workshop and had disassembled it for transport and stowed it in pieces in various parts of the Exodus-1. 

The current plan was to caravan to Kadara and land on a less inhabited portion of the world that was far away enough from Kadara Port that you had to know where you were going in order to find it as there were no locator beacons to follow. Keema knew of a series of caverns that would work nicely for their setup when they got the wind and solar generators up and running to power their equipment. They would be nice and hidden from everyone who didn’t already know they were there. The Resistance had several smaller bases set up closer to the port that they would operate their smuggling out of to get integrated into the outlaw society that currently ran the port. There were no monitoring satellites around Kadara as the Angarans nor the Kett seemed to use them.Reyes and his team planned on changing that, Maiko fabricating several passive monitoring satellites that would be almost impossible to detect once they were in orbit unless you knew they were there.The Resistance would soon have better tabs on who came and went from Kadara.

Maiko and Alzik were currently estimating three weeks to get a hydroponics setup working, another month or so for aquaponics assuming Vladimir or Vetra could get them some fish from the genetics lab samples that came on the Nexus.With Kadara having an excessive amount of sulfur but along with good amounts of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus they should be able to make fertilizers and fish food to support the farms. The challenge, according to Alzik, would be staying ahead on water filtration and chemistry but it should be doable with Angaran support.

Keema was quickly becoming one of Reyes’ favorite people and the relationship at times felt like he’d gained a second grandmother, although Keema would be quick to point out she wasn’t old enough to be a grandmother. Keema had, by her own words, drifted through multiple relationships without commitment or settling down before finally marrying a fellow Resistance member.She only spoke briefly of her husband, Darshef, who had died when Kadara Port fell to the Kett.Keema viewed Kadara as her home and losing her husband and control of the port at the same time had been a cruel blow.She had funneled her grief into badgering Evfra for more support when the Outcasts had arrived and driven the Kett out.Keema privately told Reyes she was glad that the Kett no longer occupied her home but she intensely disliked Sloane Kelly who would not allow the Angarans who remained to return to their homes including Keema who made her home in the back of a bar in a spare room when planetside.The fatality rate when Kadara fell to the kett had been almost eighty percent, there hadn’t been many Angarans left to reclaim their homes and they had not asked for much, but Sloane had laughed in their faces before demanding tax and kicking out those who could not pay as all their belongings had just been taken over by Outcasts.Keema currently was the Angaran representative to the Outcast court and had to swallow her anger often when dealing with the current rulers of Kadara.

Reyes felt his heart ache when Keema spoke of the beauty of Kadaran sunsets and how she used to watch them with her husband.She had once thought she’d finally settle down and have a family only to have that taken away from her with his death.She was now focused on getting other’s their home back and driving the kett away permanently. Reyes was happy to work alongside her with those goals.

Currently, they were finishing packing up for the journey to Kadara with plans to leave this afternoon. Reyes was making a few last visits to places that had become dear to him.He’d just had the splints removed yesterday and felt like he was back to his usual self again and able to move freely. Many Angarans greeted him as he walked through the Tavetaan towards Evfra’s office in Resistance Headquarters. Paaran Shie had even said goodbye to him personally, wishing him luck on his work. Reaching Evfra’s office, he knocked softly on the door and was given permission to enter. Evfra sat behind his desk, several screens displaying lists of supplies and what looked like a schematic for some sort of cannon that Reyes recognized from Maiko’s work.

“Reyes.Come in.Are you ready to leave?” Evfra asked as he shuffled a few datapads off onto a precarious stack that looked ready to fall over.

“We’re ready. I’m just checking in with everyone before we leave. I also wanted to say thank you for giving us a chance when you didn’t have to,” Reyes added, feeling awkward as he tried to put to words how much Evfra’s acceptance had meant to them when they’d arrived. The Angarans hadn’t needed to help them, they could have killed them when they arrived but they hadn’t, instead giving them a chance to make a place among them despite their prior experiences with the Kett.

Evfra had an inscrutable look on his face as he looked back at Reyes for a moment before replying.“I am glad I gave you the chance I did.What we knew of Milky Way peoples when you arrived was not good but you have shown that not all of you are unwilling to make peace or to be friends.”

“I came to Andromeda to live, not to make war,” Reyes stated.“I cannot thank you enough for giving us a place.”

Evfra gave a soft chuckle at this.“You may find yourself at war with the Kett alongside us Reyes, but I think that you have chosen the better side to ally yourself with. May your blades be sharp and your aim true in your work for the Resistance.Keema tells me you are already doing very good in your assignments.”

Reyes looked abashed at the second hand praise.“I’m doing what needs doing,” he grumbled.

Evfra laughed aloud this time.“You are more than welcome Reyes.Isharay sholaon, may your work be satisfying and fruitful.”Evfra gave Reyes an enveloping hug as he wished him well. Reyes gripped back, hugging and turning his face into the larger angaran.He would really miss all of Aya but he knew he needed to keep moving forward.Pulling back, Evfra looked at Reyes for a moment before reaching onto his desk and pulling out a plain wooden box. “I spoke with Keema about a proper graduation gift as is tradition and I have been waiting to give this to you when we had a moment.” Evfra then handed Reyes the box.

Taking the box, Reyes pushed back the inset lid to reveal a beautiful set of pistols modded in the angaran fashion—a set of ushiors—that gleamed matte grey in the artificial light of the office as they’d been modded to be unobtrusive and subtle despite the nasty punch they would pack.Reyes had seen a few used by senior Resistance members including Tefa but had been told they were hard to get your hands on.Ushior sidearms packed more punch than some sniper rifles. Mouth gaping as he pulled out the handgun revealing a belt and holsters underneath the guns made of soft leather, Reyes looked at Evfra as he tried the grip.“Evfra, they are beautiful.I... I don’t know what to say.”

“Say that you will use them in defense of yourself, your friends and the Resistance and I will consider it a gift well made,” Evfra told him gently.

“Thank you,” Reyes said.“Thank you so much for everything.”

“It is my pleasure,” Evfra returned, his own eyes sad.“Isharay for now Reyes Vidal.I will see you again soon.”

***

Settling into his pilot cradle aboard the Exodus-1, Reyes glanced at Kenax who was himself strapping in. “You ready for this?” he asked the Turian as he started the engines up.

“I was born ready—is that not the human saying?” Kenax said with a flare of his mandibles and a Cheshire Cat grin, his face lit up from the light of the HUD in front of him.

“We were all born ready!The whole motley collection of us,” Maiko called from the hold with a wolf whistle from Julia that had Vestus grumbling in the back about his delicate ears.Maiko’s boyfriend Tovrel, who had chosen to wedge himself into the only open berth on their ship, could be heard asking Maiko what she was talking about.Reyes laughed as he completed the take off checks.Alzik was calmly explaining the oddness of human expressions to a puzzled Tovrel who didn’t understand how one could be born “ready”.God, Reyes loved his friends. He wouldn’t go anywhere without them—not any more.Found family or not, they each made his day a little brighter just by being there.

“Everyone strapped in?” He asked, getting a chorus of yes with a side of ‘hell yes’ from Maiko which confused Tovrel even further.Reyes laughed as he turned his mic on to ask the flight controller for clearance to take off which was granted. Exchanging a nod with Kenax, he gently raised the Exodus-1 off the ground, the landing gear retracting neatly as he began his ascent in a controlled curve to clear the trees and headed towards the rendezvous point in orbit where they would take their place in the caravan. They were off to their next destination.

Hopefully he’d made the right decision.They’d find out in about a week and a half.

***

A week and a half later, they were all sick and tired of being kept inside a very cramped ship.Luckily, they’d had Reyes’ collection of entertainment which Maiko had watched the entirety of approximately three shows with Tovrel who was quickly picking up Spanish from having watched too many hours of overly dramatic telenovelas with subtitles only as he wanted to hear the “true voices” as he put it which had necessitated Alzik to write a program to autotranslate Spanish into written Shelesh for Tovrel. Tovrel had made a point of especially picking up diminutives and terms of endearment, trying to copy Reyes’ own accent which Maiko and Julia both found ridiculously endearing as they were both uncultured Americans in Reyes’ opinion. He just found it frustrating as he kept getting asked weird and invasive questions about growing up and he’d found himself somewhat reticent about telling Tovrel everything. Julia had just laughed his surliness off and told Tovrel that Reyes preferred to “keep the mystery up” about his origins. Reyes was self aware enough to realize that part of the problem he had with Tovrel asking questions was that it reminded him too much of Tefa at times.And he liked Tovrel so he really was trying to be friendly to Maiko’s boyfriend.

Vestus and Kenax had spent much of the trip quizzing Reyes on his assigned reading from Keema.Reyes would just like to know why no one else was getting all the information dumped on them but realized that it was likely that Keema was grooming him to be second in command or commander of a separate unit. The restraint escape education continued but all other physical activity was curtailed due to a lack of space to even turn around fully without bumping into each other in the crammed to the gills ship they were on.

As Kadara came into view, Reyes found himself holding his breath as the planet grew bigger on the HUD.Kadara was not the same as Aya, being more mountainous but with still significant bodies of salt water oceans.The difference was that there was a high sulfur content to the water which caused difficulty for Angarans and Milky Way peoples alike.From the reports he’d read and the documentary video evidence he’d reviewed, Reyes knew that the areas they’d be primarily inhabiting were similar to the Patagonian highlands of Chile where he’d spent some time growing up, just not quite as cold—less snow—but just as vicious storms and wind. Average surface temperatures were around 29C at middle latitudes with a similar orbital period and atmospheric pressure to Earth.They would be able to breath the atmosphere but would have to be careful with the rainstorms as torrential downpours could be highly acidic depending on the winds and direction it originated. There was also wildlife that, while sparse, was tough and there were large predator types as well as those similar to livestock. The world in front of him, on the HUD, was tan and white with clouds, the seas a dark blue almost green. Around the poles were evidence of fierce maelstroms that they would need to avoid with milder weather around the equator where Kadara Port was located just twenty degrees north. Aluminum, beryllium, copper and titanium were in high concentrations that would be mineable for use as well as trade.The fourth planet in Govorkam, Bakker, would be a good place to set up a refueling station as there were significant amounts of helium-3 there which could be used for profit as well if they could control access.

Kadara Port was the main population center and only had perhaps ten thousand inhabitants prior to the Kett arrival and now had less than half that number.The Outcasts numbered officially somewhere in the low three hundreds but controlled access to most of the resources around Kadara Port with Sloane Kelly the nominal Queen in all but name. There was still several hundred Angarans that lived in and around the port but most had been forced to leave as they could not afford the taxes imposed by the Outcasts. Outside of Kadara Port, there were small settlements scattered over several hundred kilometers in each direction. Most settlements consisted of only a few buildings and subsistence farming that was difficult to maintain without a steady water supply.Travel outside of Kadara Port was risky due to marauding raiders who made their own living off of scavenging from the dead and taking from those weaker than them. Angarans who could, who were not Resistance members, were leaving Kadara en masse due to the dangers.There were, however, a significant number of the younger ones who signed up to be part of the Resistance and answered directly to Keema.

“Looks a lot different than Aya,” Kenax observed from the co-pilot seat. There was chatter among the six other vessels in the caravan as they waited for Keema to give them the go ahead to begin their approach.The Exodus had been loaded with a priceless Angaran map of the mountain ranges they’d be navigating to their destination by sight, not by guidance beacons like were in use for the port. 

Receiving clearance to proceed, Reyes took the Exodus down into the atmosphere, first in the caravan as he’d volunteered to fly by sight alone with Keema monitoring from the second ship which was directly behind them as she’d been here many times before. The twenty minutes it took to descend in the correct trajectory to approach the mountain range north of the port at a distance far enough away not to be sighted at night was nerve wracking but not, unfortunately, something Reyes hadn’t done before if not with this particular type of ship. Kenax sat tensely next to him, feeding readout numbers to Reyes so he didn’t take his attention away from the instruments directly in front of him. Kenax was giving him directional information with Keema quietly verifying in his ear.The hold behind them was silent as everyone knew this was a difficult approach that was basically blind except for moonlight from the setting Kadaran moon that was only a sliver of a crescent visible this night.They’d planned for a late night injection as it would be less likely to have anyone looking for them. The onboard ship time had been adjusted to Kadaran time and the rest of his crew was awake despite it being very early in the morning.No one wanted to miss their first sighting of Kadara but they were quiet as they knew Reyes and Kenax needed to focus.

As they descended below the top of the clouds, mountains could be seen below them which Reyes quickly dropped altitude in order to not be seen and decreased speed, the remainder of the caravan following closely behind him. The Exodus wasn’t the largest cargo ship they had brought with them but it wasn’t the smallest either. Following Keema’s map and directions, he rotated his course fifteen degrees north-northwest and followed a small river deeper into the mountain highlands, crossing over several abandoned settlements as he moved deeper into the maze of valleys and mountains. He could see what appeared to be evergreen type trees on one side of the mountains where they would be protected from the worst of the acid rains and took his ship lower still to minimize their appearance to anyone visually looking for ships. He made a mental note that they needed to secure the access to their new home and make sure monitors were in place to know if any raiders came close. He could also see some wind generators that hung motionless that they could take as long as they were functional.

Another half hour of careful navigation and slowed progress took them far enough north and west that very few Angarans even ventured this far away from the port and it was the opposite direction from all the locator guidance beacons which encouraged an approach to the port from the southwest. Keema directed him to land on small valley next to a lake and he did, settling down with a quiet thump.He could hear the other ships landing in formation behind him as he’d landed the furthest down valley and close to the sheer rock face that climbed several thousand feet in less than a kilometer of lateral distance to make a domed cover for vegetation, and from what the sensors were picking up, there was also a deeper cave of sorts.This must be the cave system Keema spoke of.

Resisting the urge to get up and exit the ship now that they had landed, Reyes waited for further instruction from Keema.

“All ships stay locked and in place.It’s two hours until daylight.No point in getting out until it’s light.We’ll contact you when it’s time to get up.Get some sleep,” was Keema’s instructions.

“Sleep?” Kenax grouched, “She thinks we can sleep when there’s a whole planet out there to see?”

“Like I haven’t seen you take cat naps at the drop of a hat,” Reyes said with a roll of his eyes as he shut down the engines.“It makes sense.No sense tripping over our feet and alerting the local animal population any more than we have to.Get some sleep everyone.” Unbuckling himself from his cradle, Reyes briefly used the facilities to relieve himself before climbing back into his seat he’d been sleeping in for the entire journey. Kenax was likely more grumpy he couldn’t curl up with Vestus who was—like the veteran he was—sound asleep already, still buckled into his jump seat. Maiko was curled into Tovrel with Julia using her sister’s hip as a pillow but they weren’t quite asleep yet as several murmurs asked Reyes how long they had to wait. 

“Two hours until sunrise.Get some sleep like Keema said,” he told them. Alzik, who’d been tapping on his omnitool turned it off at Reyes’ instructions and tried to make himself comfortable. Julia made a face in the dim light of the hold but pulled the blanket she’d wrapped around herself tighter. Maiko just burrowed more into Tovrel who was quickly falling asleep.

Rejoining Kenax, the Turian hadn’t fallen asleep and instead was reading the data streaming from the monitoring on the ship as well as pinging messages back and forth between the different ships and their pilots. “You should sleep,” Reyes said as he tried to make himself comfortable.

“I’ll take watch.I can sleep later,” Kenax muttered, not looking away from the screen.

Sighing, Reyes closed his eyes and squirmed in his seat, trying to find just the right angle that was comfortable.The ship’s VI was programmed to recognize threats and wake them up while the ship was powered down on planet but he knew Kenax was just anxious to get outside.He’d try and sleep while he could.They had a lot of physical work ahead of them as soon as it was light.

***

Somehow, he’d managed to get almost an hour of sleep before he was awoken by noise from the hold.Vestus was awake with Kenax and they were armoring up. Eyeing the armor, Reyes rubbed his stubbled face from where he stood in the doorway between the pilot’s cradle and the hold. “What’s up?”

“There’s some movement of animals in this valley,”Kenax told him as he latched the catch on Vestus’s chest armor plate in place. Vestus was checking his guns, one sniper rifle—an Isharay with a heavy silencer on the end of the muzzle—hung from the back of his armor while he checked a magazine on the assault rifle that would hang from his side where it was easily raised.“Not sure if any of them will get close to us or if they’re making their home in the cave system we mean to use.We’ll need to clear them out so we can get all the cargo safely stowed.”

“I suppose,” Reyes muttered.He was in a loose shirt and ship pants with his running shoes on his feet for comfort, not having worn armor since his trip to meet with Vladimir and Vetra. “I should get armored up and join you.”

“No rush,” Vestus offered with a grin.“Keema tells us that those critters are edible for you humans and Angarans, probably Alzik too.So roast beastie tonight for dinner.”

Taking his packed armor out of the cubby he’d stowed it in, Reyes quickly changed into the close fitting under armor garments that Yaansa had made for him, followed by his armor which he’d altered with some angaran tech, his usual combat boots, knives placed in their holders in each.He then pulled the soft leather belt around his waist and fastened the buckle, noting it fell nicely and cleanly with the holsters latching around his legs.He then placed both handguns in their holsters with the mag locks holding them close to his body so they wouldn’t fall out without him purposely pulling them out. 

He pulled a baseball cap out of his bag since he didn’t need a helmet for any reason today and it was warm out, needing some sun shade for his eyes as he clipped a pair of sunglasses in the neck of his open armor as it fastened in the front instead of the side like military armor did.As he pulled out the cap, he noticed that his dog tags had come with it having hooked on the back fastener and fell to the floor.

Bending down, he fingered the two identical ID’s that had his name, blood type and NOFAM stamped on it since he had no legal next of kin in Andromeda. Between the two ID tags, the two men’s wedding rings that belonged to his Tío and his Tío’s husband glinted in the light, the platinum and gold alloy that had been colored to a deep blue by eezo exposure that had killed his Tío years after the exposure. His Tío had been wearing his own ring with his husband’s on his chain next to his own ID when the exposure occurred. The rings didn’t carry any radiation of their own, just the discoloration to signify that they had been in close proximity to an eezo source at one time.They were plain otherwise other than a few nicks here and there from when his Tío worked with his hands while wearing his. He’d almost forgotten he’d taken them with him... Reyes didn’t think about it further but put the ID chain around his neck and tucked the rings and ID tags into the armor as he fastened it.

He then pulled the leather jacket out of the cubby and put it on.He didn’t look nearly as deadly as the two Turians but he was as ready as he was going to get. “Ready,” he told

Kenax who was finishing checking his own guns.

The girls, Alzik and Tovrel were now stirring and Julia had gotten up to use the facilities first. “You go clear out the cave,” Tovrel told him as he untangled himself from a not quite awake Maiko.

Vestus opened the airlock and stepped out, Vestus and Reyes on his heels with the door closing firmly after them.It was barely light out, the sun not having come over the mountains that surrounded the valley which was loosely oval in shape.The air was crisp and alpine, Reyes took a deep breath and almost regretted it immediately as the scent of rotten eggs—sulfur—almost made him gag and loose the protein ration he’d eaten prior to descending planetside. Vestus coughed while Kenax eyed both of them like they were idiots. Several deep breaths through his mouth only, the scent became not as overpowering.He’d been warned about the high sulfur content but had hoped it wouldn’t be as bad as he’d heard about. Under the scent of sulfur was the scent of the pine-like trees around them that reminded him of the tacky sap that he’d seemed to get on his hands when he was hiking in Patagonia or working on the ranch his Tío had helped manage when he had to chase down errant livestock that got lost in the highlands.The river that ran through the valley from some spring hidden higher up created a small lake at the far end of the oval away from them. Steam arose from a heated water pool that was upwind to the west part of the oval valley that was tinged multiple colors as it created a waterfall of mineral deposits—one pool a deep azure blue, the next lime green and another orange while the far one was pink.The scent of sulfur was strongest from these hot pools. 

Keema, having realized they had left their ship, now joined them as they looked at the colored mineral pools.“Don’t get too close to the lime green pool—it’s a geyser.Not sure how often it goes off.”

“Geysers usually mean there’s volcanic activity... do we need to be worried?” Reyes asked her.He didn’t want to set up some place that was potentially unstable.

“There is but the heat vents empty out over fifty kilometers to the north and are unimpeded.There’s a string of mineral pools that go in a line that way.The Angaran have been watching Kadara for several hundred years and all the activity is far away from here and the pools are just an outlet.If they weren’t so acidic they’d make a good bath,” Keema ended with a smile.“Are you three ready to see what’s in our cave?”

“Sure are,” Vestus said with a bored drawl. “Just waiting on you.”

Grinning, Keema hefted her own assault gun up from her side where it had been resting.“After you,” she said with a magnanimous gesture to Vestus.

Approaching the cave, the light didn’t penetrate deeply into the entrance that was perhaps five meters by six meters with smooth rock sides and loose gravel under their feet.Reyes clipped a light onto the bill of his cap so the light beam went wherever he was looking while removing the gun from his left holster he also activated the light that was part of the barrel so he could see where he was aiming.Spreading out, Vestus and Kenax took the far ends with Keema and Reyes in the center. The first cavern that they came to after about four meters was huge—easily a hundred meters round with three separate exits going deeper into the cave system. Two creatures, which he identified as adhi from his studying, awoke at their entrance and snarled before jumping to attack them. Several shots later, there were now two dead adhi. As the echos of their gunshots died down, Vestus steeped up to the two unmoving beasts and purposefully cut their throats to make sure they were dead with a firran he’d received from a card game that he’d modified.Kenax stood watch as Reyes with Keema’s assistance grabbed one adhi and removed it from the cavern as Vestus hoisted the other over his shoulder. 

Exiting the cavern, several other Angarans had left their ships and received the bodies of the adhi. Relieved of their burdens, they returned to the caves.The next few hours were repeats of this as they found adhi dens in several of the extended chambers and cleared them out.While they did this, the others unloaded the ships and stored the cargo in the first large room.Due to the volcanic activity, the caves were warm, approximately 30C despite the altitude being high in the mountains. They wouldn’t need to use much energy to keep things at the right temperature for growing crops in a controlled environment.

It was after midday by the time Reyes and Keema hauled out their twentieth adhi to deposit it at the feet of Tovrel who had taken up supervising the job of butchering the adhi for their hides and meat along with two other Angarans. Maiko had already taken out the water filtration system but was discussing with Alzik how to divert the river, create holding chambers that they could then use as a giant distillation system to create constant, clean water. The sulfate compounds that were the waste products could then be put to other uses.

On their way back to the main chamber, Reyes was sweaty and covered in adhi blood and guts. A temporary barrier had been placed in the last chamber that he and Keema had cleared out as there were further passages beyond it. The barrier would stop any wildlife that tried to get past it and alert them that something had attempted to past so they could check it out. A temporary relay network of antennae had been jabbed into the rock at regular intervals in each passageway and chamber they’d explored so they had eyes on the entire place and communications despite the heavy rock walls. One of the side chambers had been identified as a temporary barracks due to the soft sand covered floor making it a nicer place to put a bedroll.Everyone’s personal packs had been offloaded there which would make combing through the pile fun later to find each person’s individual belongings.

By evening, they had electric cords running down the right side of each hallway that provided a power source to the deeper chambers that were almost as big as the first one.Two of the chambers were dead ends and would be used primarily for crop growth.Keema had also noticed the abandoned wind generators and had one of the ship teams retrieve it and it was now being set up with Alzik’s assistance camouflaged by the tree line where the breeze was strongest.Alzik informed Keema and Reyes he would have it producing electricity by nightfall as there was some minor maintenance issues from being abandoned to the weather for a prolonged period of time.

Another one of their group had started roasting adhi meat but it was fairly bland as all they had was salt to flavor it. Reyes made another mental note for the day that he needed to trade for some of the spice seedlings he’d started on the Nexus. Mint, coriander, dill, anything really would make the adhi taste better as it was similar to the most blah chicken Reyes had ever had but had a texture was similar to lamb. He briefly debated breaking out some of their supplies from Aya but realized they should preserve them as long as possible. 

The first thing Maiko had set up was a seed germination station with water and a timed light that was attached to a battery as starting the seeds would take several days before they’d be ready for the next step.She used some of the water they’d brought to get started with the plant food solution and then set up a distillation station that was a miniature of what she wanted to eventually make at scale to filter more potable water that she would need soon. She then tasked several Angarans with getting buckets of water every so often to feed the distillation station and was soon producing water.Most of Kadara used steel filters that relied on chemical reactions between the filters and the sulfur compounds—Maiko was using the different boiling points to just separate out the water using a heating element being powered by a rechargeable solar battery. Reyes still had the memory of the headache he’d had when Maiko and Alzik had tried to explain the chemistry process to him but decided he really didn’t need to know that bad.

Julia was supervising the storing of all the cargo in the different rooms, marching their fellow resistance members off in directions like a cop directing traffic. She was in her element and focused, giving Reyes a bright smile each time he brought back a dead adhi and telling him how far behind in the count he was from Vestus and Kenax.So he hadn’t killed as many animals? That didn’t seem like something to be sad about.They just didn’t need any hostile creatures attacking them in the middle of the night. The protein source was an added bonus.

Outside, several Angarans were digging the septic system that would be used for the entire place with a temporary latrine set up downwind and away from the water. Two sharpshooters had found perches around the valley and were keeping a lookout for any uninvited guests or aggressive wildlife—especially eirochs.

Inside the first, large cavern, there was the beginning of a building taking shape from the contents of the containers.Eventually, there would be a fully constructed headquarters for this cell of the Resistance. When the power started flowing through the wires from Alzik’s repair of the wind turbine, the lights that had been set up flickered to life bathing everything in a nice warm glow from the LEDs.

Giving up on chasing and killing adhi for the day, Reyes joined those assembling the force field that would put an invisible camouflage netting in a dome over the front of the cliff and the parked ships so that anyone flying over would not see anything unless they specifically were scanning and looking for different energy signatures.

By the end of the day, Reyes was sore and filthy but they’d made good progress in getting the basics set up.Maiko had made a face when she came near him and handed him a bucket of clean water and shooed him off to the tree line to get cleaned up with Kenax and Vestus who stunk similarly of adhi blood. It’d been a good day, he supposed.He didn’t want to worry but it almost felt like this was too easy but he didn’t dare say it out loud. Hair damp from the scrubbing he’d given it, he was out like a light the moment his head hit his pack that he was using a pillow, the bedroll underneath him firm.He didn’t notice as Kenax carefully put one of the blankets from the Exodus over him.

***

2819 CE April 12th

East of Promise, Eos, Pytheas System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: There is a sad lack of brain power at the top of this organization

The trip back to Eos was as routine as anything they’d done so far in Heleus.Landing at Prodromos, Andersen greeted them warmly as he helped Gil, Suvi and Kallo unload the supplies from the Nexus. Andersen informed Scott he’d have all the raw ore loaded by the time they returned. Calling Pathfinder rank, Scott decided he was driving as he didn’t want to sit in the back of the nomad. Vetra, since she’d last been squished into the back seat with him, guild tripped Cora into giving up her shotgun status.Which meant they were doing wheelies getting air as they flew over the dunes towards Promise which they passed, waving to a team of scientists who were working outside it, and on towards the navigational coordinates that had been given as the last resting place of Chief Reynolds.

Vetra, waited until they were almost there to ask her question. “So if he didn’t or did do it, what are you going to recommend as sentence?It’s well known on the Nexus that Nilken was insubordinate prior to Reynolds dying.”

Paying attention so he didn’t accidentally hit a rock and roll the Nomad, Scott took a moment before he answered.“I’m starting to wonder about the screening process for the Initiative.”

“Starting to?” Vetra scoffed.“The whole uprising was a disaster that should have been preventable.They woke up too many of us too quickly out of panic and then they had no control over anyone.”

Eyeing Vetra, Scott could see she was frowning out her window.Neither Liam nor Cora were paying attention over the noise of the engine as they were having their own conversation. “Did you loose someone to the uprising?” Scott asked her neutrally, asking SAM to monitor Vetra’s response as she seemed to have an emotional reason for why she was bringing all this up.

“Not everyone who left during the uprising was part of the violence,” Vetra finally said, her eyes hooded but her sub vocal tones showing signs of stress according to SAM. “A lot of people left because they were scared and... Tann doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.The first colonization attempts went FUBAR pretty quickly so we started seeing the ugly side of people.You find out very quickly who you trust and who not to trust when things are going bad.You know all those crates in Tann’s office?Do you know what’s in them?”

“No I don’t.But I’m guessing you do?”It seemed Vetra had a lot of information that could potentially be useful.

“It’s full of protein bars and shakes that are Salarian appropriate along with seed starter kits and genetic information for what he prefers to eat.He never leaves his office unless it’s just to go to the bridge and he can see his office from there,” Vetra added at the end.

“A little paranoid,” Scott agreed with her.

“He’s not the only one hoarding—just the one with the most control over resources.A lot of those left awake have been stashing things where only they know.There’s also been evidence that someone was deliberately tampering with the life support systems right before you arrived.” Vetra was now looking at him, a calculating look in her eyes. “Some of it stopped but the rumors were yesterday that there was still electrical malfunctions that showed signs of someone tampering with them. Kandros’ teams have been busy patrolling the Nexus to make sure nothing serious malfunctions without notice.”

Scott silently asked SAM if there was anything he was aware of that matched Vetra’s information.SAM said there was a lot of missing supplies that had administrative overrides but evidence of other tampering was also present in the records. Shit.Just how much stuff had gone missing?“What about you?You’re part of the pathfinder team but were you worried for yourself?”

“I’m not worried about myself now that you’re here and getting things done... but I don’t trust Tann. I think you need to know that,” Vetra said, her face emotionless but her eyes glittering as she made her point. “I can handle things and get stuff when needed.I just need you to know when Tann sends us on errands like this you need to be careful what other reasons other than the obvious he might have.”

“And you think that the outcome of this investigation could cause issues?”

Vetra inclined her head.“I think that depending on what you recommend it could go a lot of ways.Just remember that there’s a lot of eyes on you trying to figure out what kind of Pathfinder you are.I trust you—you’ve done right by me so far—but others are trying to read the signs. Every decision you make matters. It’s why Addison is so untrusting of you.”

“So I should try and make a decision Addison would favor?” Scott asked, trying to figure out how Addison would factor into a murder investigation.

“Not Addison... I actually wouldn’t worry about her as long as you keep giving her colonies to manage.”Vetra didn’t give him any hints about who she was implying but SAM suggested it was obvious who it was he needed to keep in mind.

“You think I need to impress Kesh.”

“Yes you do.Of all of the top level of the Initiative, Kesh is the one you need to keep on your good side,” Vetra said with finality.

“You trust her?” Scott asked Vetra, verifying.

“More than I trust Tann or Addison.”Vetra paused then continued, “But you didn’t say what you were going to do with Nilken.”

“I didn’t because I’m still not sure what to do,” Scott confessed truthfully. “If he didn’t do it then he shouldn’t be punished like a murderer but he still was insubordinate—I wouldn’t trust him on a colony team any time soon.”

“And if he did kill Reynolds?”

“Then exile’s a lot kinder than what I would have done if I was still in the marines and he was in my unit,” Scott replied before he could censor himself. 

Vetra however, seemed to pleased by his response. “You don’t kill your own teammates,” she said in agreement.“Has SAM been able to find much about the uprising fromthe Nexus systems?Or do you need me to fill in the gaps?”

Looking chagrined, Scott wondered how Vetra guessed that he had SAM looking into things. “How’d you know?” He finally asked her.

“It’s what I would do if I were you,” she simply answered before looking amused at Scott’s dumbfounded look as he swerved to avoid a rather large boulder.“Don’t look so surprised.You’re smart and you know you were fed a load of shit by Tann about what happened.Kesh tells me if you get a second colony established then she’ll tell you about what went down with the Krogan. You haven’t asked me yet so you’re either not sure I’ll tell you the truth or you’re still waiting to see what happens.”

“Might be a little bit of both,” Scott muttered under his breath as they arrived close to the navigational coordinates. “If I ask will you tell me?”

“Ask and you’ll find out,” was the reply Vetra gave him with a vicious looking grin as she gripped her assault rifle and opened her door to get out before the grin slid off her face and she looked more serious again.“You’re my Pathfinder, Scott. You’re the only one we have so I’ll at least be nice and point you in the right directions so you can figure it out for yourself.If you’re really good, I might even point things out before they blow up in your face.”

Scott was sure the look on his face as Vetra slammed her door shut wasn’t one to inspire confidence.He’d have to take Vetra’s advice and ask.There was no way to find out otherwise.But in the meantime, they had a body to retrieve.He could corner Vetra later when they were back on the Tempest and she had less places to hide and less distractions. 

Opening his own door and climbing out of the nomad, the radiation readings were low enough that Scott could use the targeting visor instead of the helmet he hated. Cora and Liam both still put their helmets on, Cora with a judging look at Scott that suggested he was nuts for going without but she didn’t say anything.Fanning out, with his visor acting like a HUD over one eye, Scott noted that there were several life signs in small canyon that Reynolds’ team had taken cover after the kett attack.The life signs were small and inconsistent with kett. Drawing his M3, Scott ordered his team to advance into the canyon. 

Within the canyon, the walls were claustrophobically narrow at the opening that then widened out into a small bowel with lots of boulders of varying sizes littering the uneven ground, a part of the canyon walls acting as a roof.They could hear the clack of chitin legs as they skittered across loose rock with the buzzing calls of kaerkyn’ s alerted to their presence.A nest of kaerkyn were very unhappy to have their home encroached upon and attacked them but were easily defeated. 

Vetra, stalking around the periphery found the remains of Reynolds’ body which were very decomposed but the chest plate and several other parts of his armor were easily located—some from the kaerkyn’ s nest.Cora kept a lookout while Liam documented the area with Scott and Vetra turning over rocks looking for more evidence. When Liam indicated he was done, they collected as much of the remains as they could find and placed it in a body bag they’d brought for this purpose. Due to the manner of his death, they had decided to retrieve the body and place it at Prodromos where an official autopsy could be done by one of the scientists who had an interest in forensics.

“The chest plate was recording during the incident and he was scanning with his omnitool,” Liam said finally as they closed the bag.

“Let’s listen to it,” Scott said as Cora joined them.

Liam queued the recording and they all listened carefully.They could hear a man screaming no who they did not recognize his voice, presumably the chief or another teammate, possibly the one in cryo.This was followed by a voice they recognized as Shaw’s asking where Nilken was, she sounded stressed and out of breath as if she’d been running. There was a pause and then Nilken’s voice was clearly heard apologizing to Reynolds, calling him his friend and saying he had to do it because he wasn’t dying on Eos.

“Shit.” Scott said, hissing at the coldness in which Nilken spoke—there was no grief or regret coloring the Turian’s voice.Varying looks of disgust and shock were on his teammate’s faces as they listened. Nilken had purposefully murdered his CO.

SAM then spoke up.“I have analyzed the data from the Chief’s omnitool.... it shows two shots.One was from an Initiative rifle consistent with the type assigned to Nilken which missed.The other was from a kett pulse rifle and was the shot that killed Chief Reynolds.Analysis of the body remains will likely confirm the scanner records.”

“So he didn’t kill him....” Liam said, face scrunched up in disgust, “but he meant to?”

Face like a thundercloud, Scott scowl deepened.“I think we need to have another chat with Nilken.Let’s get back to the Tempest.I want this whole mess wrapped up ASAP.”

***

The Tempest was loaded as promised when they returned to Prodromos so they were able to drive the nomad right into the cargo hold and begin lashing it down. Scott briefly talked with Bradley and delivered the body to the scientists himself.When he returned to the Tempest, he ordered them back to the Nexus.His mood was very black and he knew he shouldn’t talk to anyone unless necessary right now.The bastard had fucking meant to kill his CO but fucked up and missed.Reynolds had been killed by pure chance by a kett bullet. Scott tried to ignore SAM as he gave him the relative odds of that happening and he just barely stopped himself from snapping at SAM.

Stepping into his rarely used quarters, Scott finally took his armor off and then shed his undergarments onto the floor and walked directly into the shower, turning the water on as hot as it could go. Standing under the hot spray, he scrubbed his hair and body to try and distract from the anger he felt.

SAM, understandably concerned by the amount of anger he was sensing from Scott was tentative when he spoke. _Scott, I do not understand why you are so angry about what happened with Chief Reynolds.You did not personally know Reynolds so this anger seems out of proportion to me._

Grinding his teeth, Scott lightly hit his closed fist against the shower wall, holding his strength back as he didn’t want to make a hole or a dent. _It’s because he meant to kill him SAM.He meant to kill his own teammate.He was sent like us on a first colony team and his first response was to kill someone he disagreed with because he didn’t want to die on Eos.Why would someone like Nilken even get assigned to a ground team if he was going to do that?The whole Andromeda Initiative.... I think that once we get that data transferred I need you to look into how they were screening and accepting applicants. Someone like Nilken never should have been assigned to a ground team let alone accepted to the Initiative. Shaw’s got a crappy attitude. There were so many mistakes that they can’t have been all by chance. Someone purposefully set us up to fail._

_So you are angry at the Initiative?_

_No.I’m pissed that Nilken is an asswipe murderer who got lucky in that he didn’t succeed as his bullet wasn’t the one that did the job. I’m pissed that someone made the decision to have Nilken on that team. I want to know who made those decisions and why because Nilken didn’t belong on that team and that decision ended up with Reynolds dead—even if it was by a kett bullet._

_I see._ SAM’s tone indicated that he didn’t really understand but was filing it away for future reference.

Sighing, Scott opened his closed eyes and leaned into the warm spray as he tried to calm his anger that didn’t really have a good target at the moment.The thrum of the engines could be felt under his splayed palms that rested against the wall of the shower was reassuring and he turned so his back rested against the wall and slid down it, the spray of water landing on his abdomen and legs as he sat in the shower.He really was wasting water but he’d been told by Gil that the water reclamation system for the Tempest was state of the art so he didn’t feel too guilty.

_SAM, someone higher up screwed up. There’s a lot of evidence that things have been mismanaged from before we left home.I know my Dad was involved in a a lot of the decisions—I can’t believe he would have let things get this screwed up but I don’t know what to think anymore.There’s things that make sense—the Tempest, my crew and their skill sets—but there’s a lot that doesn’t. Why would someone like Nilken be assigned to the first ground team?It just doesn’t make any sense.Dad wouldn’t have let that happen and I know he was ass deep in all of this shit. And the whole uprising that happened before we got here... We need to figure out exactly what happened but I don’t know how I can do that and get colonies going at the same time. I didn’t sign up for this._

SAM didn’t immediately reply and Scott got the impression that the AI was thinking. _Scott, you have been doing a very good job.You’ve established a colony when multiple prior attempts have failed. You cleared the atmosphere on Eos.You’ve given the Initiative the chance it needed. That was all you.You may not have signed up for this but I believe your father was right in choosing you as his successor._

The water was now rapidly cooling and with it, Scott’s anger.Standing, he shut the water off and stepped out after the reclaimer cycled to pull all the loose moisture out of the shower. Toweling his hair dry, Scott looked in the mirror.He had bruises under his eyes from not sleeping enough or well, was thinner than he should be from how his muscle definition looked as his body fat percentage was probably close to as low as it had ever been. He needed to get his shit together and fix all of this. No one else was going to.

“Thanks SAM.I needed to hear that,” he said aloud before turning to go get a clean uniform.He had shit to get done.

***

When the Tempest docked at the Nexus, it was the middle of the night.The dock crew that was working was slightly grumpy at having to unload but they jumped to it when the cargo doors opened. Exiting the Tempest, Scott told his team to go get some sleep and that he’d meet them at 0800 to question Nilken. Vetra, perhaps knowing that Scott wasn’t going to follow his own advice tarried a bit more than the others merely to say, “Be careful snooping. The walls have eyes and ears.”

Aware that Tann might be following his every move, Scott made for the tram system to head back to the Hyperion and his quarters but instead input the administrative quarters into the destination. He made sure that he entered the tram with several other late shift workers, most of whom were half asleep and were not paying any attention to the man in standard uniform ship wear who looked just as tired as them. Getting off at the quarters, Scott followed SAM’s silent directions towards Jien Garson’s rooms. SAM informed him that rather than being with the rest of the crew in the standard cryo bay, many of the administrator’s cryo beds were kept in a separate section that was much smaller. There were only a few of these pods still in use and Scott wanted to have a brief look around when there was less likely to be someone watching.

_SAM? Is Tann awake?_

_Uncertain.The power levels in his office have decreased somewhat for the last three hours so the lights may or may not be on.Whether he is awake... Salarians need only three to four hours of sleep per night._

Scott had noticed the last time he was in Tann’s office that the cameras mainly focused on the more populated sections of the Nexus as well as the cameras leading up to Tann’s office. Hopefully, Tann hadn’t made a habit of following him specifically yet.

_Let’s think of a really good excuse for why we might be in the administrative quarters this time of night just in case._

SAM didn’t reply but continued to give directions.Taking the second right, and then a left, Scott was in a section of hallway that was only remarkable for the numeric designations next to each doorway. The lighting was dim as it was nighttime on the Nexus. Quickly walking down the hall like he knew where he was going, Scott took another right and then the second left.This hallway only had five apartments off it that were each assigned to a member of the administrative leadership team.Jien’s apartment was first on the right while SAM noted that Vladimir Brecka’s was on the left. Tann’s official apartment was in a different hallway but Addison’s was at the end on the right with William Spender’s the one at the very end.

Going to the door like he normally would, he stood as if he was knocking or waiting for someone to open the door as he activated his omnitool.If someone was watching, the alcove each doorway was inset into would block the cameras from completely seeing what he was doing—which was a security flaw that he wouldn’t have allowed if it was him designing things. If Tann was watching on the security footage, it would look like Scott had activated his omnitool to send a message that he was at the door. What he was really doing was hacking the lock on the door which wasn’t very complex and it opened with a hiss as the air pressure inside the room equalized with the outside pressure.

The lights activated as Scott stepped inside, the air stale like it should be if the room hadn’t been used in some time.The layout of the apartment was similar to his own, right down to the bookcases, seating area and workstation. He’d borrowed two of the spare data drives from the Tempest and quickly crossed the room and plugged one of them into the workstation to begin mirroring everything stored locally as SAM was able to hack just about anything with this level of encryption given enough time. The mirroring was able to be done without passwords but SAM would need to work on the data to get it open once they were someplace they weren’t worried about being disturbed.

Turning, Scott activated the scanner on his omnitool and ran it over everything. Opening each cabinet in the kitchenette and carefully inspecting for hidden switches or compartments. Unlike his quarters, Jien didn’t seem to have his father’s fascination with old war relics and her shelves were decorated with tasteful art and pottery that he recognized as being from different cultures and parts of Earth. Someone had already taken most of her foodstuff supplies—coffee, sugar etc but there was a few salt packets that had fallen into one of the drawers where the cutlery was stowed.

Closing the drawers having found nothing, he next turned his scanner to the wall in his own quarters where he’d found the hidden opening.Sure enough, there was a latch identical to the one in his own quarters which let the shelving unit swing inwards to reveal the hidden room.This room was much less utilized than his father’s. There was a desk with a workstation and data bank on it but that was it. Taking the second spare data drive, he plugged it into the workstation.

_SAM?How long to mirror both drives?_

_At least a half hour for the second one.The first is done._

Scott left the hidden room and retrieved the first drive.He turned and surveyed the room, making sure he hadn’t forgotten to look anywhere. The wall on which the sofa was against was the wall for the main hallway so there wasn’t likely anything on that wall. Thinking for a moment, SAM asked him to activate his omnitool and select a different setting for his scanner so it would pull data from the environmental controls.

Puzzled, Scott did so and ran it across the room. He could clearly see that Garson’s body had been found on her bed and could see the rough outline of a human male that was about Scott’s height had also been present. The data was rough, but it was obvious that Garson hadn’t been alone when she died.

_SAM?_

_Jien Garson’s body was found badly burned in her apartment according to the reports I can access.This was consistent with the burns experienced by those killed when the Nexus ran into the Scourge upon arrival in Andromeda._

_There’s no evidence of anything on fire anywhere in this apartment or an intrusion this far into the Nexus—is there any construction records showing they had to repair here?How would she get here ifthat wasn’t the case?And there was someone else here... that suggests this was murder, not accidental death._

_The apartment was intact without need for repair according to construction logs.My records do not show any further investigation made by the medical staff as they were overworked at the time and her injuries were consistent with scourge exposure on first assessment. No further assessment was made and her body was committed to space per her wishes in her will._

_So no verifying things with a body. Shit._

_Scott, I detect a datapad is wedged on the far side of the bed by the wall. Please retrieve it for me._

Retrieving the datapad, Scott noted it was powered down due to low battery. _I’ll have to charge it SAM. I’ll keep hold of it._

Scott spent another fifteen minutes double checking he hadn’t missed anything before he retrieved the second data drive and stowed it in his jacket pocket.Making sure the apartment was as he found it, the secret door closed and no dust patterns showing he’d touched things, Scott checked with SAM that the corridor was empty and then left Garson’s apartment, the door closing behind him quietly.

He was almost back to the tram when he ran into Spender and Brecka, who were obviously on their way back to their rooms. Spender looked directly into Scott’s face and greeted him. “Ryder.What are you doing here? Don’t you know where your own rooms are?”

Scott internally panicked.Now would be a good time to have a reason for being in the administrative quarters.Before Scott could say anything however, Brecka answered Spender.

“He’s probably looking for me.I had to get involved in a request for taking a colonist out of cryo for Bradley and he mentioned he’d asked the Pathfinder to look into it,” Brecka said smoothly, the brief glance he gave Scott indicated that he should play along.

“Yeah.There’s been a lot of disagreement about whether or not we should take Carson out of cryo because it was requested,” Scott added after SAM told him that there had been some email chain on one of the terminals in Prodromos about a request that Brecka had denied.

Spender rolled his eyes at the both of them. “You both need to learn to turn off and relax.It’s late. I’m going to bed.You better be on time tomorrow Vladimir!” Spender said as he continued on to his own apartment.

Brecka didn’t say anything just watched Spender walk away.When Scott opened his mouth to speak, Brecka raised his hand to silence him, his head cocked and listening for anyone coming. “We can talk in my apartment about that request,” Brecka said after a moment. “Follow me Pathfinder.”

Scott, curious at Brecka’s actions followed the man back down the maze of corridors to the apartment across from Garson’s. Brecka opened the door as it recognized his biometrics and gestured for Scott to sit on the couch. Closing the door, Brecka went to the coffee maker. “Coffee?” he asked Scott.

“Sure,” Scott answered, getting more curious where this was going.

Brecka didn’t talk as the coffee brewed other than to ask Scott if he wanted sugar or creamer to which he just indicated he’d take his coffee black.Brecka, with two cups in hand, sat down on the armchair diagonal from Scott after he handed over the coffee. Taking a careful sip, Brecka relaxed back into the chair and toed off his shoes. “You need to be more careful if you’re snooping around.Vetra said she warned you.”

Trying not to choke on the hot coffee he’d been sipping when the man spoke, Scott coughed to clear his throat after he managed to swallow. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

Brecka gave him an unimpressed look.“The file on you says you’re much better than this.You need to be careful. You’re lucky I noticed Spender was headed home and Vetra had told me you’d be looking for answers.”

“What file?And why would Vetra tell you what I was doing?”Scott tried to appear relaxed but realized he was not really a good actor when caught this off guard.

“Your Alliance intelligence records—the real ones not the dossier on you that your father altered.Vetra told me because she and I have mutual friends and goals.You’ve managed to impress her so she told me to look out for you.”Brecka was giving Scott an amused smile.

“So what does my file say then?” Scott asked, this time taking a more graceful drink of his coffee.

“That you weren’t involved in your father’s or your mother’s research and that you got a raw deal when the battalion commander got anxious about politics even though you’d managed to keep your nose completely out of whatever your family was mixed up in.You should never have been dismissed from the Alliance,” Brecka paused to take another calm drink of his own coffee.“I’m Alliance Intelligence on loan to the Citadel Counsel by the way.”

Hands clenching around the cup, Scott had to forcibly relax them so he didn’t break the cup after it creaked warningly. “Why would Alliance Intelligence be interested in me?”

“Because you were keeping out of it and we shoved you into it.You’re not your father—the reports make that clear.Which means you might be useful to my investigation and I can help you in turn since you’re now the Pathfinder.Vetra also spoke in favor of my helping you—you managed to really impress her in a short amount of time.” Brecka smiled enigmatically at Scott. “Vetra isn’t an intelligence officer before you ask.”

“So what is she then?”Scott rebutted.

“A friend of ours.Vetra is in it for Vetra, but she’s got great instincts about who to trust and is a great resource.” 

“Who’s ours?That implies you’re not acting alone,” Scott set his coffee cup down before he broke it. SAM reminded him that burns would not be fun.

“I’m part of a team that was assigned to look into irregularities in the Andromeda Initiative that were concerning for possible Cerberus involvement.I don’t suppose I need to tell you who Cerberus are?”Brecka raised one eyebrow as he finished his coffee, waiting to see what Scott would say. 

Scott’s blood ran cold at the mention of Cerberus.What the fuck had his father been up to? He hadn’t really wanted to know more details before or after he’d been drummed out of the corps but.... fuck this. Cerberus. Human xenophobic terrorists weren’t his father’s usual friends but given the circle of friends and acquaintances of his Father’s that he’d purposefully turned a blind eye to...it was possible. The super soldier work alone was highly questionable and the reason he’d never thought he’d see it implemented was the ethical quandaries they raised. Then again, someone obviously hadn’t been that worried if they’d put those modifications in him.Had his Dad even wondered if Scott understood what he’d signed when he’d signed his contract?There’d been no mention of it during their brief conversations before Andromeda.Sara had completely glossed over it but had she really known? She usually was deeply involved in the process for their parent’s work, occasionally helping out with research approval submissions when they’d been in university when Scott had his military training to attend. Swallowing the lump that was in the back of his throat, Scott nodded. “ I know who Cerberus is.”

“Then you know why I’m here,” Brecka said, not unkindly.“If Cerberus sent a cell to be activated here it could be disastrous for everyone. The Initiative was already on rocky ground before it got funding from some back channel that we couldn’t verify the source.Your father had run out of money and suddenly had all the funds he would need to push his AI research and your dead mother’s research got a funding boost too.That was when he was arrested and the Andromeda plans got accelerated.”

Realizing he was shaking just enough to notice, Scott tried to get a grip and focus on the conversation.He could have a panic attack later when he didn’t have someone watching him. “You think Cerberus paid for the Initiative and that there’s still an active cell.”

“I think that things haven’t gone like they were supposed to on a mixed species vessel. Someone has had a lot of opportunity and the only ark to show up so far is the Human one.”

Brecka was right.It was highly suspicious.“I get it.I think something stinks too... but how sure are you it’s Cerberus?”

An impressed look on his face, Brecka agreed. “I’m not sure it is.That’s why a team was sent to investigate. And now I’m asking you if you’re willing to work with me on this. If it is Cerberus—things could still go really bad.You need to know as you’re on the front lines. You need to be careful.”

Scott thoughts were racing. SAM was quiet but Scott could tell he was processing and running probabilities of what Brecka was saying being right.What he was saying felt intuitively right as it made several things make sense... but was it really what had happened? Or had it been an astronomically unlikely coincidence. Finally, Scott realized there really was only one option for him. “I’ll help out.I don’t believe in things.... like Cerberus wants. The Initiative was a multi-species effort and it should remain so.”

“Good to hear.I know you were in Garson’s apartment and I won’t ask what you found yet.As we work together I’d like to think you’ll share on your own. In the meantime, I think you need to get some sleep.I heard Tann and Addison discussing your next target and they should be sending you out tomorrow.”Brecka guided him back to the door and wished him goodnight.

Scott, for the most part, felt almost ill at the thoughts of his father working with Cerberus.He’d seen the aftermath on a mission of what happened when Cerberus used their tactics against non-humans. The results had been stomach turning—the worst of the sci-fi horror novels he’d read growing up made real. He knew his father could be single-minded when it came to his work, he’d been the victim of it more than once himself. But could Dad have willingly signed on to work with Cerberus?The answer he was coming up with was yes—if it gave him what he wanted, Dad would have done whatever was necessary.It was part of why Scott assumed that Andromeda would just work out as planned. He’d been naive about Andromeda... had he also been willfully blind about some of his Dad’s contacts?

_Scott.... I have some information that I’d like you to read when you are feeling up to it.It pertains to your father’s research and what I’ve found so far._

Scott stopped walking in the middle of the abandoned quarter. _What did you find SAM?_ Scott could feel his heart racing.What else could Dad have gotten into?

_It is information relating to what Mr. Brecka told you about. The research for the implants you received as well as the researchers your father was in regular contact with.There is quite a bit of this information and I’ve condensed it into a readable report.I also need to unlock and analyze the data you found in Director Garson’s apartment._

Scott closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his hands tightening into fists as he opened his eyes and started walking back towards the tram. _If it’s bad news just tell me SAM._

_It is neither good news nor bad news exactly—just information.I am uncertain as to how to interpret it without your deeper understanding of your father’s motives._

Reaching the tram, Scott impatiently jabbed the command in to summon one of the cars. He didn’t say anything further to SAM as he then entered the car and selected the Hyperion and his quarters.He needed to stop thinking for five minutes.Then he’d ask SAM for the information. He just needed five minutes to try and think of a way to interpret this information that didn’t make his dad look like a Cerberus agent.

***

Reaching his rooms, Scott plugged the datapad in the charging cradle and then connected thememory sticks to the SAM node outlet that was in his room.SAM began accessing the information but indicated that the reports that were relevant were now available on the workstation that was next to his bed.Scott briefly debated just sleeping and ignoring everything until tomorrow... but he knew that sleeping probably wasn’t going to happen until he had read everything he could.

Cerberus? 

Really?

His dad wouldn’t have been that stupid or desperate—surely this was just one cosmic joke of a coincidence.

Except in his experience, coincidence was actually an exceedingly rare occurrence.Dad had been a planner and hated uncertainties that could change results.

Groaning in frustration, Scott plunked himself down in front of the workstation screen which flickered to life.He’d sleep sometime.In the meantime, there was always stims and SAM to keep him awake.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE April 12th_

 

_I want, for just one minute, to have a chat with my dad again.I’d start with the question that’s the most important: why?Why did you push me to come with you and Sara?I honestly want to know.I know you didn’t mean for me to get thrown out of the marines—you were actually quite proud of my service records from what I can tell by the effort you went to make sure that only the good parts are still accessible in Andromeda. I’m told by multiple people including the AI that briefly shared your thoughts that you were proud of me and my achievements._

_So why? Why did you push your research to the point where you had to go to an entire different galaxy to get out of the trouble you stirred up... and most importantly... why did I need to come with?I was semi-happy with my career.I had friends. I even occasionally went on second dates with nice gentleman I met on vacation. I mean, sure, I never managed to make it to third dates or someone to bring home to meet the family... but why Dad?Why did I have to come with?_

_I understand why Sara would come.The records SAM is able to access have her writing on them—the turn of phrase on some of the emails written from Dad to a Miranda Lawson are classic Sara.Sara isn’t a physician... she doesn’t have a biology or a medical degree... but she was helping write the correspondence to let mom’s work be actually used. And from what I can tell, I wasn’t the first person to get to use mom’s work or Dad’s as the information exchange included AI work too.Whoever Ms. Lawson used it on.... I hope he or she did okay. I’m not having any issues but it seems they were able to work out some of the bugs from whoever Ms. Lawson implanted hers in. At least I’m naturally a biotic.I can’t imagine trying to relearn control at this point in my life—I had enough difficulty as a preteen that I don’t ever want to revisit that.For one, Gil would kill me if I did that much accidental property damage to the Tempest as I did to our quarters when I was thirteen._

_The information SAM noted that correlates to Brecka’s information paints a pretty damning picture.It’s obvious that Dad’s funding was coming from a less than reputable source—Dad calls them ‘The Benefactor’ like a bad comics villain. It’s also obvious that Jien Garson knew this benefactor and also was receiving money from them. There is correspondence between my Dad’s research group, Mom’s old research group, and third parties that make me wonder what exactly they were preparing for.Something big that they were scared of but that no one makes explicit what exactly it is.There’s a lot of euphemisms used, things referred to as ‘situations’ and ‘incidents’ that reads like a bad thriller spy novel. No one’s name is given—everyone is referred to by code names._


	23. Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-Two

 

2819 CE April 13th

Nexus, Zheng He System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: I need to get off the Nexus

He actually did manage three hours of sleep by the time he met his team outside of the holding cells. He might have also been five minutes late which was inexcusable but since he was the leader of this outfit, he could show up late and not beat himself up about it. Liam had a frown on his face when he requested that Scott take the lead in questioning Nilken this time.“He might be more forthcoming with you since you’re Pathfinder.”

Scott was game.“Do you want me to be good cop or bad cop?”

This did make Liam’s frown lessen. “How about just be Pathfinder?I’m not sure the universe is ready for your best cop impression.”

Trying to psych himself up for the following interview, Scott just rolled his eyes at Liam.He’d somehow managed to banish the worst of his bad mood and stormy thoughts to the side. There would be plenty of time spent on the Tempest when he had nothing better to do but read and brood about what had happened before he arrived in Andromeda.The thing was—brooding about things wouldn’t change their current situation. He’d push the bullshit to the side and deal with now.It was either that or go have another panic attack over things he couldn’t change. 

The same turian that had been there before let them back to talk to Nilken, however he was a bit more formal this time than last.Someone must have spoken to him about standards.Scott was betting on Kandros. Kandros seemed on the up and up.

Nilken again rose to his feet upon seeing Scott and his team standing at the entrance to his holding cell. “Come to gawk again? Or did you actually want something?”

Scott stood outside the cell, legs braced and arms crossed over his chest. He tilted his head slightly back and to the side so he could stare directly into the taller Turian’s eyes.His face was blank and unimpressed looking and he didn’t blink as he met the stare with his own, glacial glare. Soon, Nilken dropped his gaze and stepped back, posture becoming less intimidating. Scott allowed a small, brief smile before clearing his throat.“We spoke with Cassidy Shaw.And we retrieved the body of Chief Reynolds.I was wondering if you had anything further to say in your own defense.”

“I have nothing further to say. I didn’t shoot him.I shot at a kett,” was the sullen reply.

Scott stared again at Nilken for a moment before replying. “You’re right.Your shot went wide and did not hit Chief Reynolds.” This was correct according to the autopsy report that had been in Scott’s inbox this morning when he’d awoken.The scientist’s at Prodromos had confirmed that it was a plasma round that killed Reynolds.

“You mean I really didn’t kill him by accident?That means you have to let me out.I’m staying!” Nilken began to celebrate and crow, calling to the Turian jailer to come and let him out, that there was now proof.

“Not so fast,” Scott admonished him. He then played the recording that they’d taken from Reynold’s suit. As he listened, Nilken’s mandibles flared in anger before drooping in grief and shame. Scott let the recording play out and didn’t say anything, just watched the Turian to see what he’d do.

When Nilken didn’t say anything, Scott finally spoke. “You may not have killed him but it was sheer chance that you didn’t. Do you have anything else to add?”

Nilken was now glaring at Scott. “I didn’t kill him. You proved it.I may have disagreed with his orders but I didn’t kill him.”

Vetra, who was just now meeting Nilken, responded harshly before anyone could stop her. “You are a disgrace.You were a first on the ground team and you couldn’t handle it?You’re no turian.”

At Vetra’s words, Nilken’s gaze dropped to the floor and he stumbled backwards as if struck. “I really didn’t want to kill him... you don’t know what it’s like... I couldn’t have known we’d be overrun with kett.”

“You will be released from holding,” Scott said, hand raised to make sure Vetra or anyone else didn’t say anything until he’d finished. “but you will not be placed on any team responsible for deploying to a colony for the immediate future.You will report to Kandros and ask for clerical work.You will be an exemplary employee. No complaints.If I hear any, I will be revising your punishment.You will not handle any weapons, receive any weapons from others or ask to be put in a situation in which others may potentially be at risk.You will follow all of Kandros’ orders without fail.If you do this, you will be allowed to stay.Break any of these rules and I will personally exile you.”

Nilken looked like he wanted to protest but didn’t. He seemed to realize Scott was being beyond lenient. Vetra made a trilling noise of approval but didn’t otherwise comment. “Does anyone have anything else they’d like to add?” Scott asked his team.

A chorus of no’s was the response.“And you?” Scott asked Nilken, giving him a chance to contribute.

“No pathfinder,” was the bitten out reply.“No questions.”

“Good.”Scott moved as close to the barrier as he could, his eyelashes, eyebrows and stubble singeing in the energy flow. “Behave yourself and you might yet actually deserve a place here. But remember.... this changes nothing about your cowardly behavior that got your friend killed. I don’t think anyone is going to forget that anytime soon.”

Turning on his heel, Scott left the holding cells, giving the order to have Nilken released.He could see an anxious female Turian waiting outside the holding cells who looked at Liam and then at Scott.The moment she realized Nilken was being released, a beautiful, grateful smile appeared on her face.This must be Mariette. Scott wondered if she’d change her opinion once she talked to her husband. Scott didn’t stop to talk to her as his omnitool had just pinged with a summons from Tann.Time to go find out where they were going.He motioned for Liam to talk to Mariette as he headed towards Tann’s office.

***

Talking to Tann, like every other time, was an exercise in frustration.Tann actually met Scott as he walked up the steps to the bridge and asked him to join Tann and Addison for a moment in Addison’s office aka the bridge. It was more than obvious that Tann had been watching for Scott’s approach and had decided to join him. Addison was nonplused when they joined her as she stared at the large view screen, watching the different workers at their workstations. Spender and Brecka were in their usual places, Brecka giving Scott a nod of greeting but otherwise not stopping his work.

“I heard you got in late last evening.I am sorry I was not awake to speak to you then.I understand you found more information on our murder?” Tann asked once they were all gathered.

Scott informed him about the team’s findings as well as the conditions he’d set of Nilken’s release. His omnitool had already pinged with an email from Kandros detailing his opinion on Scott’s solution. In case anyone was wondering, Kandros wasn’t in favor of Scott’s decision but was willing to follow it. As he explained to Tann and Addison, Scott tried to figure out from Tann’s questions if he’d been following Scott on the cameras last evening but the salarian didn’t give anything away.Either Tann was a good actor or he hadn’t been watching.

Addison, initially bored with the discussion was soon also asking questions.She seemed impressed with Scott’s solution for the intent of the crime but voiced worry over trusting Nilken. Scott returned, “If we don’t give him an opportunity to reform himself, we’re just wasting resources on exiling him.”

Addison didn’t argue with that reasoning but instead steered the conversation towards Scott’s next assignment. “After much discussion, the next target for exploration will be Habitat 6 in Nol System.”Addison paused long enough to tap a few commands into her omnitool, making the center of the large screen pull up a map of Andromeda before it zoomed in on the Nol system and Habitat 6 which was the third planet in system.“Our long range scans showed that it should be a temperate garden world.Of course, none of our other scans have proven correct given the Scourge but it is worth checking out.We hadn’t previously sent ships there as the scourge is rather thick in that direction. However,” she paused for effect, her eyes briefly sliding to Scott, “the Tempest should be more than up to the job of it.”

Scott just nodded in response.He’d be glad to be underway as he was rapidly learning that his life was much more complicated aboard the Nexus than when he was out in the field doing what a pathfinder should. “Anything else?” Scott asked Tann and Addison. Both of them had more to say about his objectives but later he couldn’t really recall any of them. Tann in particular had droned on about setting a good example for the entire Initiative unnecessarily.When both of them finally ran out of steam, Scott was dismissed and able to head for the Tempest.He wanted off the Nexus as soon as possible.

***

Back aboard the Tempest, Scott felt his shoulders relax the moment he stepped on the deck.Cora had noticed that something was bothering him and kept giving him looks to try and make him give in and talk to her.He’d only shaken his head and told her not now when she tried to press him. Liam had overheard and was also now frowning at Scott when he caught his eye.Vetra and Drack evidently were great friends and had taken over the galley, exchanging gossip while Scott gave Kallo his orders for where to take them.Gil, ever cheerful, had invited Scott to a poker game between him, Liam and Vetra later but Scott had given him a noncommittal answer. He had so much reading to catch up on... Peebee had taken over one of escape pods and was tinkering with bits of remnant observer bots that she’d salvaged but periodically wandered through the ship to see what everyone else was up to.All of his crew was preoccupied when he escaped to his room long enough to try and make a dent in his pile of information he needed to get through.

They had been underway to their destination for several hours when Cora knocked on Scott’s door. He briefly debated not answering but knew he needed to give his XO his attention. Opening the door, Cora looked concerned but asked quietly if he had a moment.

“Sure, come in,” Scott gestured towards the couch as he took one corner and tucked one leg under the other so he could face her.

Cora had a concerned frown on her face as she sat similarly facing Scott, fidgeting with her hands. “Something happened on the Nexus—more than just the stuff with Nilken.You were so angry when we left Eos but by the time we got to talking to him it was like you were distracted by something else.”

Letting out a huff, Scott debated what exactly to tell her. Cora had a much different view of his father than he did and he really didn’t want to completely wreck it—his father legitimately did a lot of really good things.But Dad could also be a class A asshole and wasn’t the best father in the world like Cora had originally assumed. Sara was daddy’s girl and Scott had been closer to his mother which meant different experiences. “How much do you know about the funding and origins of the Initiative?” Scott asked her, deciding to see what she knew first and guide her through the information.

Face thoughtful, Cora answered, “Not much.When your father recruited me from the Talein’s Daughters I didn’t even think of it.I know that there was a period where there were funding shortages but alternative funding was secured by Jien Garson and your father and a few others.Since it didn’t affect my prep work I didn’t look into it.”

“The Initiative received funding from someone or some group that, from what I know, appears to be somewhat shady.They are referred to by my father as “the Benefactor” like it’s a title or a code name. Did you ever hear that name?”

“No.Why are they shady?”Cora remained thoughtful as she asked a follow up.

“I’m not sure whether they were connected or not but there is a possibility that Cerberus was somehow connected to the funding.”

Cora pulled back, her eyes wide. “Cerberus?”

Wryly, Scott repeated himself. “Cerberus.It’s not certain but it’s within the possibilities.Also, I’m fairly certain Jien Garson was murdered based on the scans I took in her apartment. There was someone else there when she died and no autopsy was done.It doesn’t make sense that she received burns from the Scourge when her apartment was untouched during the incident.”

“You’re sure?” Cora asked, her eyes still wide.

“Pretty sure.I can make sure SAM gives you access to the information I found. Another set of eyes I can trust would be appreciated.”It made sense to read his XO into things. Reaching onto his desk, Scott grabbed a datapad he’d been using to review the information SAM had collected and handed it to Cora. “You’ll understand if I ask you to read that in here and not take it outside of my quarters?”

“I get it,” she said distractedly as she started browsing the tablet. “This is a lot of stuff... where’d you get all this?”

“I did some snooping with SAM’s help.”

“I guess I should get comfortable then...” Cora said as she swung both her legs up onto the couch and started reading.

***

The remainder of the day went similarly except for breaks for food and the occasional walk around the ship to stretch their legs. Scott continued to work his way through the data SAM had uncovered as SAM continued to decrypt the mirrored drives. It was late when Scott shooed Cora out of his quarters so he could get some sleep that was restless.

Scott was up early the next morning and checked in with Kallo and the bridge before meeting his team down in the hold for a sparring session. Cora and Liam were excited to spar, Vetra less so but Vetra still kicked Liam’s ass. Drack didn’t participate but acted as the peanut gallery with lots of commentary about weak points. Realizing he had more things to get done, Scott left them to it and showered before returning to his never ending reading list.It was almost noon when he was paged to come to the bridge, Suvi’s voice concerned as she requested his presence.

Jogging to the bridge, Scott asked, “What’s going on?”

“There’s something ahead of us,” Kallo answered, his hands flying across the controls as he tried to get more information.

“Full stop then.We don’t want to run into the Scourge or something else,” Scott ordered which was immediately implemented.The Tempest’s engines gave a high pitched whine as they switched directions to slow the ship, everyone gripping whatever they could so they wouldn’t be thrown forward from the momentum shift. There was a loud crash from the hold that showed something hadn’t been fastened down appropriately.Scott absently hoped it wasn’t the nomad that made that noise.

As they slowed, the view screen started to show what they were approaching... and it was a humongous ship almost half as big as the Hyperion. Around this alien ship there were numerous smaller ships the size of small fighters that were in formation and started to encircle the Tempest. Scott could hear the remainder of the crew making their way to the bridge but he didn’t tear his eyes away from the view screen.

“Ships, twenty... no thirty or forty of them,” Suvi whispered in a shocked voice. “They’re scanning us.”

The Tempest gave a jerk as something happened to the panels that Kallo used to pilot, the electronics flickering briefly before returning to full brightness. “They’ve locked onto the ship. I do not have control,” Kallo informed Scott. “We’re pinned against the Scourge.”

Shit.Before Scott could order Suvi to scan them back, the view screen indicated an incoming transmission. “Accept transmission,” Scott bit out as he held tightly onto the railing where he stood.

The transmission opened to show an alien face that was unmistakably kett but unlike any kett he’d so far encountered it seemed more regal almost.The face was a darker blue grey than the ones he’d given to the scientists for study, the crown of his bony carapace arching into a perfect circle like a crown while his body armor showed more prominent shoulder ridges. The pale blue white eyes with their pale green pupils fixed on Scott’s face. Scott felt his spine stiffening as he was regarded and stared back, his face defiant.

“Where is the one who activated the Remnant?Our scans show that you are there. Reveal yourself,” was the deep voice that reverberated through the open comm channel in understandable Standard. The alien’s eyes flickered around the bridge to assess each crew member before discarding them and moving onto the next.Scott could hear Liam murmur something to Cora but he ignored them all, glaring now at the alien.

“Answer me!” Was the demand the alien gave.

“You first.You’re in my way.Who are you?” Scott snarled back.Something about this alien struck him as just wrong instinctively that he wasn’t able to quite stop his first instinctive response. He could feel SAM calculating in his head as he admonished Scott to not antagonize the alien force that outnumbered them.

The Tempest gave another shudder making everyone struggle to stay on their feet and then the ship started moving again towards the Kett mothership. Kallo was frantically trying to do something at his station. “They’ve locked the ship and they’re steering us towards them!”

The alien on the view screen looked amused. “Just tell me what you want,” Scott shouted at him.

The amusement now became a smugly superior and bored look as the alien watched his crew scramble to try and wrestle back control of their own ship. “I won’t explain what you can’t understand,” was the laconic reply.

Scott scowled but listened to SAM as he privately spoke with him. _Scott, I have almost regained control of the ship. I need a few more moments._

“Try me.I know a lot about the Remnant.We should compare notes,” Scott said to try and make the alien’s attention stay on him.He could hear Peebee protest his remark but didn’t look away from the view screen.

“Enough. Your defiance is naive and reckless.This day marks the beginning of your greatness.”The alien now was leaning forward into the transmission.Great... sounded like the kett had delusions of grandeur going for them too.

The Tempest shuddered as SAM wrested back control. _Scott, I have control and Mr. Jath should be able to pilot again.I suggest getting out of here._

Scott cut the transmission.“Kallo get us out of here!” He ordered.

Kallo immediately started doing something at his workstation and the Tempest shuddered as SAM put a suggested navigational course up on the nav panel that Scott accepted without looking at it. Holding firm to the railing, Scott felt the ship spin under Kallo’s guidance and they were now racing in a full sprint directly at the tangle of Scourge that had been behind them.

“Kett ships inbound!” Suvi called out from her station, her tone scared. “They’re chasing us!”

“Everyone get to emergency stations and be prepared for emergency maneuvering,” Kallo added, his own tone calm and focused as he twisted the Tempest around tendrils of Scourge with minimal clearance between the ship and the energy clouds. They could hear the explosion as one of the ships chasing them got squeezed too close to the Scourge and imploded from the energy discharge.

Drack, unbothered by how the ship jumped and tilted as Kallo navigated, guffawed and told Kallo he was alright for a kid. Kallo was too busy to reply as he sung left then right then went straight up and around the Scourge at high speed. The small kett ships trailing them were unable to maneuver at speed as tightly as the Tempest and there were multiple impacts felt as the ships exploded and debris hit the Tempest. Looking closer at the navigation plan that he’d approved. _SAM? Where are you taking us?_

_The VI that the Tempest uses has several navigation routes through this area of the scourge mapped—I am not sure the origin of the data as the VI just shows it as there. It will take us to the Onanon system and from there we can proceed to Nol._

_Well, at least that’s the right direction...._

***

The chase went on for hours with constantly changing directions from Kallo, the Tempest managed to squeeze through openings that the Kett ships struggled to make and soon they were out of sight from the kett ships.More disturbingly, they could see as they passed evidence of prior wrecks in the Scourge. Kallo had dropped their speed given they were pretty sure they had lost the kett in the tangled maze and Gil had called up from engineering to tell them that they hadn’t escaped themselves from damage.The entire crew was witness to a shouting match between Kallo and Gil about what the Tempest could and could not do.Gil was shouting down the comm from engineering that the starboard engine had suffered damage and wasn’t firing right and couldn’t maintain the energy output for more than twenty minutes at a time before having to be restarted.The port side engine was overheating to make up for it but couldn’t do it at the speeds Kallo originally thought he could get away with.

Trying to make peace between the two, Scott ordered Kallo to slow down and see if that helped out Gil to make repairs. Both Gil and Kallo sullenly had obeyed and they were now limping through the maze following the navigational plan that the ship VI had come up with. 

Vetra had quietly told Scott that the navigation data was from some unauthorized—meaning likely made by exiles—flight plans. When Scott asked Vetra if she knew exactly where the VI was leading them she shrugged saying that the furthest she’d been in this direction away from Eos was Sabeng and she hadn’t been to Onanon herself as it was towards the cluster core and the Scourge was too thick for her piloting skills. SAM then reminded Scott that those off the books resource trading had seemed to come from Kesh’s office and Vetra seemed to at least like Kesh and likely had been working for or with Kesh before they arrived on the Hyperion. Scott had let it go then as he knew it probably wasn’t going to get him anywhere pressing Vetra further. At least Vetra was working for his team.

Twelve hours after the confrontation, nobody had slept and they were all tired and anxious. There had been some noises from engineering that sounded like something breaking. Vetra had bravely gone to find out what was going on and had returned after Gil had just told her to get out, too busy cursing and trying to fix three things at once to have Vetra be any help. Scott had then similarly poked his head in around supper time and knew that he wouldn’t be of any use.Gil was covered in engine grease and in no mood for company, his fingers singed and bleeding from stripping wires and re-routing them without gloves. Scott had left the water bottle and protein bars within reach of the irate engineer and beat a retreat back to the bridge.

Despite having to slow due to engine trouble, they had made good time and there was no further sighting of Kett ships—either the large mothership one or the smaller fighters.They had seen evidence of prior ship wrecks in the Scourge but had not seen any for the last few hours. According to their navigational data, they would be through the worst of the Scourge shortly and arrive in Onanon within six hours after that. They’d made their way through at double the speed of any other ship that the Initiative had—and that was with damaged engines—but that was mostly due to the pre-mapped route and Kallo’s ability to maneuver the Tempest at speeds that most other pilots would balk at.

Scott was on the bridge when Gil finally showed his face outside of engineering.Suvi had gone to get some sleep so Scott was sitting in the copilot seat with strict instructions from Kallo to not touch anything.Gil stomped into the bridge, his hair sticking up on one side from the grease on his hands that had been put there when he ran them through his hair in frustration.The scowl on the usually cheerful engineer’s face was discouraging as he stood between Kallo and Scott looking first at one of them and then at the other, arms crossed against his chest and his hip cocked towards Scott.“We’ve got to land. I’ve repaired everything I can from in here but I really need to get at the outside of the ship.We need a place we can safely dock, preferably in atmosphere in case of hull leaks.”

“SAM?What do we know about the Onanon system?” Scott asked.It sounded like making Nol wasn’t in the cards.

“Long range scans from before arriving in Andromeda were inconclusive due to gravity distortion from proximity to the black hole at the center of the Heleus cluster.From the Tempest’s long range scanners, there appear to be at least three planets orbiting Onanon with mathematical gravity predictions for a fourth. There are also innumerable objects similar in size to large meteorites of which I’ve marked the most relevant objects on your view screen.”With SAM’s data, the station at which Scott stood with it’s Heleus map focused in on the Onanon system.The map showed the currently scanned worlds as well as the predicted path of the assumed fourth planet that was too far away to scan with the Tempest’s equipment.The third planet in orbit was within the gold zone for habitation and showed at least the minimum ranges for possible breathable atmosphere despite being a good eight to twelve hours out at their current speed.

“Do you think we can make it eight hours?” Scott asked Gil.

Gil’s frown deepened but he gave a short nod.“If we have to I’ll make her work, even if it’s going to be using gum for plugging holes.We need to land as soon as we’re able.I don’t know if I would guarantee longer than that.”

Kallo watched Scott and Gil interact but for once he didn’t argue with Gil.“Then we make for the third planet in system since that should be in the Goldilocks zone at least theoretically.Anything else we can do?”

Looking even more exhausted, Gil shook his head as he palmed his face, looking a decade older as he worriedly thought about what he could do for the engines. “No.Just get us down somewhere where I can get at the outside of the engines and I should, hopefully, be able to repair the worst of it.We’ll need dry dock in a space port at some point but I need to at least do some minimum repairs before you try outrunning any more Kett.”

“Let’s hope this works out then,” Scott said as he stared at the map.God he hoped this planet had a workable atmosphere.

***

2818 CE November 11th

Kadaran Badlands, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena

Status: Becoming a smuggler

Work continued as soon as he awoke the next morning on their base of operations. Handed more adhi meat that hadn’t improved in taste overnight for breakfast, Reyes had been pointed in the direction of the hydroponics setup by Vestus as Maiko knew he’d been helping out on the Nexus’ systems when they’d first met.Reyes spent the next three days eating, sleeping, and welding together the frames for the hydroponics setup. The cavern they’ chosen was almost one hundred meters long by forty meters by fifteen meters.The first thing they’d done was rig a scaffolding to hang plastic sheeting to create a clean environment for the crops to grow in followed by small, claustrophobic rows that the plants would hang from for the hydroponics setup. 

Maiko had designated another, larger chamber that had a slope to it as where they’d hopefully set up an aquaponics farm if Vladimir came through and they could get the water distillery set up that Alzik was now working on with a crew of angaran helpers. Reyes had messaged Vladimir first thing this morning to set up a meet up in approximately two months at the same place.By then, they’d have a crop growing and Evfra had been persuaded to give the Initiative more supplies in return for the work that Reyes and his friends were doing on Kadara as payment.

Three days later, they had the frame for the hydroponics farm up and wired with lights. Vestus and Kenax had scouted out the closest canyons and had found material that would work for making planting plugs as well as marked resources for fertilizer when they needed it. Julia was working with Keema to set up more formal living quarters as they’d moved some abandoned buildings into the first cavern to make it feel like a building within the caves. Reyes had really appreciated having regular walls around him when he’d finally found his bedroll the night before.

One thing was for sure: he was getting sick of unflavored adhi meat.The Angarans that weren’t assigned to construction projects had been making Adhi jerky.Which was an acquired taste at this point as it was plain and tough with the only flavor added being salt. However, it was food so Reyes guessed he shouldn’t be too choosy as it tasted better than yet another protein bar or shake.

With the hydroponics lab almost ready to go and the water distillation plant up and running by the end of the third day, Reyes found himself being cornered by Keema who located him helping to calibrate the lights to the right wavelength for the crops Maiko had started. “Here you are.Are you ready for something more exciting than using your mechanical skills?”

Glancing at Keema from the panel he was adjusting, Reyes finished tightening the setting before snapping closed the access hatch. “What do you mean?”

“I want you to get cleaned up.You and I are doing supper in port tonight.I need to start introducing you around as a friend of a friend.I may also have your first transport job lined up to get you in with the right people so you can work your human magic and get some intel.”

“Human magic?” Reyes asked with a laugh, realizing he really did need to at least change as he was coated in dust and sweat.

“They’ll warm up faster to you than they will with me as an angaran. Plus I want to see how well you memorized the blueprints I gave you of the port.”Keema arched an eyebrow at him before shooing him off to the bunk house as they were calling it. 

“I’m going.I’ll get cleaned up right away.Anyone else coming?” Reyes asked over his shoulder.

“Just you for now with one of your turian shadows that refuses to stay behind.We’ll see how introducing you goes before adding anyone else.”

Reyes waved in acknowledgement.It seemed it was showtime.Time to impress the boss with his memorizing skills.

***

Getting his first look at Kadara Port, Reyes was both impressed as well as not impressed.They’d taken the smallest ship of the lot—a small angaran cargo freighter that was much more maneuverable than the rest of the ships they’d brought with—gone back up almost out of the atmosphere and then Keema had instructed Reyes to do what he’d normally do for an approach using beacons for navigation. Vestus, who’d won whatever version of rock-paper-scissors he and Kenax used for decision making, had come with.They were all wearing nondescript armor that looked cobbled together and minimally armed.Keema had warned him that firearms weren’t allowed in Kadara Port unless you were part of the Outcasts.Keema had also fronted them enough credits to cover their port entry, docking fees and to pay for food and drink.The goal would be to wander around the port enough for Reyes and Vestus to get a good look at the public areas including the market before descending to Tartarus—a bar owned by a friend of Keema’s—where they’d mingle and hopefully meet a krogan that Keema was hoping to get Reyes his first job from.

Evidently, the Krogan had left the Initiative not long after Reyes had en masse and located their promised golden world.A golden world that had almost no water and they had to trade heavily for it.Since Maiko had a proven way of constantly distilling clean water, setting up a water trading route with Elaaden, the new krogan home in the Zaubray system that only took about eight hours to get to from Kadara, would be a regular source of income and intel.Setting up good relations with the Krogans would also be of benefit if Reyes could make good contacts.

The Port itself was smaller than Reyes had pictured it given the population it had supported before the Kett invasion.The spaceport itself was spacious and had many open landing pads that were not currently in use.The controller who had hailed Reyes as he put down had directed him towards docking bay seventeen due to the size of his ship.As he was identified as new to Kadara, they would have to wait to be greeted at the docking bay by a member of the Outcasts to be read the rules and pay their administrative fees.Keema, as she listened to the bored controller read Reyes a script of requirements, seemed bored but she had an annoyed look on her face.The administrative fee was annoying but not excessive and supposedly paid for Reyes and Vestus to be recognized by the Outcasts.Really, it was just a wallet check to see if they could pay their docking fees in the future and for fuel to get off planet. The penalty for nonpayment was harsh—immediate banishment outside of the slum walls in the badlands without any of your positions or your ship. Many Angarans had their ships impounded and seized in the first months following Outcast rule. 

As he turned the engines off, Keema muttered, “They keep upping the fees.It’s double what it was two months ago.”

Reyes and Vestus exchanged a glance.They’d have to watch their money closely as they were dependent on Resistance funds—which while generous—were not bottomless. The dock worker who greeted them was a human and not someone Reyes had ever met before. The general aesthetic seemed to be punk pirate if he had to put a name to it.Tattoos heavily covered the arms but the face was clean, hair cut recently. The man, whose name was Kevin, handed them all datapads that contained the rules for Kadara Port.Kevin drew attention to the section were fees were mentioned and indicated that they’d be collecting the docking fees now but once they went to enter the port they’d have to pay the daily access fee.No outside weapons were allowed in the port proper unless you were a member of the Outcasts. All cargo was to be inspected and the tax on imports was 30% of your cargo became property of the Outcasts.Which was ridiculous but as the biggest market for goods was what you paid. And if you tried to short the Outcasts they would appropriate all of your cargo and your ship.The ‘exile to the badlands’ part of the rules failed to note they’d dump you out there without any supplies or weapons.It was basically a death sentence.

Keema, face placid, waited until Kevin had gone through his rules and then pressed her thumb into the acknowledge portion of the signature pad which recorded her DNA. Reyes and Vestus did similarly when they were prompted, the credit transfer being handled by Keema. And then they were allowed out of their docking bay to head into port.Walking through the space port, Reyes could see a mixture of different species working the docks.There were several Krogan teams working on loading cargo onto a freighter that Keema nodded to in greeting as they passed, telling Reyes and Vestus that New Tuchanka was where they’d be doing a lot of their trading in the short term and hopefully with the Initiative in the longer term.

The entrance from the docks to the port was heavily guarded, multiple Turians and humans that were heavily armored and held assault rifles loose but ready in their arms watched as they walked down the corridor that funneled arrivals to the processing center where fees and weapons were collected prior to port entrance. Off to one side, Reyes could see several humans who appeared too thin and emaciated, clothing in poor condition and pockmarked from exposure to acid rain, holding out their hands in the universal sign for begging. One even held a sign that asked for credit donations in Standard, the sign obviously had been in use for a long time as the letters were fading from exposure to the acid rain mist that sometimes coated the port.Reyes felt anxious seeing the obviously desperate beggars but knew that helping all of them wasn’t an option currently. At least these ones weren’t below in the slums according to what Keema had told him about.

Making their way to the front of the processing line, Reyes waited patiently until they came to a Turian with another datapad in front of them.He took their names, verified their DNA signatures matched the ones collected at their ship, verified they didn’t carry any obvious weapons and then collected the fee to allow them into port.Keema had indicated to both Reyes and Vestus to leave their guns in their ship, locked up.She’d specifically indicated that the knives she knew Reyes kept in his boots and the smaller, more hidden weapons Vestus liked should be fine and were an insurance policy to have in port and should be kept on them.

Outside the gate from the docks, the port opened up before them.Three dead bodies were prominently displayed as they walked between the port and docks, two humans and an asari.They were held against the wall of the port by spikes that had been driven into their limbs and throat, one of the humans having been there longer than the other two.The bodies stank and were starting to disintegrate from exposure to the harsh Kadaran weather, but the message was clear.Follow the rules or end up like this.A placard above each of them detailed what rules they’d broken of the port. They passed a VI that showed a recorded welcome message from Sloane Kelly that made Reyes and Vestus pause long enough to watch the entire loop.Sloane stood confidently and ‘welcomed them to Kadara’ with a gamine grin that belayed the pirate queen aesthetic of her dress. She wore armor that had been bedazzled with spikes and glittered with inset metals that caused a shine when viewed from different angles.The armor was for effect rather than practical defense. The cerulean blue scarf around her neck was the colors of the Outcasts that were displayed prominently around the port.Her eyes as she read her greeting message however were flat and lifeless—Reyes thought no one would really feel welcomed by this message, the undercurrent of which was behave and we won’t murder you. The smile she ended the message with was meant to be frightening instead of welcoming, the burn scar on her face pulled unattractively despite her face otherwise being pleasantly formed.

“That’s the Queen of the Outcasts,” Keema said as they joined her to walk into port.“Let’s try and not meet her this time around. We don’t want that sort of attention.The market’s this way.”

Following Keema, Reyes noted that there were patrols of armed soldiers that walked the corridors around the port entrance and the market, at least three to a patrol, the majority were human or Turian.He didn’t see any krogan wearing Outcast colors. The market was busy but wide berth was given to anyone wearing the cerulean blue and the few Outcast members that were shopping were given full attention by shopkeepers. There were a few Angarans in the market but most of them appeared to be working and two greeted Keema warmly but didn’t delay her from her destination. The lifts to the slums were behind the markets according to the schematics Reyes had memorized. Overloaded with information, he almost missed the drug addicts that lingered in the shadowed overhang from the terraced market stalls.

“Reyes,” Vestus pointed them out.“Looks like there’s not enough to go around for all.”There were obvious signs of drug use and poverty in the noted individuals.Several held signs asking for credits and one was harrying a shopkeeper who was ignoring them other than to beat one of their hands when it came too close to a food pack.

“They regularly round them up and dump them in the badlands,” Keema quietly added.“Be careful around them.We try and get as many collected when they get dumped but the Oblivion addiction is difficult for us to manage with our resources so we can’t take them all.”

Reyes’ reading assignments had covered oblivion. Oblivion was synthesized from bacterial cultures that had been discovered on Kadara. In large doses it caused hallucinations, lethargy, and a high that was profoundly addictive—worse than red sand. The bacteria cultures it was made from had some medicinal properties which was why it had originally been studied by a physician named Nakamoto.According to the Resistance’s information, Nakamoto worked for Kelly and the Outcasts but was unhappy. But not unhappy enough to not keep making oblivion for the Outcasts who traded it freely with the inhabitants of their outpost. It seemed the Outcasts were relying on drug trade and taxation to keep their population under control along with regular violent spectacles. What was it that the Roman Empire had used?Bread and circuses.... with the bread being replaced with oblivion.

Working through the sparse crowd, Reyes took note of the food rations and materials on offer.There seemed to be a tiered level of availability as the armed blue clad figures got to select whatever they wanted while if you weren’t in Outcast colors you had a smaller selection to choose from.There were military protein pack rations similar to what he’d eaten on the Nexus as well as a small supply of alien appearing fruits and vegetables as well as adhi meat. There was no armor or weapons store here but there was a tinker/blacksmith of sort as well as a tech dealer and several clothing stores that did have customers in them. There were multiple empty stalls—some of which appeared to have been recently abandoned and others that were long gone. There was also evidence of gunfire and fire damage to some areas but it was ignored by all who were in the market.

As they reached the lifts, he could hear some argument over by the food stalls and several gunshots rang out with screams of people trying to get out of the way.The crowds had cleared around the disturbance and they could see a human female was dying in the aisle, a pool of blood surrounding her blond head like a halo and she was unmoving with two ration packs having tumbled out of her outstretched right hand.A turian in blue armor approached her, the muzzle of his assault gun still smoking from the shots fired. He toed her to turn her over to verify she was dead before calling to his companions. Reyes didn’t resist when Keema pulled him by the arm into the lift.As the doors closed, he could see the Turian pick up the ration packs and stuff them into a holdall at his side, unconcerned about the dead woman he was taking them from.

“What?” Reyes asked, his eyes darting to Keema

Keema looked grim.“Don’t Reyes.If you argue with them you’ll just get shot yourself.”

Vestus and he exchanged unhappy looks but neither said anything more as the lift opened at ground level.The smell of sulfur was stronger here closer to the ground and several pools of tepid water with garbage strewn in them surrounded the lifts. Keema let them down a pathway made of metal plates tossed on the round that wound down amongst the support pillars.Buildings and rooms had been made by placing storage containers this way and that, walls made of either the sides of the containers or any piece of construction material—wood, plastic sheeting, metal plates, or parts of the hull of a wrecked ship.The underbelly of the port was truly a slum in all meanings of the word.Taking several turns, Keema brought them to an area that was perhaps somewhat better maintained.

A bar was in this area, a neon pink sign above it that named it Tartarus in Standard. Loud, throbbing, dance music emanated from the open doorway where a Turian bouncer idled.The Turian nodded to Keema in recognition as she passed by and into the bar.There were several levels to the bar that despite being mid afternoon was fairly busy.The walls were made of cages which were occupied by dancers of various species who moved to the heavy bass beats that made it impossible to talk and be heard. Black lights and neon were the themes.Keema, who hadn’t released Reyes’ arm, guided them to the back after exchanging a wave with one of the bartenders.Taking the stairs, she led them to a closed door that opened to her touch. 

The room behind was much quieter than the bar area once the door closed, obvious signs of sound dampening.A low slung couch was on one end of the room with a small table in front of it.A krogan sat slumped on the couch, an untouched drink in front of him. “Keema, your hospitality is amazing.I didn’t know this room existed before now,” the Krogan said in greeting.

Keema, giving Reyes’ arm a squeeze before she dropped it, smiled at the Krogan and told a seat next to him while pulling out a dream weed cigarette and lighting it.“It’s not mine—it’s Mr. Vidal’s.I agreed to setting up this meeting so you could chat with him about your water needs. Reyes, this is Tarbok Nakmor. Tarbok, this is Reyes Vidal and his associate Vestus Caledonis.”

“Hello,” Reyes said in greeting, holding out his hand which was quickly taken by the krogan who was looking him up and down. The krogan looked suspicious but calm as he took in both Reyes and Vestus.“I hear you’re in need of regular water supplies.”

“I am.I’m told by Keema here that you are her supplier and you’re willing to take on new clients.”The krogan dropped Reyes’ hand and leaned back, relaxed now that he’d taken the measure of Reyes.

“Then I think we should be able to work something out...” Reyes said as he sat on the couch on the other side of the krogan, indicating for Vestus to relax.He knew what Keema expected of him, now to close the deal.He had work to do and a cover story to make real.Enter Reyes Vidal, smuggler.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE April 16th_

_We’re currently underway to a planet in the Onanon system... hopefully it’s got breathable atmosphere or this might be my last entry for quite some time.Gil is hopeful that the Tempest will make it that far as the outside of the starboard engine is leaking fuel and other gasses pretty bad.As a precaution, everyone is suited up with their helmet nearby.I have SAM watching the atmosphere readings for the ship pretty closely but a depressurization event hopefully won’t happen—and those are Gil’s words not mine ._

_I have no idea how we ended up here.... well I take that back, i know we followed someone else’s old flight plan at probably three times the recommended speed.Vetra isn’t telling me whose it is other than to tell me it came from someone who she trusts.She did say she didn’t recommend the speed at which we were traveling but as long as we get there she’s not giving Kallo or Gil a hard time._

_When I pressed her about the map she told me only that she had been told there was somewhere with breathable atmosphere at the end of the route—which is in Onanon.So hopefully this planet is the one that she was told about—I did cross reference it with the map that I obtained in the vault and there should be one of the vault’s lit up planets in this system but the map doesn’t match exactly right.SAM tells me it’s possible that he Scourge has made everything shift slightly in an unpredictable manner and that’s why they don’t match._

_Either way, I’ll be finding out in less than five hours._

 

 

 


	24. Twenty-three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter specific warning for prostitution, drug use (not Reyes or Scott) and description of how seedy Kadara Port can be.

Chapter Twenty-three

2818 CE November 11th

Tartarus, Kadara Port, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler

Status: Exploring the underbelly of Kadara Port

Tarbok was easy to talk to and had, what at first appeared to be, a simple request for Reyes.New Tuchanka was evidently unbearably hot and had a severe water shortage problem.The Nakmor clan was looking into business dealings where they would trade in various scavenged goods in return for water that was filtered and potable. Reyes, thanks to Maiko’s and Alzik’s efforts had a reliable source of potable water.They would just need to arrange for transport between Kadara and Elaaden.Keema had purposefully set this meeting up to introduce Reyes and his crew into Kadaran society, such as it was. Being a successful smuggler would open doors for Reyes that were closed to Keema and other Angarans. Also, having a regular connection to a second group of Milky Way travelers would increase Reyes information gathering abilities.

“The terms are acceptable,” Reyes offered to the krogan, wishing he’d stopped at the bar for a drink so he’d have something in his hands. “For ever liter of water delivered to New Tuchanka we should have credits and cargo exchanged.After all, I’d like to make this workable for both of us.”

The krogan let out a growling purr of amusement before his red eyes flitted to Keema who was relaxed and continued to smoke as she watched them with an amused smile, the smoke from the dream weed curling around her and making the room smell heavily of it making Reyes’ nose itch with a sneeze.Tarbok then turned back to Reyes. “You’re right Keema.He’s better than the pirates we’ve been dealing with before.” 

Extending a hand to Reyes, Tarbok gave Reyes’ had a firm grasp as they shook on the deal. “Element zero, silica, and rights to first pick of any salvage in exchange for water with some credits—I’d worry you weren’t legitimate except for you come recommended by her.Next person you deal with,” and Tarbok leaned in conspiratorially to Reyes’ personal space, “be more cutthroat. I’ll take your deal Vidal.If this works out Morda will want to personally meet you.”

“And I’ll be more than happy to meet her,” Reyes assured the krogan with a sly smile and a wink, purposefully relaxing so he didn’t appear anxious by the krogan’s invasion of his space.Silica would be an excellent resource and one that Maiko had been especially keen on.Maiko had it in her mind to create greenhouses that would protect plants from the acid rainfall. The element zero trade would also be of great benefit so they could manufacture FTL drives for the Angaran ships they hoped to modify as well as it’s other construction uses. They would be able to protect larger caves with force fields if they could get enough eezo—it would also be useful in modifying weapons for the Resistance.

Laughing, Tarbok exclaimed, “I like you human.You’ve got more spunk than most of your kind.”

“I try,” Reyes said wryly. “should we drink to our deal?Vestus?” Reyes indicated and Vestus stepped out and came back quickly with a round of shotsthat he poured from a dark green glass bottle that contained some rotgut liquor that was strong enough to make Reyes’ eyes water even before he put his glass to his mouth. Not asking what Vestus had procured, Reyes let Tarbok raise his glass which he then clinked with Reyes. “To a profitable partnership,” Reyes toasted before tossing back the alcohol and then desperately trying to contain the coughing that the burn caused. he couldn’t stop his eyes from watering slightly and clearing his throat noisily which caused the krogan to guffaw.

“This will be a very profitable partnership.Clan Nakmor is always willing to cut deals with those we trust,” Tarbok said as he poured another round.Reyes was eyeing the glass and knew that he was likely going to regret things if he had many more of those.Keema, perhaps knowing that Reyes was going to likely be wasted shortly, just inclined her head and nodded towards the glasses.Well, if the lady insisted. Vestus just watched silently as the krogan quickly drank over half of the bottle, trying to get Reyes to match him drink for drink.Instead of just throwing back shot after shot, Reyes started sipping his drinks to try and not become completely inebriated.

When the encounter was later retold to everyone at their base, Reyes would insist it was bad manners to refuse a drink.And it was just business—he wasn’t out to get drunk while working.

***

After the agreement was made, Tarbok shared a few drinks more with Reyes before leaving to conduct other business that he had for his clan.Feeling the amount of alcohol he’d imbibed, Reyes knew they’d have to give him a bit before leaving Tartarus. Vestus, amused by everything, procured food from the bar under Keema’s orders. While Vestus was out, Keema finished her second cigarette and then turned to Reyes.

“The krogan are the first step.Our eventual goal is to work out an alliance with Clan Nakmor but we need you as an intermediary and in—they are suspicious of anyone who isn’t a krogan... and doubly suspicious of anyone who’s goals they are uncertain of.”Keema looked thoughtful as she looked at Reyes, grabbing the alcohol bottle that Reyes still wasn’t sure exactly what kind it was and pouring herself a shot which she drank.

“Why be suspicious of you?” Reyes asked, genuinely curious even as his head swam a bit with the alcohol in his bloodstream.

“Because I did not ask things of them first.I came without expectations and made an error.You they understand—tit for tat, and you seem honest.Me?My goals are less certain even if they like me when they need things here on Kadara.They suspect I would get rid of them the same as the Outcasts.”

“I have predictable goals,” Reyes agreed with her.“Doesn’t mean they won’t decide to short me when I show up with water.”

“Ah... but they need a regular supply so they should be amenable for a while.The most danger you and Kenax will encounter short term will be making the trade runs without being hijacked by pirates or the Outcasts. You’ll need to vary the route you take, have an irregular delivery schedule but still deliver when they need it.”

Reyes nodded as he looked at the last shot in front of him, the liquor a light gold in the dim light of the back room. It would be a challenge to deliver on a regular basis but it would be a good connection. He could see the plan he and Keema had cooked up for whose ear he needed to have and what pockets he needed to be in.Long term, their goals were to let Angarans be back into the port without threat of being torn from their homes a second time.Secondarily... they needed to have a united front against the kett—it wasn’t like they’d be going anywhere anytime soon. “It will be a challenge but I trust in Kenax’s and my skills. There’s a reason the two of us were chosen for our piloting skills to join the Initiative.”

Vestus joined them, holding what appeared to be seared adhi meat with some sort of greenery that could be loosely termed a salad with a bright orange sauce of some sort of dressing drizzled all over it all.He had a dextro-protein ration in his other hand for himself. Taking his food from Vestus, Reyes looked at the food and raised an eyebrow as he looked at Keema.“What is this?”

“Adhi and vegetables that your people grow out in the badlands.The farming is poor when you don’t have resources like ours but there is a regular trade in the markets for them now.”Keema paused, taking a drink. “Of course, with you and your team’s skill set I expect that the food around here should improve immensely.The sauce actually makes the adhi much better.”

Trying the food, Reyes was pleasantly surprised by the spiciness that much improved the adhi.The greens... were blah but they were the first salad he’d had in months (plus or minus six hundred years) so he enjoyed it given the crispness of the leaves wasn’t perfect. Keema picked at her own but seemed to dunk everything in the orange sauce.He’d long ago discovered nothing could be spicy enough for angaran tastes. Vestus joined them on the couch and dug into his rations.

“So our first delivery to New Tuchanka is due in four days.That gives us a day and a half to explore Kadara before loading and getting underway.Was there something else we need to see today or do you want us to just get the lay of the land?” Reyes asked Keema as he finished his salad.

Licking her fingers of the orange sauce, Keema inclined her head.“You should explore.Just be careful.I’ll meet you two back at the ship before midnight.”

Vestus, who’d been mostly silent their entire trip so far, vocalized agreement for the both of them before adding, “I’d like to get a better look around down here as well as see what sort of gates are between the slums and the badlands.It’d be good to know what the exit routes look like.”

“Agreed,” Reyes said, working on quickly finishing his meal. “The schematics we got show that they have the wall and the guard station but deeper into the slums under the port towards the mountain they become less detailed.”

“That’s because they’re constantly changing from day to day.Those who can’t afford to pay the higher fees to stay topside find themselves down here.Most of the homes and businesses down in the slums are self made constructs that lean against the shipping containers that the Outcasts stored down here when they first arrived.”Keema pulled another of the dream weed cigarettes out and lit it, taking a long drag off of it.

Frowning at the chain smoking, Reyes debated saying something to Keema about it but figured it was her business.She had mentioned she smoked more when in Port—the memories were less intrusive when she smoked. “How much stuff did the Outcasts arrive with?”

Keema shrugged.“Quite a lot but they emptied the containers before putting them down here.I don’t know what the original plan was to do with them but they’ve become homes for those with less. The Outcasts seem to know that they still need a dependent population to supply them so they tolerate things—more here in the slums than up where they all live. Every so often they make a display by rounding up someone who has annoyed one of their people and they make a show of exiling them to the badlands, or if they’ve really broken the rules... well you saw the display on our way into Port.They used to have an Angaran body on display but my people were able to get him taken down. He was returned to his family as he should have been in the first place.”

Reyes frown deepened.“This place reminds me of books I read as a child. One was called Treasure Island. It was about a boy who went seeking treasure with a bunch of cutthroat pirates.When I was older, I read more about the real pirates that had inspired that book... they were just as vicious as the Outcasts.The pirates... they had towns such as Port Royal or Tortuga... they were like what we saw only perhaps worse . To display bodies like that... it’s not necessary.We should all be working together, forming a real community.”

Keema’s eyes gleamed and she sat forward, her hand that wasn’t holding the half smoked cigarette touching Reyes’ arm.“That is why I like you Reyes.You are not like the vesagara that occupy this place. You feel as we do and that is why we will win.”

Vestus just hummed in agreement.“Finish up,” he told Reyes, “I want to explore but I’m not leaving you to just wander inebriated by yourself.Kenax will be unhappy.”

Rolling his eyes at his friend, Reyes quickly stuffed the last bit of adhi in his mouth and swallowed with minimal chewing. “As if Kenax is the sole reason you’ll hang out with me.”

Finishing his own rations, Vestus grinned at Reyes.“Well you’ve been making me wait.If it weren’t for Keema I would have left your ass at the bar.”

***

They didn’t immediately leave Tartarus.Vestus and Reyes made a point of having a drink of flavored sparkling (non-alcoholic) water at the bar, getting the lay of the alcohol and bad dance music drenched land. They’d been introduced briefly to Kian Dagher who had an accent that made Vestus scrunch up his face as he tried to understand the man over the noise of the sound system.It was an Irish accent and Kian was calm as he offered the back room at a reasonable rent to Reyes.Keema had obviously already greased Kian’s palm and he was eager to have a consistent revenue source and a polite customer. Seeing the benefits of having dedicated, reserved non-traditional office space, Reyes agreed readily and told Kian he’d send him an email with his contact information and to send him a rental contract. While there wasn’t enforceable rental practices agreement in andromeda, Reyes planned on trying to create expectations. His Tío had taught him well in that regard. Keep your promises and get it in writing whenever possible. Kian agreed that if anyone came looking for Reyes that he would serve them at the bar and send Reyes a message that he had a potential customer.

Tartarus had become progressively more busy as the hours went by.By nightfall, the dance floor was crowded and there was obvious Outcast cerulean blue colors worn by some of the patrons. Reyes found himself making conversation in corners with the regulars of the bar, learning bits and pieces about life in Kadara Port. The gossip verified that Kelly was not well loved by her subjects but nobody outright would say that they disliked her but rapidly changed the subject. Reyes found himself leaning in close to people in order to be heard over the music but found that he wanted to see what else the slums had on offer.

Catching Vestus’ eye, he motioned towards the door and the Turian joined him just as he was stepping outside.The bouncer, whose name was Nobus Vicdonis, nodded to Vestus and had a brief conversation about going ons around the slums with Reyes.Vestus would later tell Reyes that he recognized him as a fellow security personnel who wasn’t a fan of their previous CO. 

Leaving Tartarus, the air again hit Reyes with the smell of sulfur but it seemed more muted due to the wind coming from over the containment walls freshening things and almost hiding the smell of garbage he’d noted earlier. Now that night had fallen, the lights around the slums were lit that were all sorts of different colors, having been attached here and there in a haphazard fashion that didn’t match. The main walkway that led from the lifts towards the gatehouse was well lit but off the main thoroughfare the lighting became sparse with pools of light visible in the dark interior of the slum.The noise of the slum said thatthe inhabitants were awake and still about their business despite the parity of light—which seemed to be busier than it had earlier. There was no acid rain mist tonight so everyone seemed to be making the best of it. 

The walkway that led towards the guardhouse was patrolled every few minutes by smallgroups of Outcast color wearing guards of mixed species. As they were making conversation with the bouncer, Reyes watched four different patrols that were well armed wander past, one of them passing by twice as they walked to the guardhouse and then back to the lifts before several of them had entered Tartarus.The patrols were mostly human and turian mixed groups but he did spot one asari and a salarian mixed in. The asari had horrific scarring over the right side of her face that looked like it had been melted off and she was obviously not fond of her companions from the sounds of their conversation.

Ending their conversation with Nobus, Reyes and Vestus wandered deeper into the slums.The pools of light with darkness separating them were disconcerting at first but Reyes kept alert as they passed by a few cobbled together food stalls that were right off the main walkway.Deeper into the darkened corridors, Reyes almost stumbled over a man who was laying in the center of the alley.In the dim light, Reyes could see that the man was staring straight up at the underside of the port, his pupils enlarged and his eyes bloodshot showing he was flying high even though there was obvious vomit coating his ragged shirt that gaped open to show how gaunt the man was, rib spaces prominently visible.The man had a faint tremor to his gaunt hand as he pawed at Reyes’s boots as he stepped over him and spouted off a language that neither Reyes nor his translator recognized. Skipping higher so he wouldn’t get at his boots, Reyes watched as the man rolled over on the dirty floor and curled up, laughing at something that only he could see.

“Reyes, come on,” Vestus told him, pushing him to keep moving.

The residents of the slums had noticed them and watched them walking through.A pale bleached blonde haired woman who was wearing very, very little, called them from the dim light she stood under, a male companion who was wearing even less than her just barely visible in small circle of light.Her business was very obvious as she gripped her own small breasts that were covered by a thin shirt that didn’t really hide anything as Reyes could see the darker skin tone of the areolas of her unsupported breasts through it that were peaked in the chill of the evening for which she wasn’t dressed appropriately. “You men looking for some company for the evening?”

“No thank you,” Reyes said smoothly, giving her a roguish smile as he looked only at her face not at her, ahem, wares such as they were.“Lovely weather though.”

The human male now stepped up, obviously in the same business as the woman, his own dark ebony skin absorbing the light as he was shirtless except for a strap of dark colored fabric that could be considered a vest that was too small despite his thin form. He looked like he had mixed heritage, the slant to his eyes and face showing Asian heritage but his skin tone consistent with African heritage but he’d painted bold body paint swirls and slashes in bright colors that accented his body shape which was muscular if too thin speaking to his perilous financial situation. “Or maybe your tastes run more to my type of company?”

Continuing to smile but still walking, Reyes shook his head, giving the two prostitutes a wave as he continued on.“Not tonight for either of you.”

The male looked amused as he watched Reyes walk away.“Some other time then,” was the smooth reply.Turning his attention to the shadows around him, Reyes did however notice as the prostitutes greeted another human male who next approached.This one wearing Outcast colors seemed to specifically be looking for their type of company as he boldly walked right up to them and began speaking to them.

As they turned a corner, the prostitutes were now out of visual as well as hearing range.They came across a small crossroads that had several small mercantile stalls doing steady business. There was a Salarian who was cooking some sort of meat on a grill, the portions that he handed out to those with credits was small but appeared tasty due to the number of customers he had that appeared regulars.

A turian female at the next stall had bits and bobs of repaired equipment surrounding her, her hands busy working on an omnitool that she had pulled apart and a small soldering iron working on the delicate electronics. Reyes and Vestus made a point of inspecting her wares but were really listening to the conversations around them as people steadily walked through the intersection.The female Turian eyed Vestus a few times but realizing he was just politely browsing returned to her work but pulled a piece that was towards the edge of the small table closer to her as they moved on.

Across from these two stalls was another business... but this one openly displayed an Outcast cerulean banner but no obvious products were on display. The burly human male that was running the stall watched as a customer approached who he evidently recognized going on the annoyed look on his face which made his eyebrows look like angry caterpillars despite his bald head.Reyes listened as he heard the man’s light tenor tell the customer that there wouldn’t be any loans and that he’d need to pay up if he wanted to buy. The human male customer sniffed heavily with a wet sound as he whined on about the cost of the product.The seller wasn’t impressed and named a price and then told the customer to either pay up or move on. The customer winced at the price and made to walk away but then thought better of it and passed the named price across to the vendor.The vendor waited for his own omnitool to indicate the transfer of funds before holding up a hand with the first two fingers raised. A Turian with light lavender skin wearing Outcast armor approached and laid a small packet of white powder on the counter in front of the customer which was quickly swept up by the customer who clutched it before putting it in an inner pocket of his jacket and scurrying away. The turian faded back into the shadows and the man returned to his bored look as he watched people come and go.

“Oblivion trade,” Vestus commented, “they’re not even pretending not to be running it.”

The female Turian overheard them and snorted at them but didn’t say anything else, her gaze not lifting from her soldering work.

“No they’re trading it like any other commodity,” Reyes said, his eyes sliding back to the female turian who didn’t appear to currently be listening to them.He continued walking along and Vestus followed like a shadow.

Wandering the twisting slums, Reyes found as they walked deeper that they saw less people.Coming to what looked like a dead end, he quickly turned and was going to go back to their last intersection but not before he noticed that there was a man having sex with a woman in the shadows just outside the circle of light from the sole light in the alley.The man was grunting as he thrust into the woman, her shirt pushed up and her skirt around her waist, legs braced against the wall so she didn’t fall over with the force of the man entering her in rhythmic whole body thrusts.Reyes could just make out the red hair and pale skin of the woman as she met his gaze.Her eyes were dead looking and she wasn’t enjoying herself, the man holding on to her harshly with a hand on her breast squeezing hard enough that it was likely going to leave a bruise on her pale skin. The man finished before Reyes could retreat with a loud grunt and a twist of the women’s breast that made her whimper in pain.

Reyes must have made a noise because the man looked over his shoulder at him, noticing Reyes and Vestus.“I’m just done.Give me a moment and you can have her,” the man called with an annoyed lit to his deep voice. He turned back to the woman and asked her for a kiss which he then took by force before the woman could say anything but her body language said she didn’t like his actions. Stepping back, the man fastened his pants and turned to Reyes, going to leave he gave him a filthy looking smug smile.

“You forgot to pay,” came the hoarse comment from the woman as she hastily pulled her shirt and skirt back into position, taking a few halting steps forward towards her last customer.

“We’ll call that one a freebie,” the man said to her, his voice cold as he continued to walk away.“You know what’ll happen if I tell the patrols what I caught you doing.”

Not liking where this was going, Reyes put his hand out to stop the man from walking past him, frowning at the man.“Pay the lady,” he said lowly.

Surprised, the man looked at Reyes’ hand that rested on his chest. “Look man, it’s none of your business. I’m done with her and you can make your own deal with her.”

“Pay her what she’s due,” Reyes simply restated, aware Vestus was doing his best to look like a scary turian behind him. He didn’t like the look of this man and the woman obviously had very little resources other than her body from her vulnerable, ragged and thin appearance. He didn’t like prostitution but that didn’t mean he’d watch this man disrespect someone’s work. The man didn’t have any Outcast insignias on his clothing so that meant there was little risk in Reyes stepping in

“No.Get the fuck out of my way,” the man said, trying to muscle his way past Reyes with a shove to his chest. 

Vestus, taking offense to the man touching Reyes, growled and a gun was now extended over Reyes shoulder with the barrel pointed directly at the man’s head.“I said pay her,” Reyes said.

The man paused at the sight of the gun, his eyes darting back to Reyes and then back to Vestus and his gun.Realizing that Reyes wouldn’t be backing down, the man rolled his eyes and backed up.“Fine. Here’s your credits.She’s not worth them by the way, shit, she’s a loose dry fuck with tiny tits,” the man said, his gaze sliding back to Reyes as he transferred the credits between omnitools. “I didn’t realize the girls down here had a pimp.”

“They don’t,” Reyes told him.“I’m just passing by and I object to work and agreements not being honored.”

The man laughed harshly.“Whatever.I’m leaving,” he said as he now was allowed to leave the dead end. “Have fun with used goods.”

Reyes ignored him, sure that Vestus would be watching him with the gun he’d managed to smuggle past the guards earlier at ready. The female was now glaring at Reyes, her facial expression closed off and hostile. “Are you alright?” He asked her neutrally.

“I’m fine.I’m not giving you anything.I earned those credits and they’re mine,” was her reply. 

Dear god, she expected him to take her credits that she’d been paid.He had no interest in either her credits or her product but she obviously didn’t trust him at all.The almost hunted look on her face was painful to see from Reyes’ point of view. Life was harsh here in the slums.He wondered briefly what she’d been before Andromeda. “I don’t want anything—credits or sex.I’m just passing by,” he said as he raised both his hands in protest.

She scrutinized him with a glare, stepping further into the dim light so Reyes could get a better look at her.She was about his age, like all the slum inhabitants was too thin and she had some bruising to her face and throat that she’d tried to hide with makeup. The tight shirt and skirt she wore barely covered her modesty and nothing else, her rib cage standing out prominently before the hollow of her abdomen and the slimness of her hips. Her red hair cut in a short bob—no doubt so it couldn’t be grabbed and used against her during her work.The makeup she wore was garish and exaggerated but applied with expert care, trying to make her face look fuller and healthier than it was.But she’d made an obvious effort to stay clean as her clothing was free of any dirt and her exposed skin showed some pockmarking from the acid rains and mist to indicate she wasn’t always able to get out of the weather but was clean`. “No one in Kadara does things just because.What do you want?”

“I truly don’t want anything.I just wanted to make sure you’re okay and I’m leaving,” Reyes told her, stepping back so she didn’t feel threatened.

“What do you want?” she called out, frustration evident on her face.“I don’t owe favors.What do you want?”

Thinking, Reyes sighed as he realized maybe he shouldn’t have interfered if it got her so upset.“How about, if you ever need help again you can notify myself or my associates.We’re always looking for hard workers.”

“So you are a pimp?I thought you said you weren’t one,” she crossed her arms across her chest, the look of distrust on her face unchanged but now somehow worse.

Aggravated at not being understood, Reyes dragged a hand through his gelled hair displacing it so it fell across his forehead and sighed again. “I’m not a pimp. If you want solid work of the non-prostitute type let me know.”He tapped his omnitool to send her his address.“We’re always willing to help out too if you find yourself in trouble.”

She didn’t look at her omnitool as it dinged to signify it’d received his message. “I don’t owe anybody anything.I’m not someone’s slave and I won’t be yours.Nothing is for free on Kadara without strings attached.”

“I’m not in that kind of business and I’m leaving now.Have a nice rest of the evening,” Reyes backed away from her a few steps before turning and leaving the alley.He was done with good deeds for the day. It was getting late and they needed to retrace their steps and get back to Keema, the alcohol he’d drunk and the second hand high from Keema’s cigarettes hitting him all of the sudden and tiring him out.

“You just can’t help yourself can you?” Vestus asked him amusedly as he walked next to Reyes.

“I try,” Reyes replied flippantly. “I really do try.”

“No more playing the hero today.Keema’s going to be looking for us,” Vestus told him with a gentle push towards the lifts.

Reyes hadn’t forgotten that Vestus had pulled a gun.He idly wondered where the hell Vestus had stashed it so he’d gotten it past the security guards but realized it wasn’t worth the effort. Ah well, at least they had the upper hand if someone decided to mess with them.

***

Keema was sitting calmly in the hold of their ship when they returned to it. The return trip up the lifts and through the main markets had been quiet as it shut down an hour after sunset for ‘security reasons’ as the posting had said. There had been a few patrols of Outcast members wandering around but they didn’t do anything to Reyes or Vestus as they stayed on the main route towards the spaceport other than watch them.Greeting them from her seat, Keema sounded amused. “I hear you had an eventful night.”

Rolling his eyes as Vestus snickered, Reyes took his seat in the pilot chair. “I should have just kept walking.I take it you had someone watching?”

“Not watching. But word does get around when someone does something for nothing and you are rather remarkable looking for a human.”Keema was needling him, trying to get him to give her more details but he wasn’t going to give in.

“Ha ha.Get strapped in, we’re going home.” Reyes told his companions as he started the preflight checklist he knew by heart. He just wanted to curl up on his bedroll and sleep for days.Kadara Port was a sad place to visit. He’d chosen to move forward... he didn’t think it’d be easy but it needed to be done.

***

2819 CE April 16th

The Tempest orbiting Third planet in system, Onanon System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Fake it until you make it

It was a tense eight hours to the third planet in system.Scott had found a few minutes of interrupted sleep before going back to the bridge and staring at all the system warnings lighting up the copilot’s HUD which he’d taken from Suvi after telling her to go see if she could help out Gil at all as he was least likely to snap at her and she knew something about the engines as the science officer on board. Peebee had taken to anxiously pacing back and forth on the bridge and he’d thought about telling her to take it elsewhere but he realized he’d just take her place. Cora had tensely informed him she’d be in the bio labs working on some of the samples they’d taken from Eos as she didn’t have anything else she could do.Liam and Drack had retreated to Liam’s part of the hold he’d taken over and were watching some action movie to try and distract themselves.He had no idea what Lexi was up to but he knew Vetra was calmly answering emails on her omnitool where she lounged next to Scott.

Vetra was calm... which reassured Scott greatly even if he didn’t question her attitude. Drack was also oddly calm... which probably meant the planet was going to be fine and he also knew something he wasn’t telling the rest of them.Vetra and Drack had shared a telling glance earlier that made the hair on the back of Scott’s neck stand up in suspicion as he shivered.SAM had given him odds and statistical data nonstop until Scott had gently told the AI that he just couldn’t listen to it right now.

Kallo started the approach to the planet and they could see on the night side of the planet evidence of volcanic activity the further from the equator you went.The readings on the HUD showed however that the scanners were picking up an atmosphere that would hopefully be just right.There was also a large amount of liquid seas that, at least from orbital distance, appeared to be water.Kallo asked Scott for permission to take the Tempest down to the planet surface and he gave the order.

As they passed through the upper atmosphere, Scott heard his team gathering on the bridge.They really should all be strapped down for unknown planet entry but he wasn’t going to uphold the rules right now as they all wanted to be here.The hull would either hold for entry or it wouldn’t. Being strapped in wouldn’t make a difference given their relative velocity and the heat they generated as they sliced through the atmosphere. Watching the readings as the descended, Scott found something loosening in his chest as the readings were in the positive direction—a breathable atmosphere and he let out the breath he’d been inadvertently holding. As the Tempest leveled out, Kallo charted a course that took them near the equator and headed for several islands that didn’t appear to have any active volcanic activity.

Which was when they noted ships approaching on their radar. _SAM?_

_Five ships inbound.They are not of Kett design._

“Pathfinder, we are being hailed by approaching ships.They are not Kett in design and use a different frequency for comms,” Kallo informed him as he continued to steer the ship towards the equator.

“Put them through,” Scott ordered, waiting for the comms to connect.

“Toh jagalesh do!Toh jagalesh do!” Was the alien voice over comms, the authoritative sound to it making it obvious that the speaker was giving a command.

Activating his comm so he could speak, Scott took a deep breath before speaking. “This is Pathfinder Ryder of the Andromeda Initiative.We are visitors from another galaxy.Our intentions are peaceful.”

There was a pause from the aliens. “Paav nele set do.” This time the voice was still authoritative but had a softer edge to it, sounding less angry to Scott’s ear.He was well aware he was likely just hoping this was true.

A notification ding from Kallo’s seat made the Salarian startle before his hands resumed their dance across the controls.“They’ve sent us a nav point.”

“Set us down then,” Scott ordered him.He hoped he hadn’t just signed their death warrants. It wasn’t like they had very many options at this point.

The alien ships continued to hover around them in formation, locking them into a flight path unless they wanted to fight their way out.Scott grimly realized that it was a design flaw that the Tempest was mainly built for speed and cargo capacity without significant offensive weapons unlike the ship she’d been adapted from.He never wished more for a battle cruiser than he did now. More alien ships joined them and soon there was more than twenty ships surrounding them but they didn’t make any aggressive moves other than to guide the Tempest lower for their approach to the nav point near the equator on one of the islands Kallo had noted.

Descending lower, Scott watched on the HUD as the outside environment around the ship changed from a rocky active lava field complete with smoke and bad, stormy weather to water with large waves and a clear sky.The then approached the island archipelago that was in a word, beautiful. Turquoise waters and white foam waves crashed on golden sandy beaches ringed by towering rocky cliffs that were awash with green plants. They were flying low enough that they could see the riot of color and biodiversity when he zoomed in on his HUD.They’d found an island paradise quite by accident. “It’s beautiful...” Scott found himself murmuring. 

Peebee who was hovering over his right shoulder gasped as she viewed the vegetation and beaches. “Oh my....”

“It is beautiful,” agreed Cora from over his other shoulder. Vetra and Drack made no comment but leaned in as well so they could see.He could hear Liam exclaiming from where he was watching over Kallo’s shoulder and an irritated response from Kallo telling him to back off. Gil and Lexi stood in the back but were watching closely as well.

Their escort guided them close to the tops of the trees and they could see a small city peaking out through the breaks in the sea of green.As they sped past, Scott could see movement that indicated the city was lived in.They soon came to an airfield that was a flattened area on top of one of the cliffs. Kallo quickly and gently put them down in the middle of the cleared space in the center before beginning the sequence to shut down the engines.

Gil, who’d been mostly quiet but looked very haggard from not sleeping for days, made some quiet comments to Kallo before informing Scott he was going back to engineering to see what he could do.Scott was tempted to tell him to give it a rest but knew his order wouldn’t be obeyed so he didn’t make it.

Outside the Tempest, they could see bipedal aliens surrounding the ship.SAM identified that they were armed and pointing their weapons towards the Tempest, specifically at the ramp that had deployed when they landed.

Time to do first contact.He could do this.... he could do this. He’d tell himself he could do this until it was done.Just move forward, one step at a time.

“Everyone stay here.I don’t want anyone else out there until we know that they’re not going to shoot us as soon as I step off. I’m the pathfinder so first contact is my job and my risk to take.Cora,” Scott paused and swallowed heavily as she met his gaze, her own just as worried and nervous as Scott felt.“Cora, you have command if something happens to me.”

Cora made a noise of protest but didn’t say anything as Scott left the bridge to head towards the airlock.The rest of his team just stared in silence as he walked away. He had aliens to greet.Walking down the length of the Tempest, he felt like his feet were weighed down and his steps shambling as he slid down the ladder to the cargo bay and reached out to open the airlock but he paused before entering the command to open the cargo doors.“If they shoot me,” he said in his open comm, “please delete the footage.Sara won’t need to see that.”

“Scott... it’ll be fine,” Cora’s voice wavered as she spoke, trying to give him false confidence. SAM was tellingly silent.

_SAM, if something happens to me then you go to Cora.Do you understand?_

SAM, sounding disconcerted, agreed silently over their connection. SAM would continue to give updates to the Tempest as long as there was no signal interference.

Flicking the switch to open the door, Scott was almost blinded by the brightness of the daylight outside the ship as the heavy doors thudded open. Blinking rapidly to try and adjust his watering eyes, Scott walked down onto the ramp and the door closed behind him, his hands raised up to show he wasn’t holding a weapon.A riot of sweltering heat, animal and machine noises and smells assaulted him after breathing recycled ship air for so long. He belatedly thought maybe he should have changed into his armor but then discarded the thought as it would possibly just send the wrong message.He looked more helpless in his shipboard wear, the long sleeved shirt and padded athletic pants with soft soled ship shoes made him look less threatening even if it all was branded with the Initiative’s colors and logo in blue on white background with charcoal accents in the arms and legs.

As his eyes adjusted, he could see the aliens were easily at least a head taller than him and muscular in a rangy way. They were bipedal but walked like salarians did, their colors ranging from a light powder blue to deep royal purple and emerald green skin tones. They had two large, eyes that were much different than his own in a face that was leonine in appearance with a flattened large nose with two nostrils framed by a roll of tissue similar to a lion’s mane without any visible hair. Most of them wore a forest green colored armor with teal and black accents that appeared to be a uniform of sorts but there were others wearing a mishmash of colors.

They briskly surrounded him and one gigantic three fingered hand reached out to grasp his bicep and propel him along, away from the Tempest, firmly but gently as other hands patted him down looking for weapons which he wasn’t wearing. They didn’t talk to him but talked amongst themselves, their speech deep and guttural sounding to his ears. One alien did some sort of electronic scan before speaking to the one holding him and he was then guided towards the side of the landing area.He tried to speak to them but they ignored everything he said, continuing to speak amongst themselves in their language. His omnitool cycled as it listened trying to give a translation but not currently suggesting anything.

The aliens took him to a vehicle of sorts where he was made to sit in the center bench, surrounded by armed aliens.The vehicle lifted off and rose just above the trees to take him towards the hidden city he’d only caught glimpses of. The ride was short, less than ten minutes before they set down on a stone paved and walled plaza that led to a set of stairs that disappeared into the trees. A slightly smaller figure was in the center of the crowd that awaited him there. Not all of the aliens waiting were armored, in fact most were not. The figure in the center was more slender and not as tall, face a pale cloudy blue that darkened to purple over the crown of her head.A stylistic tattoo in a lighter color scrolled above her eyes like a crown, her clothing wasn’t armor and was a reddish violet color that stood out amongst her companions—at least Scott assumed it was a her given the differences in size compared to his escorts who he’d labeled mentally as male.

Stepping forward to meet him, she gestured dismissively and the hand that had been clamped around his bicep retreated as did the rest of his escort to give him space.Trying to take it all in, he almost missed it when the alien female spoke to him in heavily accented standard.

“I’m Paaran Shie, governor of Aya.We are the Angara,” she introduced herself as she raised what looked very similar to an omnitool and input a command, making his own vibrate silently with a received message. She then switched to another language but his translator began to flawlessly translate the murmurs around him.He could hear snippets of speech talking about what he was doing here.What. The. Fuck.

Clearing his throat as he looked around himself before looking back at the governor, Scott remembered his manners and responded. “I’m Scott Ryder, a Pathfinder with the Andromeda Initiative.”

“We have heard of you—the travelers who crossed dark space to visit our galaxy.We have heard of your journey.” 

She seemed to be waiting on him to reply but Scott struggled, trying to think of what to say that didn’t sound either stupid or offensive. Before he could formulate a reply, a very tall Angaran came rushing up alongside Shie, pushing others to the side. He wore a split ocean colored cape that fluttered around him but had a set of armor underneath, his skin more a medium purple that blended in well with the others around him. One eye was covered by a monocle that SAM silently pointed out was a targeting system, likely for the rifle that was slung across the male’s back. He was given space by those that surrounded him and he came to stand next to Shie, a severe look on his face. “Jaal, I have this in hand,” Shie said in apparent protest, her hand arresting the one named Jaal before he could step up into Scott’s personal space.

“Evfra saw the ship come in and sent me to find out what’s going on,” the male alien growled, his body language aggressive appearing to Scott but protective of the governor.

Shie, seemingly annoyed with Jaal, patiently explained to him as she gestured at Scott, “He is a ‘pathfinder’, one of the travelers from another galaxy. A human, I believe.”

Jaal, growling slightly, moved into Scott’s body space and stooped to put their faces close together, his eyes up close roving as they examined Scott. This close, he smelled strongly of some sort of alien musk and leather, his eyes narrowed as they met Scott’s gaze.“Aya is hidden. Protected.Why are you here?What do you want?” Was the growled question, his body pressing Scott to take a half step back or come into contact with the aggressive male.

Not dropping his gaze from Jaal’s, Scott may have taken a step back but didn’t relax his spine that felt like steel had replaced bone—he hated being talked down to. He didn’t like Jaal’s aggression but kept his own expression neutral. “We found Aya by accident and we needed to land as our ship needs repairs.We did not mean to intrude and had no idea what we’d find when we entered the atmosphere. We’re peaceful explorers and we are happy to exchange knowledge with you.”

Jaal watched for a brief moment before pulling back slightly, the angle more comfortable for Scott as he no longer was cranking his neck back to look up at him.“Hm... we will see if you speak the truth.”Jaal pulled back and looked to Shie. “I will inform Evfra who it is and meet you at the Resistance Headquarters.”

With that, Jaal turned with a cape swirl and left, just as quickly as he’d arrived.Shie had a look of pained patience on her face but it became neutral again when her eyes landed on Scott. “I will accompany you through our city but it must be only you.Your crew will remain on your ship until you are cleared.”

Knowing he didn’t really have another option, Scott agreed and followed Shie as she started up the stairs. SAM, let Cora know so far so good.

Shie walked slowly up the stairs, allowing Scott to draw even with her, both of them ignoring the armed escort that fell in behind them.The Angarans who had been standing next to Shie parted to let them pass.As they climbed, Shie instructed him that until he’d spoke with this mysterious Evfra person he was not to interact or speak with any other Angaran. 

“Can I ask you questions?” Scott asked her, curious as to his surroundings but wondering about the right time to ask his questions.

“I suppose.Ask your questions,” Shie said as they walked through another plaza. On one side a massive wall of water tumbled from above the roof of interlaced canopies. There were pathways that went every direction, some with more stairs.Walls were the same white stone as the paving stones,some sort of quartz per SAM, with thick vines climbing up and down them with beautiful flowers hanging in showers of color—blue, red, yellow, white and pink he saw. None of the vegetation or flowers were familiar to him but it was everywhere, in each nook and cranny.Angarans pressed in from different directions to look at him, the murmurs carrying questions to his ears about how had he gotten here, why was he here, was he a he or an it?They were curious but stayed away, his armed escort discouraging the curious from approaching. Shie directed him off to the left, walking by the waterfall wall to a bridge that connected to another canopy covered common area or plaza. As they walked, he noticed more waterfalls and plenty of vegetation that was similar yet unfamiliar to plants in the Milky Way.He silently asked SAM to make sure all his observations were recorded and transmitted to the Tempest.

Trying to come up with a polite way of asking but deciding that he’d just be direct to make sure the translator worked right, Scott began asking his questions. “If you are the governor of Aya, why do I need to see this Evfra?”

Shie continued to walk at a steady pace as she answered. “Evfra is the leader of the Resistance and is responsible for protecting us all from the Kett.”

“Ah.I suppose you are not friendly with the Kett?”

“No.They came much as you did, pretending to be friendly and then they made war on us.You understand our reluctance to welcome you to our protected home.”Shie sounded chiding as she continued.“You are the first outsider to come here that many of these people have seen. There are others of your kind on other worlds who have not been as welcoming as we are to you.” 

Scott noticed she didn’t necessarily include herself in with the others but didn’t ask her to clarify. He wondered if she was talking about the exiles or if she was speaking of the Initiative from before the Hyperion had arrived.He’d need to figure that out at some point. Changing tracks, he tried another approach. “Your home is beautiful.”

“Yes it is.Aya is a place of refuge for our people and is well protected by the Scourge,” Shie said, not giving more of an explanation.

“A refuge... how do I convince this Evfra to let us stay? To make him like us?”

“Oh Evfra will not like you, that I can promise. What you must do is convince him that it is to our benefit to have your friendship.Your ship will need repairs and you doubtless will need help to leave.”

She wasn’t wrong about that. Gil had mentioned that it would be a large repair job just to get the Tempest back to it’s usual shape and capabilities.Not to mention the fact that Aya was on the map that he’d received in Eos’ vault... which meant there was possibly a vault present on Aya. “Yes we will need help to repair our ship.We really did not mean to intrude but the damage made us land.We are happy to be friends with the Angara as the Kett are no friends of ours.”

Shie looked hard at him as he mentioned the Kett. Gesturing to a pathway to the right, they quickly came to a set of stairs that ended at a door large enough that he could drive the nomad through it.“This is the Resistance Headquarters.Go in, they will make sure you go to Evfra’s first.”

With that, his armed escort prodded him with a hand between his shoulder blades to propel him up the stairs and away from Shie.Scott hastily thanked her for the escort before turning his head to watch the door slide apart in two pieces to allow him and his new friends to enter. 

Inside, Jaal was talking with another Angaran that wore the same green armor as Scott’s escort. Jaal saw him immediately and beckoned Scott to his side. He finished his conversation with his fellow, taking a rifle from the other’s hands which he slung over a shoulder before turning to speak with Scott. “Our experience with the Kett makes us distrustful of all aliens,” he said with a tilt of his head.

“We’ve had our own run ins with the Kett so we understand,” Scott offered.

Jaal tilted his head.“Then you really do understand.When the Kett appeared, the Archon demolished our sovereign states, took what he wanted as if we were nothing.Now the Kett mercilessly abduct our people and we never see any of them again once they are taken.”A pained look crossed Jaal’s face before he went back to his usual frown. “Evfra is waiting. This way.” 

Jaal turned and walked away, seemingly expecting Scott to just follow him which he did along with most of his armed escort.Abducting the Angaran sounded terrible but if they were still alive that was maybe better than what they’d done to Kirkland and Greer. “Wait... the kett abduct your people? Steal them?”

“Yes.And the Resistance fights them every day with all that we are.”

“Is it attrition? What are the kett after?” Scott asked, knowing that Jaal probably didn’t have any more of an answer than he did.

“You should save your questions for Evfra,” Jaal said, avoiding the question neatly. They entered a large room that had screens displaying maps of Heleus up on the screens as well as writing that Scott couldn’t decipher but felt SAM storing it away to analyze later. A loud voice was talking via communicator, saying with a snarl “Kadara be damned, I won’t loose Voeld!”

The angaran who had spoke turned as Jaal interrupted his discussion. “Evfra, this is Scott Ryder, a ‘pathfinder’ alien visitor from the Milky Way.

“A pathfinder?” Was rough response from the new angaran as he disconnected the conversation he’d been having to turn to look at Scott.This angaran appeared older than Jaal but of similar coloring and build.However, he had an old scar that ran the length of the left side of his face, bisecting his eyebrow ridge and cheek that made him look angrier than his voice suggested. “It’s an aggressive move coming to Aya, to our protected place.”

Licking his lips in anxiety knowing that this was the one alien he needed to impress, Scott searched his mind for a reply and wound up saying, “It wasn’t meant that way.I have an ark full of desperate people counting on me to find them a new home before they starve.”

Evfra paused and his eyes narrowed as he looked at Scott more carefully before replying.“Of course, I feel for you and your people,” another pause, “but never mind how you got here, why are you here?”

it was obvious to Scott that a reply of ‘I got chased by the kett’ wouldn’t suffice.He’d have to give a bit more of an explanation to Evfra to get the angaran on his side of things. “On another planet called Eos in another system.. I explored a structure, a vault, that was ancient.We suspect it was built by a species that we call the Remnant.In exploring it, I brought it back online.It.... it stabilized that planet’s environment which had been effected by the Scourge.”

Jaal, who hadn’t left, verified Scott’s claim.“Recent intelligence suggests this is true from our sources.” 

The look exchanged between Jaal and Evfra was one Scott couldn’t interpret but he continued on as he hadn’t been told to stop or interrupted. “After the vault had been activated, there was a map of Heleus. It showed other planets that we suspect have similar vaults.Aya is one of them.In order to try and understand the Scourge and it’s effects... I need to get into Aya’s vault because it’s different. Your planet isn’t like Eos or Habitat 7–another planet that had a vault.”

Evfra had gone still at the mention of a vault on Aya and he didn’t say anything when Scott finished his request.Looking, what Scott thought of as troubled, Evfra crossed his arms over his chest and went to look out a nearby window.Scott, after glancing at Jaal who seemed just as confused as him, followed Evfra to the window. After Scott came closer, Evfra spoke again, but much softer so his voice would not carry. “You’re right.There is one of these vaults that is unlike anything else on Aya... but it was closed long ago and it’s entrance hidden.”

Scott was about to speak when Evfra continued. “We can’t help you. It is lost to us.”

Fuck.So there was one here but no one knew where it was or how to get into it.SAM silently informed him that there were no monoliths on Aya like there had been on Eos or Habitat 7 so there was no breadcrumb trail to follow. He’d be searching for a needle in a haystack... assuming the Angarans would let them stay long enough to go searching for it.Which left the Tempest... his ship needed repairs to even make it back to the Nexus for what Scott suspected would end up being a complete retrofit of at least one engine. Fuck him over twice they were doubly screwed.

Before Scott could ask Evfra for permission to stay long enough to have the Tempest fixed, Jaal spoke up. “The Moshae could help—she’s our most revered scientist and elder.She must surely know of this vault.”

This agitated Evfra and he threw his hands up in the air as he turned away from the window and began to pace. “But now the Kett have her and our rescue attempts have failed.She is lost to us—and to you as well.”

This was perhaps the opening Scott needed. “There has to be another way.How can I convince you?Can I offer help?”

This did not please Evfra and there was now a frown on his face that pulled at his scar. “Arrogant. I hardly know you let alone trust you.How could we accept or want your help?”

Hands up to show that he wasn’t the enemy, Scott backed down. “Of course.”

Before Evfra could say anything further, help came again from Jaal. “Evfra, I feel that what this pathfinder says is extraordinary.... and our intelligence reports agree with what he says about this other vault changing the planet. The Moshae would want us to brave and not let this chance pass.”

Annoyed, Evfra leaned towards Jaal as he shut him down. “Jaal... you talk too much.”

“Let me assess this alien, be your eyes and ears,” Jaal’s tone was pleading and his face sad.He then added with a downcast look towards Evfra, “I know you can spare me.”

Evfra did not look impressed but glanced dismissively at Scott before he spoke with finality. “Go if you wish. But when he tries to kill you, be prepared to strike first.”

“I’ll need to repair my ship before I go anywhere...” Scott said before Evfra could leave. This was beyond awkward.

Evfra did not look back at him but gave permission and dismissed them both before leaving the room to leave Scott and Jaal staring at each other awkwardly, “You can stay long enough to get your ship space worthy. Jaal—see if Kjaan can help them so they will be gone sooner.”

Well, this could have gone better but it was better than nothing.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE April 16th_

_We’ve been given limited permission to stay on Aya long enough to get the Tempest space worthy—note this doesn’t mean she’ll be fully repaired. The Angaran are curious about us but not overly friendly as the Kett have made them suspicious of strangers which I suppose is a good enough reason for anyone.I also suspect that wherever the exiles went they have also encountered the Angara._

_So not surprisingly, Vetra and Drack get along well with the team of engineers Jaal found to help out Gil.They are calmly taking orders from my overly cranky chief engineer who I may need to actually sedate to make him sleep.Gil told me he suffers from insomnia but this is getting excessive and I’m worried he’s going to accidentally hurt himself or someone else trying to get the Tempest back in the air._

_Liam is loving Aya and already has made friends with several of our “minders” who are escorting us as we’re not trusted to just be let loose on our own recognizance. Evidently the tavetaan is the Heleus equivalent of a bar/cantina and Liam is making friends there with Peebee. Lexi is staying on the ship as she doesn’t have a reason to leave... but I also suspect she’s waiting for Gil to collapse and need her attention. Suvi and Kallo are also staying aboard the Tempest but I suspect it’s because the armed Angarans make them both nervous._

_Cora and I, well, we’re both trying to get through our self-imposed reading assignment but also be available and friendly to all Angarans who come our way.Both of us aren’t saying it but we’re both anxious to be under way to find this Moshae. If she’s a prisoner and they never get anyone back...we may be running on a clock here. Hopefully we don’t run out of time or we may never have this good of a chance to make friends with the Angarans again._


	25. Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-four

2819 CE April 17th

The Tavetaan, Aya, Onanon System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Chasing a ghost

They’d been invited by Jaal to have lunch in the Tavetaan and Scott had readily agreed with Cora accompanying him. He’d given permission for his team to make themselves known and see if they could make friends.So far Liam and Peebee had broken the ice amongst some of the younger members of the Resistance that had been assigned as their minders. Vetra and Drack spent most of their time in the market and Tavetaan as well and had been received with reserved politeness for the most part.

One engineer by the name of Kjaan had taken a shine to Vetra, Gil and Alzik and had his students helping Gil with the parts of the engine repair that he felt comfortable enough delegating to helpers who could follow instructions.Gil had reported to Scott, when he’d come to make Gil take a nap, that Kjaan and his students seemed more than just passingly familiar with Milky Way type engines but needed his assistance on the parts of it that were specific to the Tempest... which Gil indicated meant that the Angara had seen engines like them before. Scott had gotten the implication that the Angarans had obviously had contact with exiles. With this information combined with the navigation data they followed, Scott was starting to get the picture that some of the exiles weren’t as bad as Tann’s data made them out to be. The Angarans were on good enough terms with someone that they’d worked on Milky Way ships before. Which made him really wonder about Evfra’s comments on first meeting him—had the Initiative had contact with the Angarans before?

When Scott was introduced to Kjaan and his students, he hadn’t gawked like some of the Angarans did—his mannerisms and questions showed a familiarity with turian, human and salarian physical needs. Shie had said that they were the first outsiders many on Aya had encountered... but she had also informed Scott when he asked that because of Aya’s pristine beauty and limited habitable area, Angarans regularly cycled off planet—and she hadn’t said he was the first outsider she’d met. Jaal himself was also a recent arrival from Havarl and had just recently been promoted less than six months ago to his position.Evfra himself remained aloof and when he’d encountered Scott as they’d been shown to the quarters they were to share while their ship was being repaired, he’d also shown a familiarity with their needs.Evfra had personally overseen delivery of food that was dextro-protein based for Vetra and other foods that were okay for the rest of the team.

The two that the Angarans didn’t seem to know what to do with were Peebee and Drack. With Peebee’s boundless enthusiasm she quickly had won over several younger Resistance members. Drack was more reserved but the Angarans seemed to respect him and give him space unless he chose to interact.

Somebody who wasn’t a krogan or an asari had spent time with the Angaran leadership—but not Jaal. Jaal seemed suspicious of most of their actions and watched hawk-like everything Scott did off the Tempest and had made several jumped-to assumptions that had been wrong—if he had spent any time with a human before he wouldn’t have made those mistakes.Which meant whoever it had been to Aya had been here over six months prior.Based on the information available to him, Scott assumed this person had to be an exile as it was right after the events that lead to schism in the Initiative membership and missions had been sharply curtailed by Tann around that time. Someone who Vetra likely knew but wasn’t admitting to... and maybe Drack knew as well or had information on due to his relation to Kesh who Scott would lay credits on being behind the addition to the supplies.All of which tied to this nameless, faceless exile. Or he supposed group of exiles given the species variation in the patterns he’d recognized.

He really was getting tired of people not being upfront with information. The constant withholding of information was wearing.SAM had agreed with Scott’s observations but didn’t have anything to add as he could not gain access to Angaran systems without setting off alarms.Their angaran minders had been very careful to not allow him or his team to handle their technology.

Which left him having the most awkward lunch with Jaal.Jaal was drinking something that smelled like rubbing alcohol that he’d referred to as nutrient paste even though it looked like a particularly lumpy protein drink. He’d initially offered Scott a taste of it before SAM had spoken up and noted that due to the chemicals present he did not recommend Scott try it. Cora who’d been about to take a hesitant taste pushed her own tumbler of it away. Flustered, Jaal had procured some of the food that Liam and Peebee had already safely eaten in the Tavetaan which the server readily brought over.

The bread like roll that Scott had bravely tried first was good, a dense nutrient rich carbohydrate that was vaguely nutty which had worked well with the fruit that was called paripo that had a spiciness to it that he appreciated which was served as a salsa of sorts. Cora, who had a more bland palate, had gulped lots of water after trying the paripo and was currently sticking to just plain bread and had given Scott her portion of the salsa. Jaal had watched Scott happily inhale his serving as it was the first thing he’d had that wasn’t a protein ration since arriving in Andromeda before telling him that serving food such as the bread and paripo was something they only did on special occasions as it was more efficient to make nutrient paste from the components of the food. Which implied that Scott was a glutton but he couldn’t feel that bad about it as the food had been just that damn good which he told Jaal which made the Angaran stutter when he changed the topic.

Trying to make small talk, Scott found Jaal to be a decent conversationalist when he wasn’t trying to remind himself that Scott was a potential enemy. Cora also contributed to the conversation but by the time they were done eating, Scott was pretty sure that Jaal had learned more about them than they had about him or the Angara in general.

They were just winding down their conversation when Scott saw that Evfra was watching them from a table that was mostly hidden behind a large plant. The Resistance leader was himself eating some nutrient paste and his gaze was contemplative and noticed Scott had seen him.He then gave a very, very telling gesture and raised his tumbler to salute Scott with a tilt of his head and tumbler. Jaal had paused, noticing that Scott was looking off to the left. “What is he doing?” Jaal asked, sounding confused.

Side eyeing Jaal, Scott briefly debated keeping him in the dark but decided it might work in his favor to see what Jaal would do if he realized he wasn’t being told something. “He’s saluting us, it’s a Milky Way way of recognizing that you know the person and acknowledge their presence. It’s polite.”

“It is a what?” Jaal asked, sounding even more confused.

“It’s a salutation or salute.For instance—If Cora were not sitting with us and she walked in and we made eye contact, one of the polite ways of acknowledging that I know her and see her would be to do what Evfra just did. It’s a polite recognition without having to shout across a room or disrupt a conversation at your own table,” Scott informed Jaal, possibly giving too much information.

Jaal blinked and his lips pursed as forehead wrinkled in what Scott was mentally labeling as either confusion or consternation. “It is a Milky Way gesture?”

“Yes. I’m assuming based on his reaction that Evfra knows that too or he wouldn’t have chosen to do so.” Now that he thought about it, some of the Angarans seemed to know how to nod and shake their heads but some of them gave over-exaggerated motions as if they understood what it meant but didn’t regularly do so as it wasn’t a common way of communicating for them. Scott kept his face neutral as he took another drink of the fruit punch he’d been given, mind racing as he tried to think of another explanation other than the obvious.

Jaal, however, looked confused. “I do not understand why Evfra would do this.”

Scott decided he’d given enough information away and Jaal would need to figure it out for himself. “I don’t know why he would but he does it anyway.”

“I see,” Jaal said, clearly not seeing. “I have gotten permission to show you around the city as well as the beach.”

Scott perked up at the mention of a beach. “Beach?”

“Yes.It is where we spend a lot of our recreation time and I thought you may also enjoy it while your ship is repaired.”

Well shit.He hadn’t thought of brining a swimsuit to Andromeda but thought about his wardrobe choices in his cabin.He had a pair of boxer briefs that were baggy enough that they could be used in a pinch.“I’ll have to get a swimsuit from my ship but that sounds good.”

“No need.Evfra informed me that the seamstresses will be able to supply appropriate clothing for you and your team.”

Eyebrows inching upwards in mild surprise, Scott didn’t say anything about how the hell they knew about clothing choices—unless this was about to be a cultural exchange adventure.Either way, the polite thing was to agree to it. “That would be great.”

***

The female angaran seamstress that Jaal took Scott to was very sweet—Yaansa de Devran—who worked out of her home with children and adult Angarans coming and going as she evaluated Scott and Cora.She greeted him and took his measurements before leaving the room, muttering about sizes. When she returned, she had a pair of dark navy board shorts over her arm which she handed to him followed by an actual fucking wetsuit which she commented was likely to be slightly long before handing Cora a two piece swimsuit and a one piece. Looking at her then at the clothes, Scott debated making a scene in his head. These clothes were already made and obviously to fit a human male that was slightly taller than Scott. He was following a fucking ghost that nobody wanted to tell him about. Yaansa watched Scott oddly but asked only if the clothes would suit. 

Asking for privacy to try them on, Scott was shown to a small sparsely decorated bedroom where he quickly shucked his own clothes and pulled the board shorts on. They were well made and while long in the leg area they fit reasonably well around his waist, hanging just right on his hips and following the length of his leg closely as they were designed to work under the wetsuit.His ghost was a man slightly taller than him but just as thin.A vague shadow outline of the male who’d been to Aya before him began to be formed in Scott’s mind. Picking up the wetsuit, Scott held it out in front of him before stepping into it.Again, it was slightly long in the arms and legs with a little more room around his thighs and hips than he needed but reasonable enough that if he hadn’t known better he’d have though had been almost made for him. A faint smell of sunscreen hit him as he pulled the back zipper closed and ran his hands over the silky suit. This suit had been worn before by someone else—his ghost as he mentally was calling him.

Unzipping, he pulled the top of the suit down to his waist and then pulled his Initiative branded T shirt back on before completely shucking the wetsuit and draping it over his shoulder—he’d keep it and see what kind of water temperature the beach had or if they did anything fun like surfing. When he re-entered the main room, Yaansa handed him a pair of thong sandals made from some sort of cured leather that were slightly long but otherwise functional. He almost asked who’s they really belonged to but held his tongue and said, “Thanks. They’ll work.”

Yaansa looked pleased and reached out to grasp his forearm with one hand that encircled his wrist. Her touch was... different and a pleasant shiver passed up his arm and made something in him warm to her.“It is good that you use them,” she simply said before dropping his arm after she had handed him a tube that SAM identified as sunscreen suitable for a human.

What had that been?Scott watched Yaansa turn and address Cora whose suit was a little tight in the chest for the one piece and needed help with adjustment for the two piece to work.Scott felt like he’d missed something with Yaansa’s touch.

_Scott, the Angara exhibit abnormal electromagnetic readings. I have never had readings like this.It seems they communicate with electromagnetic pulses in addition to verbal and nonverbal body language like some species use pheromones._

_So what was that then?_

_I would postulate that she likes you as it was a pleasant experience rather than a negative one._

_Do you think she got something off of me?_

_If she did it would most likely be a general sense of you given she did not attempt to access me but I could sense her presence._

_And she smiled after that...._

_Yes Scott. She seemed to like you._

Well then, at least she liked him.

***

The tour around Aya’s main city had been enlightening.The natives continued to gawk openly and whisper amongst themselves as Scott passed but he now noted there was about a third of them who just noted his passing but didn’t say anything to the whisperers.Some of them even went out of their way to have an interaction with him and he found himself being greeted by Angarans of all walks of life including children.Some of the children were scared of him but there were a select few that walked up to him and asked him if he knew their sholaon—which his translator didn’t want to give a direct translation for.Maybe it was a term for the ghost he was following in the footsteps of but it seemed a title rather than a name. Whoever this Sholaon was—they obviously were someone the children liked and seemed sad when he said he didn’t know that person. When the children went to say more they were usually chased away by an adult who had noticed they were talking with the strange human. Jaal was usually distracted by talking with the parents and seemed to be unaware of the children’s inquiries.

After about an hour of wandering the city, Jaal turned towards a twisting walkway that curled down the cliff side like a corkscrew but large enough to have the nomad drive it.The grade wasn’t too steep either and was a comfortable, sheltered way of getting from the city above to the beach below. The final descent did involve a small set of stairs as the sand had eroded from where the walkway had initially been built—evidence of prior severe storms. 

The beach itself belonged on a brochure. Pristine golden white sand with cerulean blue waters, perfect curling waves that made Scott itch for a surf board. Winged animals that vaguely resembled birds dived in and out of the waves and came out with some sort of fish in their mouths.The alien-ness of the world was in the sound of the winged animals which resembled more of a growing cry rather than a seagull’s crowing one.

One of the winged animals landed on the sand in front of Scott and he could see it had four limbs that were hinged like a salamander, the wings veined and stretched over thin bones and a long sinuous neck topped by a triangular head with a set of brilliant green eyes that were similar to the Angarans.It looked like a tailless mini dragon from his favorite books. Staring at the mini dragon or dragonette as he was mentally calling it—Cora pushed him forward to get his attention as she wanted to keep walking.

The beach was busy with families and adult groups alike. There was a small hut on one end that had fishing gear as well as other beach type equipment—towels, blankets, drinks etc—but it had what looked like a few surf boards leaning up against one end. All of them were too long for Scott and built for Angarans but he didn’t see any of them in use although the waves were tantalizing enough for an intermediate surfer like Scott. It had been years since his last beach vacation but Scott found himself gravitating towards the hut only to be pulled back by Cora who wanted to set up a few towels first. “Sunscreen Scott. I’m not listening to you wheedle Lexi into using the dermal regenerator on the burn you’re working on already.”

Glancing at his arms, Scott could see he was already pinking up.He’d spent way too much time under artificial ship lights and he had been well covered on Eos due to the radiation levels. Cora was absolutely right that if he didn’t do something he’d really regret it shortly. Remembering the tube that Yaansa had given him, he took his shirt off and began liberally slathering the mildly scented lotion everywhere, making sure to get behind his ears and his face as well as his arms that were already showing some damage. Cora laid out the two beach blankets and then took the tube from him and began slathering it on his back as he did his legs, of course getting sand everywhere on his feet. When he was done, Cora had begun working on herself.He put more on his hands and quickly applied it on her back and shoulders where she couldn’t easily reach. 

Finished with sunscreen, he squinted in the bright sunlight as children played in the surf and a few adults with them.His first glance was correct and it seemed it was mostly families this time of day. “Jaal?Does everyone on Aya work?”

Jaal who had been watching them with fascination as they put on sunscreen nodded. “Yes. Although the families here are allowed a longer length of stay due to the difficulties with raising children outside of Aya. Our home worlds are dangerous places for younglings.”Jaal then paused.“What are you two doing with that lotion?”

Head cranking back to look at Jaal, Scott realized that none of the angara seemed to have sunscreen on.Score one more evidence point that Yaansa had met a human before this.“It’s so our skin doesn’t burn from excessive sun exposure.Do you not have to do the same?”

“No.We need a certain amount of sunlight for our health... those who do not do so go what we call ‘dark’. They do not live long past that moment.”Jaal looked thoughtful before a mild frown crossed his face. “Did you ask for this lotion?”

“No but Yaansa gave me it.SAM tells me it will work for sunblock.”

“Who is SAM?”Jaal looked very confused, a small furrowing frown on his face as he tried to make sense of what Scott was saying.

“SAM is my implanted AI.He helps me do things,” Scott said with a waggle of his hand being purposefully vague.

“AI?”More confusion.

“Artificial Intelligence. Do you have any?” Scott asked, genuinely curious what Jaal would admit to.

“No we do not. Do many of you Milky Way people have this implanted AI assistants?”

“No. It’s pretty rare. I and several of my team have an implant but it is not common,” Scott told Jaal.

Cora who’d been listening in, added, “I have one as well but it is not as extensive as Scott’s since he is Pathfinder.”

“Ah,” Jaal concluded there conversation, putting his own beach towel out and sitting on it.He had not removed either his flowing cape or his armor so it was pretty amusing to Scott to see the fully armored Angara sit and stare out at the water.

Exchanging a look with Cora, Scott told her he was going to go check out the other equipment. There was nobody else at the hut and when he asked a passing adult they indicated that the equipment was for everyone’s use. There was stuff for kids to dig and play in the sand with as well as several floatation devices.But what Scott was really interested in were the surf boards. Walking around to the side where they were all leaning, Scott counted about seven boards that were Angaran sized but they were huge up close and he didn’t think he could use them unless he wanted to do some stand up paddle boarding. Tilting the boards this way and that to get a closer look, he found wedged between the last two a regular sized surf board that was perfect for someone of his height. Either this board had been made for an Angaran child or it had been made for the man whose clothing he was wearing.

Pulling the board out, Scott saw there was blocks of resin on a ledge behind where the boards rested and he grabbed one to wax the board. The board was a medium blue color with twin white stripes that ran lengthwise.It had three fins on the back side and was in excellent condition, like it was almost brand new except the resin on it was old and chipped off easily to his hands rubbing it off.Leaning the board against the wall so he could work on it, he quickly waxed it up in his preferred way and replaced the resin on the ledge before hefting the board under his arm and heading for the water, ankle leash trailing in the sand behind him.

Deciding it was warm enough to not bother with the wetsuit he’d been given, Scott ran and dove into the water on top of the board and began paddling out towards the wave break. The water was refreshing but not freezing and swimming through the water he noted schools of animals that he was just going to call fish even if they looked different from anything he’d ever seen in the Milky Way. Duck diving under the waves, he soon was sitting on his board awaiting his first wave. Feeling the rise of the swell beginning, he began frantically paddling and caught the wave.

It was exhilarating and made his brain shut the never ending cascade of worries and concerns down` for the duration of that first wave and the next several he caught before wiping out. Whoever had come before him had the right idea and if he ever met the man he’d gladly shake his hand in appreciation.

Almost two hours later, Scott could see Cora standing at the edge of the water watching him along with Liam and Peebee. Vetra and Drack were sitting in the sand back where Cora had put their towels where he could see a figure curled up asleep on the towel Cora had set out for Scott. From the shape and color he was guessing it was Gil but that he’d have to go in to know for sure. Catching one final wave, he rode it most of the way in before he wiped out to avoid hitting a pair of adventurous swimming teens.

Surfacing, he found himself with a pair of anxious looking eyes focused on him.He held wiped his hair back and gave them a reassuring smile, pulling his board back to himself and hoisting himself up.The teens seemed fascinated by him and he found himself getting one in front of him and one in back and paddling back to shore, occasionally helped along by a wave.When the water was shallow enough, they stepped off the board and chattered excitedly, asking him if he could teach them to ride the waves like he’d been.

Confused, Scott asked them why they couldn’t learn from the adults whose boards were stacked against the hut. 

The pair exchanged a guilty look before the darker purple colored one spoke up. “Those boards belong to Resistance members who’ve been reassigned to a different base off Aya. We don’t know if they’ll be back ever again.A lot of them never come back after they leave.”

“Oh,” Scott said. “But who does this board belong to?” He asked as he gripped the board he’d been riding.

Another guilty look was exchanged as they side eyed Scott before the other spoke. “We’re not supposed to talk about him—Sholaon .It makes a lot of the adults sad.”

Frowning, Scott filed away their comments. “Is he dead?”

Again a speaking look between the two before a reluctant answer. “We don’t think so... no one talks much about him because of Tefa.”

“Tefa?”

“Tefa is dead—don’t ask about him or our parents will be angry.Anytime he’s brought up the elders fight.”The guilty looks traded between the pair made Scott drop his inquires as Jaal and Cora were rapidly approaching.

The conversation ended anyway as the boys noticed Jaal and Cora were now within earshot. Jaal shooed the two teens away before turning to Scott. “You ride the waves well.My fellow Resistance members have spoken about being able to ride waves but we do not have much free time so I have never seen it done before.”

“Ah.It’s something I’ve done on breaks before but I’ve never been a dedicated surfer,” Scott deflected.

“But you do it very well,” Jaal said, his eyes flicking to the teens who were now playing together in the water again. “Your engineer was sent to find us as he was sent away by your healer.”

“Gil?” Scott asked Cora.

“He’s fine.Lexi finally had enough of him not stopping long enough to get a few hours of sleep. She told him to find us and give me an injector with strict instructions to knock him out for a few hours.”Cora rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. “You looked like you were enjoying yourself out there.”

“The water’s great.You should try it,” Scott told her, feeling guilty as he’d hogged the only surfboard that was human sized.

“I don’t surf... or swim really,” Cora confessed with a smile. “It was pretty cool to watch you though.”

“I can teach you to at least swim while we’re here,” Scott offered.

“I may take you up on that,” Cora said as they started walking back to the rest of their crew mates, Jaal trailing behind them.

***

They spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening on the beach, Scott giving Cora and Liam a beginner swimming lesson.Cora picked things up pretty quickly but Liam sank like a rock given his lack of natural flotation abilities and struggled to learn how to tread water. Jaal had amusedly joined in and relaxed for about five minutes before remembering he was watching them. Peebee could swim and had spent a lot of the afternoon ducking in and out of the waves with surprising grace given her habit of tripping over nothing on land. Neither Vetra nor Drack made it in the water but enjoyed sunning themselves, keeping watch over the sleeping Gil that they’d protected from the sun with an improvised lean to that covered him from the sun, mostly.

Dinner was late and in the tavetaan again but they were all tired from being in the sun all day.Gil had awoken but was groggy enough that he went back to sleep against Peebee’s shoulder right at the dinner table. Seeing that the afternoon off had been good, Scott ordered them all back to quarters for the night which Jaal did not object to and seemed glad to have the rest of the night to himself.This did not mean they weren’t being monitored and Scott had noted that there were green armored Angarans stationed up and down the row of rooms they’d been given as well as out on the balconies there was someone next to his that had sat outside all night the previous night, watching for him to leave that way instead of the door despite the sheer drop on the other side of the railing of almost a hundred meters.

Sitting at the desk in his guest room, Scott activated the datapad that he’d brought from the ship that was biometric locked to him. SAM had verified with a quick scan that there were no obvious listening devices in his rooms and he had time to himself to do some more reading. Gil had filed a report that estimated two days until the Tempest would be space-worthy again and they could be underway. 

Although Aya was beautiful, Scott felt the ticking of the clock on their mission. Jaal had mentioned that the planet they’d be visiting was named Voeld and that was the last place the Moshae had been seen before capture by the kett. It was assumed she was still on that planet but it was also possible that she wasn’t. Hands rubbing his face, he yawned.So much to do and so little time.

“SAM?Start a dossier and label it ‘ghost’.”

“I assume this is about the person whose clothes Ms. de Devran gave you?”

“Yes.She had those clothes just sitting around.They had to be for someone else before me. For known facts, put arrived at Aya between the Nexus’ arrival in Andromeda and six months ago when Jaal transferred to Aya since he doesn’t seem to know him. Known aliases include Sholaon—which I still need to see if that’s a name or a title. My translator doesn’t seem to have an exact equivalent translation.He’s a male given the clothes.I’m guessing he’s a bit taller than me but weight might be hard to determine but at least lean since the clothes mostly fit me.” Scott leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head as he thought. “Athletic with more muscular legs and chest than me but not much given the fit of the wetsuit. Surfer. Known associates would be an angaran named Tefa who is deceased—which is evidently complicated enough to make Angarans argue about something to do with him. Probably Evfra, Yaansa and Kjaan as well since they all seem to be familiar with humans.”

“Anything else you’d like to add?” SAM asked.

“Possible associates include Vetra Nyx and Nakmor Drack. Maybe Nakmor Kesh.”The added supplies niggled at Scott’s thoughts.

“There was also at least one female human here as Ms de Devran had clothing for Cora as well. Cora noted that the swimsuits she was given to try on were for two different sizes.”

“Add possible associates: two human women,” Scott said as he carded his hand through his hair which was in desperate need of a trim as well as salt encrusted from his swimming. “And at least one salarian and one turian. Kjaan seems familiar with turians and salarians.”

“Anything else?”

Scott thought for a moment before deciding to pack it in for the night. “No.Just make sure the information is saved in my priorities folder. Whoever he is, the Angarans seem to have liked him.I can’t figure out why Evfra would say i would shoot them in the back unless this man had a falling out with the Initiative—so he’s probably an exile.”

“I will add suspected exile and save it.May I suggest some rest?You have been pushing yourself since you were taken out of cryo.A day or two of enforced rest may be helpful.”

“Thanks SAM.Just let me do a bit of record keeping and I promise you I’ll get some rest.”

***

2818 CE November 12th

Unnamed Resistance Base, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler

Status: Caffeine is life

Waking up early the next morning, Reyes was treated to the sight of Julia sitting cross legged next to his bedroll, a large frown on her face as she was already dressed for the day. She held a cup of angaran tea (which had caffeine even though it was pond flavored hot water) that she intermittently took a sip form while sharpening her glare on Reyes.Reyes tried to remember why she would be pissed at him and came up empty handed. Rolling over onto his back, he threw one arm over his eyes and groaned at how stiff his muscles were.They were all still sleeping on the ground unless you were Keema or one of the girls who had immediately claimed the only beds that had been found in the buildings they’d scavenged. Which meant his back hated him. 

Julia cleared her throat, obviously wanting his attention.

No moving his arm, Reyes huffed. “What do you want? It’s early.”

“You went to the port without Maiko or I.We wanted to see it,” Julia informed him. Ah.... well, that wasn’t really his fault.

“Keema said just me and one of theTurians. She had a meeting set up with our first trade route,” Reyes said as he dropped his arm back to his side, squinting at Julia.“I don’t suppose you brought me a cup?” He asked her hopefully.

Sniffing, Julia took another delicate sip. “Caffeine is for friends who remember to take their other friends to see the sights.No caffeine for you.”

“Please?” He wheedled, trying to look pathetic and caffeine deprived. It worked and Julia sighed, pulling a second cup with a lid from behind her where it had been hidden from Reyes’ sight, she held it out for him to take.

Sitting up, Reyes gratefully took the hot cup from her, moving to sit cross legged himself with the blankets pooling around his waist making him shiver despite the long sleeved thermal shirt he had slept in. His hair fell forward as the gel was no longer holding it fast to it’s usual position and he honestly didn’t give a shit.The tea was hot and it had caffeine... even if it tasted like pond water it was heavenly.

Julia and he sat there mutually enjoying their hot beverage when they were joined by Maiko who was much too chipper for 0530. “I see you found the evil villain who left us behind,” Maiko told her sister as she plopped down next to her, stealing her cup to take a sip and then handing it back to her sister.

“I did.He’s very sorry,” Julia informed her sister.

Draining his own cup in two large swallows, Reyes spoke in his own defense. “It was Keema’s idea—she had stuff she needed me to do.”

“It really was Keema’s idea,” Vestus agreed softly from behind Reyes where he and Kenax were curled up around each other. Kenax was at least still pretending to be asleep when Reyes looked but Vestus was awake but didn’t move as he didn’t want to disturb his sleeping mate whose head was curled into his chest plate with an arm slung across Vestus’ body to immobilize him.

Maiko, who again stole her sister’s cup to take another sip and again passed it back, spoke again. “I’ve been discussing it with Alzik and we came up with an idea I wanted to run past everyone before we—and I mean really you Reyes—bring it up to Keema.”

“Why me?” Reyes said with his eyes rolled upwards. “Why god?”

Maiko swatted Reyes in the shoulder to which he exclaimed in fake hurt.Which of course then woke Kenax who grumpily snarled at them and rolled Vestus over so he was between Kenax and the rest of them, trying to go back to sleep. Vestus craned his neck around so he could glare at Maiko and Reyes as his hand cradled his mate’s head where it was tucked into him. Reyes shrugged and pointed at Maiko which earned him a second swat to which he then tackled her and started tickling her causing them to roll around on the floor.In the ruckus, someone (Maiko) kicked Julia and made her spill the last remainders of her tea making her yell loudly,

Which then woke up everyone in the sleep room—including Alzik and four of their angaran roommates. Seven sets of eyes glared angrily at them before two of the Angarans—Kjif and Sishi—irritably got up, grabbing their gear as they left. The other two rolled back over and tried to go back to sleep. Alzik, who’d actually been asleep before all this blinked his large eyes and sat up, pulling his blankets around himself as he moved to sit next to Reyes who’d reclaimed his bedroll, stepping over the entangled turian pair. Alzik did inspect Reyes empty cup and looked sadly at Julia when he realized it was empty.

“Sorry, all out,” Julia informed Alzik who actually pouted. Reyes wouldn’t have thought Salarians could pout but he was being proven wrong way too early in the morning after he’d gotten in late.

“Oh for the love of...” Vestus grumbled as Kenax sat up to glare fully at them, now awake.Vestus rolled again as Kenax pushed him again onto his back so he could curl up on his chest and still glare at their friends from the comfort of cuddling with his mate.

“Start talking.You and Alzik what?”Kenax said with a rumbling purr/trill that was half angry kitten and half asleep. A snore was audible from behind him signaling that their roommates had decided sleep was fine despite the noise and were ignoring them.

“Ah yes. Well, if the Outcasts are as separatist and angaran unfriendly as we’ve been led to believe... we think it may be beneficial to set up a shadow organization that opposes them.To be careful, we don’t think it should overtly be part of the Resistance but be run by other exiles—ie you,” Maiko said as she pointed at Reyes who had one eyebrow raised.

“Why me? If it’s your idea you could set yourself up as the opposing pirate queen to Kelly.You’ll need to get some bedazzled armor first though if you really want to go there.” Reyes was listening but he wanted more of Maiko’s plan before he started leaning for or against the idea.

“Because you’re our leader dumb ass,” Maiko told him. “I’m much happier being the puppet master in your shadow that makes you dance to my tune.”

“As if you could make me dance,” Reyes said with a chuckle to which Julia this time swatted his shoulder. Ah dancing might be a sore subject, best to avoid in the future.

”Focus please,” Vestus chided like an overworked schoolmarm.

“Ahem,” Maiko said with a mischievous grin towards Reyes. “As I was saying I think we need to set up an alternative faction to the Outcasts. Other exiles have been very slow to embrace the Angaran Resistance as the Roekaar have been making noise intermittently ever since the Outcasts took the Port away from the Kett. That makes the Resistance seem unfriendly or even hostile to our fellow former Initiative members.And it’s not like everyone loves our local pirate queen.”

“I see,” Reyes said even though he wasn’t sure it would work given the severe delineation between the haves and the have-nots at the port. The residents of the slums were only out for themselves as they had very little—it was obvious in how they operated. But maybe they could be massaged to have a different opinion if a change in management would improve their situation...He could get what Maiko was trying to explain though and in theory it was a good idea.

Maiko was encouraged by Reyes and continued on.“So if we give them an alternative, we create a way for us to gain influence in the Port without open warfare between us an the Outcasts.In a direct fight, we don’t currently have any hope of taking them on if the numbers Keema’s reports quote are right and with them being nicely dug into the best fortifications around.”

“But if we whittle away at their support base it makes it easier for us to have influence the more we sway to our side of things,” Kenax said.“I like it. Nice and diabolical. It’s the smell of coup d’état in the morning.But we’re still staying part of the Resistance right? I mean it’d be bad form to leave them once we took over things.

“Yes.We still are part of the Resistance. That’s why Reyes needs to talk to Keema about it.”

Everyone now looked at Reyes who blinked tiredly.“So you want me to suggest to Keema that we have a not-resistance part of the Resistance in order to appear more appealing to exiles so we can get them to do our work for us.”

“Exactly,” both Maiko and Julia said in tandem.It must be a sister thing Reyes mused.

Reyes started to rub his temples as he felt a headache oncoming as he thought about how to tell Keema about Maiko’s idea.It had merits for sure... but would Keema be okay with it?She had planned with Reyes to get a wider network of contacts and support that would undermine the Outcasts and support the Resistance... but would she care if they seemed to be a separate faction with separate leadership structure? Keema had been purposefully training him to be a section leader but this wasn’t what she’d indicated she had in mind when she’d decided to pursue that goal. “I’ll mention it to her,” he finally agreed.

Maiko’s grin sharpened.“Well if you’re going to talk about it to her then we need to think of a name for ourselves.”

“And codenames! You guys as pilots get callsigns which is cool but it’s unfair to the rest of us.I want a cool codename to be referred to when we’re discussing things,” Julia said with enthusiasm making Reyes chuckle at her antics. “I’d like mine to be something fierce... but feminine.”

Maiko looked at her sister, a thoughtful look on her face. “How about Cardinal for your red hair—it’s confusing enough but sounds mysterious. Are you talking bout the bird? The religious rank? Cardinal direction? Mark? Number?”

Julia rolled her eyes at her sister.“That sounds more like you given the ambiguity of it.”

“How about Ember?” Alzik offered, getting into the spirt of things.

Julia obviously liked that one given the smile she gave the salarian.“That I like. I’m claiming that one.Ember.”

Maiko laughed at her sister.“I’ll take Pascal as mine.”

“How delightfully nerdy of you,” Reyes said with a smile. Maiko would choose as a name the unit that measured pressure but could mean a lot of other things including being a given name.

“Well, I assumed you’d stick with your callsign since very few people know it.Also, Anubis is a great one.How’d you get that callsign anyway?”Maiko rejoined.

Reyes nodded.“It’s a name I’ve answered to in the past so it won’t be too bad for me.I got it for my first real assignment because I didn’t balk at it being underneath me and saw it as an honor.I was assigned to do the body repatriation flights from Shanxi.”What Reyes wasn’t saying was that he’d specifically volunteered as soon as he was able.He’d been able to bring his Tío’s vida home to him after so many years which had made his Tío able to touch him one last time before he was put in the earth in a plot with a spot next to it for Reyes’ Tío. His flight squadron had named him after the Egyptian god of the dead who weighed their souls and determined their afterlife destination.At the time, it’d been fairly amusing. Later on, with his shoot down rate, it’d been prophetic during the skirmishes at the edge of the Terminus Systems. 

There was more back and forth over names for the others with Julia and Maiko claiming veto power over the more outlandish suggestions.Alzik became Helix (after the shape of DNA given his specialty was genetics), Vestus was Spartacus (because he’d been reading a novel about ancient Rome and liked it) and Kenax kept his callsign (albeit translated into standard) of Triad. Kenax didn’t feel inclined to tell the girls the meaning behind his callsign but Reyes knew the story as he’d asked when they’d first been assigned as copilots. Looking back, it now seemed that Kenax was seeing how Reyes would react and had been pleased with it—hence Reyes was now his human friend. Kenax’s callsign was for the family he’d never had—a mother, father and himself—to remind him that he’d come from somewhere.Reyes hadn’t really understood what a barefaced turian was at the time but he now got it after some further explanations by Vestus over the last month. Reyes supposed that Kenax could just now state it was because he and Vestus had decided to court Vetra as the girls were aware.It would be a good way of deflecting if Reyes’ friend didn’t want to tell them everything.

“But what to call ourselves?” Julia was arguing with Maiko.It seemed that this had been an ongoing argument between the two. Alzik was amusedly giving suggestions that, were in Reyes’ opinion fairly weird.

Vestus, however, came up with a solution as he was obvious getting sick of the arguing. “You keep calling us a collection of people Maiko—you refer to us as your collected family when you talk about us. Why don’t we go by the name ‘The Collective’?”

Kenax, almost back asleep from where he was perched on his mate, made a vague noise of agreement. Reyes didn’t hate the suggestion as it sounded more of a group someone might want to join if they didn’t want to be a murderous pirate... but was still mysterious enough that it could cover a lot of ground for different assignments and operations. Reyes had thought calling yourself the ‘outcasts’ sounded like a gang of petulant teenagers who were rebelling against their parents. The more he thought of it, the more he liked the name—The Collective.

“I like it.It sounds like a better organization that more fits why we came to Andromeda,” he told his squabbling friends. At his announcement, Julia gave her sister a look that plainly said ‘see even he agrees with me’ as she’d loved Vestus’ suggestion.

Sighing in defeat as she’d had several other, nerdy in Reyes’ opinion, suggestion, Maiko agreed. “So we’ll call our group The Collective.”

Julia then extracted a promise from Reyes that he would speak to Keema today about their idea, as it was “awesome” and “totally going to work”.He could appreciate her enthusiasm but she didn’t get to try and convince Keema that it was the best plan... but he could usually get Keema to listen to his thoughts up until now.Hopefully she didn’t find the idea completely crazy.

“So breakfast?” Reyes asked the girls.He hoped someone had found something other than adhi to eat.

***

He drug his feet bringing up the whole side-group thing with Keema as he spent several hours with her that morning going over shipping routes to Elaaden. The Angara had minimal trade set up with New Tuchanka that was mostly on an individual basis rather than coordinated through any sort of leadership structure.Evfra had other priorities than Elaaden as it had not—to their knowledge—any prior sizable angaran population unlike Kadara. The kett arrival had really decimated their knowledge of their origins other than that they knew they originally came from a world known as Havarl.Reyes had briefly discussed with Evfra being assigned there but he now knew that coming to Kadara had been the right move given the presence of the exiles as he felt he could make a difference here.Which made him reluctant as they’d barely been on planet and he now had an alteration to their plan.He didn’t want to seem ungrateful to his newer friends but Maiko’s idea did have a lot of merits.

Keema however, brought it up on her own, surprising him. “So when are you going to talk about Maiko’s idea?”

Not hiding his surprise, Reyes raised an eyebrow at Keema as he finished annotating the route they’d been discussion on the datapad. “Do I dare ask who told you?”

Keema’s look of amusement spoke entire books on how naive he was to think that his roommates hadn’t immediately reported it up the chain of command. Which that was fair—they all trusted Reyes but this was concerning.“I think it may be tactically worth while but not if it damages our relationship.”

“I was told that your group had a lot of enthusiasm for the plan,” Keema prodded.

Sighing, Reyes put aside the datapad and turned his attention fully to Keema. “Julia loves the idea, makes her feel like she’s in the middle of a spy film and Maiko’s been encouraging it.Kenax and Vestus will go along with the group decision and Alzik sees the tactical reasoning behind it.”

“And you?”

“I see it as a viable tactical option but I’m not sure how much I want to change your plans.We need to get more support so we’ll have have access to the port and resources... and I’ll admit that walking through the slums was enlightening.I don’t think how things are now is long term sustainable.” Reyes tried to put in words the convoluted thoughts he’d had after walking around the port but knew he was simplifying things too much but couldn’t figure out how to verbalize it further without not making sense.

Keema hummed before asking her next question. “Do you think that some of your fellow exiles would be persuadable?”

Reyes thought about the prostitute and how tenuous her situation was, the female turian who worked on tech, the salarian food stall... they all had carved a niche but it was very vulnerable to shifts from the Outcasts... who were treating running the place like a pirate operation and focused on taking. The bodies spiked to the walls... that was unnecessary. Theoretically, they’d all come to Andromeda with the same goal and the recruits had heavily leaned on scientists and academics.To see those high functioning people reduced to what was happening in the slums... it was wrong in so many ways. There had been a lot of problems with the Nexus but he didn’t think that most of them had actively chosen life in the slums or they might have chosen cryosleep instead had they known. It was so hard to make a decision based on fear. Fear of never waking, fear of being left behind, fear of starvation or worse. He could understand all this.

“I think there will be a large portion of them that don’t want or like Sloane Kelly and how things are being run.When they were recruiting for the Initiative they specified they wanted high performing adults with advanced degrees and skills in order to qualify. That means they focused recruitment heavily on scientists and academics—some of the best and brightest is the term they used.Even for the security teams, I asked Vestus and he said that they were all from highly skilled units not just regular grunts. Even as a pilot I only qualified because of my degree and service record. I think if you give people like that options they will choose the best one for them and I don’t think Sloane Kelly is a good option.”

Keema had a pleased looking smile on her face as she listened to Reyes. “Evfra said you were thoughtful and made good decisions—too hopeful as well but that will change with time if experience is any teacher. If you think the exiles haveany of that remaining then you are right, an alternative faction run by someone they can relate to would be a powerful move.”

“But are you okay with it?”Reyes asked, doubt leaking into his tone.

“I am willing to see how this goes. You are Resistance Reyes, you have become one of us. Whether or not you have a different name that you work under you still have the same goals as us and you are my friend. I trust you to continue to work with me but I understand if working alongside instead of under my direction is the best for all of us.”

Reyes still wasn’t completely convinced Keema was for this—he was basically breaking off into a splinter group. Which when he thought about it that way made him sound like he’d already made his decision even though he really was hesitating to declare it thus. Then again, he was well aware Keema hadn’t chosen herself to lead this section of the angaran resistance but it had just happened that way. She had a way of looking at things, that they’d work themselves out as they were meant to—an almost fatalistic way of looking at it. That didn’t mean she didn’t work to change outcomes but she trusted in taking it as it came.

“Either way there does not need to be a decision made today.We need to begin loading the water barrels on your ship so you can arrive on time.You don’t want to upset the krogans—they get angry easily.”Keema was right he supposed, he didn’t think he’d stop thinking and chewing on Maiko’s Collective any time soon.

***

The next day found Reyes and Kenax running checks on the Exodus.They’d managed to modify a few angaran turrets and with Maiko’s help had mounted them on the Exodus so the transport would have some surprise firepower as they were well camouflaged. The reports of scavengers patrolling the most direct routes between Kadara and Elaaden were being treated as a warning.They would not loose their cargo and they would not get killed by pirates wanting their stuff. Reyes and Kenax had argued with their group that they would be going with Vestus.The girls and Alzik would be staying on Kadara to continue setting up additional hydroponics.Keema had promised to give the girls a trip to the port but wanted to make sure they weren’t all immediately associated with each other as she’d have another ship and group going with them. Reyes had been concerned with the girls going without him or the turians but Keema had assured him of their safety. Even with these assurances, Reyes had a premonition like feeling that something was going to happen soon that was making him irritable.

Checks eventually complete, they then began the process of loading the water barrels that had been filled by Maiko’s distillery. Alzik had confirmed the acidity and mineral content of the water with the data attached to each barrel as they’d been tested individually. Each barrel was a 200 L and they were heavy.The Exodus could carry approximately 2000L. The Krogans wanted to set up twice weekly shipments of that amount which would mean either Kenax or Reyes would be making a run frequently. Luckily, the distillation plant Maiko had set up had no difficulty processing that amount and still having enough for them to use for their hydroponics farm.

When the Exodus was loaded, Reyes and Kenax took a break and ate a meal which was of course more adhi meat. Reyes was heartily sick of adhi but they didn’t really have a ton of options as they were trying to save the protein packs for in case of some catastrophe. Finishing his, Reyes left Kenax and Vestus discussing the routes that he’d proposed and went into the finished hydroponics farm.In the last day, the seeds had begun to visibly sprout and you could see small green shoots emerging from the seed plugs. The scent of the greenhouse had also changed from smelling like dirt to smelling more organic.Alzik had started adjusting the nutrient flows once the sprouts were visible and there was now a noticeable scent that Reyes associated with green plants that was faint but there.

Reyes had always enjoyed gardening with his Tío and the estate gardener Miguel growing up—it had been one of the few chores he hadn’t actively tried to ditch growing up. His favorite task had been the vegetable garden as he’d always been hungry as a teenager and could sample the strawberries, peas, and berries as he helped care for the plot that fed the kitchens. He’d especially loved fresh mint when he could crush a few leaves and suck on them as he weeded the herb garden for Miguel’s wife Rosita who was the head housekeeper and did most of the cooking for the estate. Reyes had been taught how to trim fruit trees, weed the garden and identify common plants. He had always hated some of the other estate management tasks his Tío gave him but the gardening ones had not been bad when he looked back at his memories.

Stepping into the greenhouse, he felt his shoulders relax as he took in the signs of plant growth around him and took a few deep breaths, savoring the scents of growing things and the moist heat of the room.His Tío had once said he’d be a good gardener when he grew up... and it seemed he maybe was. He wouldn’t say his Tío had been right aloud until they had several plantings and harvests under their belts.

Maiko found him there just enjoying the environment.“So this is where you’ve been hiding.”

“Not hiding, just taking it in,” Reyes admitted with a small smile. He really did like their work in this aspect.

“I love that our plants are growing already. Did you talk to Keema?”

“I did.”

Maiko wasn’t impressed with his simple answer as he hadn’t looked at her when he’d given it. “And what did she say?”

Sighing, Reyes turned to meet her eyes. “She said she’s okay with seeing how your idea goes.”

Maiko studied him, her eyes serious. “But you’ve got some concerns?”

“I do,” Reyes admitted. “I think that it’s a sound tactical decision but I want to make sure we’re all protected and I don’t want anyone singled out.I think if we do this we need to make sure it’s obfuscated who’s who and the code names are a good start.”

“You don’t want to be in charge?”

“It’s not that. If I’m the leader that’s fine... it’s that you are all my really good friends.I don’t want any targets painted on you specifically because you’re close to me. If we don’t disclose who is in charge and make it confusing it’s harder for someone like Sloane Kelly to specifically target our leader’s soft spot.”

“You’re worried that one of us would end up like Tefa?” Maiko asked thoughtfully, her face screwed up as she saw Reyes’ point. “I don’t think that would be a risk but I can see why you’re a little gun shy about things.”

“I also think that just generically referring to the group leader, even when talking to me as ‘the boss’ might protect all of us even more.If you’re not the leader or second in command then you aren’t a potential hostage or prize.The implication should always be you need to run the decision up the chain of command.”Reyes thoughts had been turbulent ever since he’d talked with Keema. He didn’t want another person close to him dying because of him. Not ever. If he could somehow build in another layer of protection to keep his friends out of danger he would insist on it even if they just all thought he was being paranoid—he now understood Evfra’s position on not taking a lover.Leading from the shadows when the numbers weren’t in your favor was really the only way he’d agree to Maiko’s plan. No one was getting hurt on his watch if he could prevent it. 

“But not being high ranking can also make us disposable Reyes.When we agreed to come to Kadara instead of asking for easy assignments in Aya or Havarl we all knew that there was a certain degree of risk involved.Just getting on the ship to Andromeda was a huge risk to take,” Maiko argued even though she could see Reyes’ point of view. “You can’t always protect us Reyes.We make our own choices.”

“I know.I just want to make sure it’s not because of me.I know it’s selfish of me to say that but when Tefa died because he was with me... You can’t blame me for not wanting to go through that again.” Reyes couldn’t look at Maiko as he continued to speak. “It can’t be because you are my friend you are hurt.I can understand you all choose your own risks... just please understand how much I just.. I just can’t do that again.Because of me... I can’t.”

Reyes startled when Maiko suddenly pulled him into a fierce, rib cracking bear hug and she buried her face in his chest as his arms hesitantly came up to hug her back. She was saying something but he couldn’t make out what it was and she seemed to be crying.Fuck... he hadn’t meant to make her cry. “I... Maiko?”

Looking up at him, she did have a few tears escaping her eyes.“You’re a horrible, paranoid bastard you know? You’re family and I get what you’re talking about—if something happened to one of you or to Tovrel... I don’t know if I’d be able to keep moving on like you have been.I don’t like the in the shadows part of things but I get it even if I think it’s just paranoia.If you really don’t want to be publicly the face of the Collective then you won’t be.”

“You’re okay with us hiding who we are?” Reyes asked her, making sure he understood her.

“Yes.I’m okay with referring to our leader as a generic ‘boss’ who’s unnamed. I think it’s overkill but if it’s what you need to go forward with it, it’s not a dealbreaker for me.” Maiko sniffled and squeezed him a second time before letting go. “So we’re doing this?”

“I suppose we’re actually doing this,” Reyes agreed.

*** 

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE April 17th_

_Aya is beautiful.Sara will love it here if I can make good enough friends that the Angarans allow us to come back after the Tempest is fixed. I can’t write about how beautiful the water is, the waves are perfect. And I really needed the workout this afternoon after everything else. Maybe not the sunburn though... I may have to beg some dermal regeneration from Lexi after all of Cora’s warnings. My shoulders are a bit crispy._

_The Angara are hiding something from us—I expect an exiled human male and maybe a few others—probably a crew of a ship.They obviously have had contact with someone and I’ve started a dossier on what I know.Whoever he is, I hope he’s made it wherever he ended up as he doesn’t seem to still be here. I’m still trying to decide if Evfra is purposefully letting me know that he’s met a human before or not. The gestures, the flagrant display of knowledge... it’s not about being a good host.Evfra made sure I understand that he doesn’t trust me._

_I also suspect Evfra doesn’t actually like Jaal that much but does trust him... he didn’t object to Jaal volunteering to be my watcher but did warn him to be careful around us.Something happened to make Evfra specifically suspicious of me and I don’t think it’s because I’m human._

_I just realized I assumed the human male whose clothes I wore today was the leader but my gut says it was him. Or maybe I just want it to be a him. I will freely admit that I want to meet someone else who’s been trying to make sense of all this shit.Someone who I can talk to about how much being in charge of this circus sucks ass and to bounce ideas off. When I was still a marine I always had someone more experienced around to act as a mentor. I’ve had some great ones in the past._

_I feel like I’m floundering here... I don’t have anyone I trust to talk to about this.Cora, however awesome she may be, is still under my command.Nexus leadership is not, shall we say, supportive and caring just wants the job done and no one else really has the security clearance to talk to. Although I suppose if he is an exile like I suspect... I probably shouldn’t give away state secrets to him, but somehow I have the feeling none of this will be a surprise to him.It’s not like it’s a big secret how FUBAR everything about our arrival in Andromeda has been._

_I just hope that if he’s out there... that he is safe tonight, able to eat and drink what he needs, have a warm and dry place to sleep and friends to surround himself with._

_And when I meet him, because I can’t imaging not meeting him at this point, I want to buy him a drink and ask him how he became friends with the Angara... how he found Aya... how everything._

_I’ll bet it’s going to be a hell of a story.I know I couldn’t have made my own story up at this point—reality is stranger than fiction some days._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love. Thanks for reading.


	26. Chapter Twenty-Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning this chapter: descriptions of violence, may be upsetting to some.

Chapter Twenty-Five

 

2819 CE April 20th

Aya, Onanon System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Negotiating the first dance of an alliance

 

The next several days were repeats of their first day on Aya.Scott found himself being taken for various field trips by Jaal that were Evfra approved. Most of them were around the city and Scott had particularly enjoyed the bathhouse part of the tour. They spent most afternoons at the beach and Scott had, more than once, noticed that Evfra was watching him from afar but did not approach. When he asked Jaal, Jaal seemed surprised that Evfra was making time to come and check in on them as he was usually very busy as the leader of the Resistance.

Gil, once he’d recovered from his drug-assisted sleep had been banging away on the Tempest and arguing constantly with Kallo per their usual habits.The result was that the Tempest was ready to launch and, at least how Gil put it, in much better shape than he originally thought she’d be in. Kjaan and his students had been a huge help and Gil seemed mystified as to how intuitively they’d understood the engine design and been able to help. 

Liam and Peebee were especially sad that Gil wasn’t going to take longer to fix the Tempest as they both had made inroads with friendly Angarans. Scott had told them the plan was to be back at some point so they’d been sad but ready to get back to work when he told them to load up. 

Scott still hadn’t had time to get Vetra by herself to have a chat and knew he needed to ask her directly about things... but he also kinda didn’t want to rock the boat that much either. He knew he was procrastinating but he liked Vetra... he just didn’t like being left in the dark.

Between his and Cora’s combined efforts, they’d managed to verify that Jaal was part of the exchange of Resistance members that had happened about six months ago.Approximately six months ago there had been some sort of event that had caused turnover in the Resistance—enough so that almost 80% of the headquarters staff had been in place less than six months and there had been a similar turnover in the population of the city they were staying in. Aya was evidently one of the main training areas for new recruits but there was a steep attrition rate as the guerrilla fight against the kett was never ending and the numbers were in favor of the kett.

Afternoons at the beach had continued to be informative as the children enjoyed playing with Peebee and Cora, the adults relaxing with repeat exposure to the crew. There had been several mentions of the mysterious Sholaon which he now knew was a way to refer to someone who was considered family but was adopted as they had none of their own.This seemed to fit the profile of an exile which just strengthened Scott’s suspicions but didn’t confirm anything for sure.Any further mentions or traces of his ghost were absent so Scott was now sure he wasn’t on Aya any longer.

But today they were prepping for take off. The imaginary clock that Scott could hear ticking made him anxious to be underway—no matter how much he was growing to like Aya. He hadn’t reported to Tann other than to say they’d had to stop for ship repairs.He needed to figure out how to diplomatically state they’d made first contact with the Angaran but he wanted to talk to Vetra first. Vetra would know how much wasn’t in the reports he’d received from Tann.

Loading Jaal’s supplies, Scott tried to be nonjudgmental.Jaal had insisted on a two month supply of his nutrient paste and had brought along enough ammunition for his guns that would take him twice that length to go through given the pathfinder team’s average use.Jaal had merely stated that Voeld was a kett stronghold and it would be better to be adequately prepared rather than run out.

This had made Scott pull up short mentally. He’d then pressed for more information regarding their mission. Evfra had grudgingly allowed a redacted status report to be forwarded as well as planetary data collected from the last two months to be forwarded to Scott who then sent it to his team.Voeld was evidently Habitat 6... but it wasn’t in the right orbit.Whatever had happened with the appearance of the Scourge had pushed Habitat 6 out of it’s orbit.Suvi had remarked that given the change in orbit, the weather would be consistent with an ice age.Jaal had verified that this was correct—but also admitted he had not been to Voeld before, only been told about the ice.Jaal had spent most of his life on Havarl and had only just recently been to other planets.There were many Angarans that preferred the severe cold of Voeld to Aya according to Jaal. Which, brrrrrr. Scott hated being cold but it looked like he’d need to upgrade his armor’s heating capabilities before going planetside.

Further data in the information they’d been given indicated that there was a sizable and aggressive kett population. Voeld had once been one of the large population centers for the Angarans but those large cities were now mostly covered in ice and snow due to weather shifts.Those that still lived on Voeld lived in smaller outposts and villages called Daars . The Kett had mainly set up in the ruins of the deserted cities that were still accessible. Their first point of contact would be to land at the main Angaran Resistance Outpost (ARO as Scott had dubbed it) where they were to meet with Anjik Do Xeel, the commander of the Resistance on Voeld. Evfra had even grudgingly sent a notice that they would be landing ahead of time.

Distance from Aya to Voeld was about a three day journey for the Tempest and it was mainly due to having to navigate the snarl of Scourge around Aya. Distance from Voeld to Zheng He would be only five days at full speed... if they used the gravitational field of the black hole at the center of Heleus to slingshot around the Scourge.Assuming they could get good enough navigational data once they’d actually made it to Voeld. 

And not to forget... Voeld had shown up on the map on Eos. There was good odds that there was a vault on Voeld. Which they should probably look for while they were looking for the Moshae. He’d add it to the ever growing task list he was keeping.Finished loading the crates that Jaal had indicated were his, Scott looked around the landing pad to see if they’d forgotten anything and his eyes landed on Evfra who was standing at the base of the ramp.

Walking out, Scott stood at the top of the ramp and exchanged stares with the Resistance leader before sighing. “Evfra.”

“Pathfinder Ryder,” Evfra returned with nod, his arms crossing over his chest as he indicated for Scott to join him.

Walking down the ramp, Scott told SAM to have everyone do their final checks.They were supposed to lift off shortly. “What can I do for you?” Scott offered, trying to break the chilly air that surrounded Evfra.

“The Initiative you represent... I know that you are not wholly responsible for the choices of leadership, but I would have you know that I will hold you responsible for your direct actions.”

Confused, Scott’s eyebrows furrowed as he frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked in a neutral tone.

“We are well aware that not everyone from the Milky Way agrees with your Initiative... and the Angara have met many different types of your people on other worlds. Some are skuut. Some have kept their promises. But all of those we have met previously have been wary of your Initiative.”

Scott jumped in before Evfra could get any further.“I wasn’t here when most of them left and I’ve been told a lot of things too. However, I don’t hold decisions made when things looked bad against them. I’m trying to turn things around for the Initiative and the vaults are a big part of that.”

Evfra had an inscrutable look on his face but he nodded as Scott spoke. “You were not here?But I thought all Milky Way people came on the same ship?That the other ships were missing?”

Clearing his throat, Scott briefly thought about being selective with disclosures then realized that it would only make Evfra distrust him more later if he wasn’t up front about things. “I arrived on a second ship, the human ark which is called the Hyperion.We’re the only one that has arrived so far to join up with the Nexus.”

Evfra was quiet for a moment but must have decided to speak plainly with Scott as well.“Your Nexus is not as well hidden as some may think it.You are lucky it is away from the more traveled parts of Heleus or the kett would already be at your doorstep. There have been reports of wreckage seen on Voeld—of another one of your arks—as well as Turians on Havarl.”

“Really?” Scott asked, hope leaking into his tone.“Have you found anyone alive?”

“There are some of your Turians,” Evfra’s eyes slid to Vetra who was lounging around at the top of the ramp, just out of earshot. “There are also bodies.I will understand if you feel that you must delay your mission to Voeld in order to find your own people.”

Fuck.... Turian survivors but there was wreckage.... so which was the right move? Evfra implied that the Turians were alive and kicking on Havarl but the Moshae.... Jaal said she might have the answers to the vault on Aya and was on Voeld... with wreckage of an ark—not necessarily the Turian one. “The survivors are in good health?” Scott found himself asking, trying to get more information to make a decision with.

“The reports I get say that if they survived the impact they have been seen traveling around Havarl.They have not made overtures to the Resistance but have been seen to be in fights against the Roekaar.”

He’d heard that name but nobody would give further details about it. “Roekaar?”

Evfra blew air out of his nose in a frustrated manner similar to a snort. “You have been asking questions very carefully these last few days.Have you not figured out about them?”

Scott shook his head. “No.There’s been a lot of tidbits of information but nobody has wanted to just tell me everything. Who are or is the Roekaar?”

Another measuring stare. “The Roekaar originally were feared warriors from our distant past that are only barely remembered in the stories we tell our children.The Roekaar that are now, active on Havarl, are a faction that was founded by Akksul separate from the Resistance. Akksul was a student of the Moshae and one of her favored ones. He was captured by Kett and one of the few to escape their labor camps that have made it back to us.” 

Evfra looked vaguely uncomfortable as he continued, “Unfortunately, his time with the Kett had changed him, made him hate more freely, kill easier than the Akksul I knew before. He was bitter about the Resistance and our inability to free him earlier and felt that we were not effective enough against the kett, that total war is the only way to rid Heleus of their presence.”

“That’s not a reason for Turians going after them...” Scott asked, prodding now to see where Evfra was taking this.

“When your people first became known to us, it was evidence that all aliens, all non-angaran species should be taken out according to Akksul. He has recruited heavily from the younger Resistance members and they kill without remorse any who are not angaran—including your Turians on Havarl. He has elevated the existence of the Gloryseekers, encouraged our people to be more reckless and endanger themselves all in the name of taking back what is ours.”

“And do you support this?”

“We do not.The Resistance disavows all of their actions.We know that we cannot fight two wars at once.”

Scott tried to figure out if Evfra was being honest. It was a bad idea to try and fight on multiple fronts at once, let alone two different enemy armies. Evfra was implying that he didn’t want to be hostile with Scott but that he needed to have him show he was trustworthy. “What do you need me to do to prove that we are not like the Kett? That we do not need to fight against one another?”

A brief, almost pleased look crossed Evfra’s face before the stern look was back. “There is not enough information at this time regarding the Moshae’s whereabouts on Voeld. If you were to go directly there you would waste a lot of your time potentially waiting on more intel as my people continue to work on finding her. I have an alternative proposition for you instead.”

“I’m listening,” Scott indicated for him to continue as Evfra paused, a calculating look now on his face.

“A team of our scientists have gone missing on Havarl and I do not have the resources currently to send after them. I want you to locate and rescue them, unharmed.If you do this, we can talk further about trust and alliance building. But,” Evfra paused for emphasis, “you need to prove that we can trust you. It will not be easy as the Roekaar consider Havarl their territory despite our presence.”

“And if I happen to find some of my missing people it’s a happy coincidence?”Scott asked.

“A most fortuitous one.And I will continue to use my own resources to look for the Moshae. If she feels like speaking to you of the vault I will not stand in her way.”Evfra looked pleased with the proposal.

“But the Moshae may be in danger...” Scott trailed off, still worried that there was a ticking clock on that mission objective.

“And we will continue to look for her.If we need your assistance we will contact you and ask for you to divert to Voeld.”Which basically implied that Evfra wanted Scott to prove his good intentions by completing a smaller, lower stakes mission first before being elevated to the big leagues. Scott could play this game.

“Then I’ll head to Havarl.Can I have the same briefing information as I got regarding Voeld?”

“I will make sure you have the necessary information to make contact with our base there.They will have more updated information regarding the situation on the ground, as you call it.”

“Thanks.We’ll be underway shortly and we will rescue those scientists as you suggested. Will we be welcome back on Aya if we do this?”

“You and your team will be.We will discuss others after I have seen what you can do.”

“Fair,” Scott admitted, holding out his hand for Evfra to shake which the Angaran took with a firm squeeze before releasing.

“Isharay Pathfinder. May you be swift in your mission and successful.” Evfra then turned and left, not waiting for Scott to say anything further. As if on cue, the engines for the Tempest began to cycle their warmup and the air around Scott stirred.

“You like to listen a lot don’t you?” He asked Vetra.

“I can learn a lot that way.Information is valuable in Heleus,” she offered from where she leaned up against the pillars at the top of the ramp.

Scott climbed the ramp to join her. “You and I need to have a chat once we’re under way.I think it’s time we put some cards on the table and talked expectations.”

Vetra’s mandibles flared in amusement.“That would probably be wise.You better go tell Kallo that we’re changing our destination or he’ll be tetchy.”

Scott only chuckled as he walked past her, hitting the switch to bring the ramp up and close the airlock.Yeah, he needed to tell everyone they were going to the previously labeled Habitat 3–Havarl.He wondered how Jaal would take the change in plans.

***

Telling everyone that they were headed to Havarl was greeted mostly with shrugs from his crew. Jaal however was frustrated and asked Scott why Evfra had decided that Havarl was a better destination than Voeld given the high likelihood of danger that the Moshae was in.Scott gave him the same explanation Evfra had given him, and when Jaal repeated his question Scott showed him the communication station and told him he could ask Evfra himself. Leaving a muttering Jaal inputting his request into the QEC, Scott found Vetra in the mess by herself.Everyone else was busy with work so that gave them plenty of time to discuss things without being disturbed or overheard. Vetra was calmly drinking a dextro-protein juice shake and indicated the seat across from her when Scott entered the small kitchen. “You obviously want to ask me something,” she started.

Grabbing a cup of coffee before sitting, Scott played with the handle of the cup for a moment, searching for the right words. “You knew about Aya or at least expected what we’d find there.”

Vetra inclined her head, her body language open and not hiding anything.“I’ve never been to Aya but I have met Angarans before but in the Sabeng system.There’s an abandoned space station there.”

“What were you doing in Sabeng at an ‘abandoned space station’?”Scott asked, sipping at his coffee.

Vetra sighed but didn’t hesitate to reply. “One of the exiles—rather a group of them—weren’t hostile when they left and I consider them my friends.I was working with several Initiative members under Kesh’s direction to receive supplies from them and we’ve actually got a regular trading route, albeit I suppose it’s more of a smuggling route, set up with them. The space station is what we use as a drop point as we can’t be off Nexus for very long and it’s a short hop in a freighter. Has SAM been looking into our supply situation?”

“Why you and why this group of exiles? SAM tells me that there’s evidence that multiple persons have tampered with the supply inventory.” 

“As I said, they’re my friends. And it’s my job to procure things as you may have noticed.”Vetra seemed amused now.

“How good of friends?You didn’t choose to go with them?”Scott was genuinely curious.If Vetra had an option to leave he was surprised she’d stayed on the Nexus.

“I had reasons to stay and they didn’t have very many options. Most of them would have been forced back into cryosleep and they chose to leave. I was on the essential list...” Vetra seemed lost in memory for a moment before her gaze landed back on Scott. “You don’t understand how little time there was to make a decision about staying or going. A lot of those who left did so because they were scared not because they were violent and.... well Tann doesn’t exactly inspire confidence if you hear him speak.”

“I keep getting different stories about the uprising. What was your take on it?”At least Scott could understand where Vetra’s biases lay. Her viewpoint would be useful to compare to the official one.

Vetra made an annoyed noise and took another drink of her juice. “The security forces disagreed with administration so the Krogan were woken up. That made the disagreement between security and administration even worse.How much do you know about Sloane Kelly?”

“She was supposed to be the head of security for the Nexus. Ex-Alliance, discharged due to conduct unbecoming of an officer and assault after punching her commanding officer, supposedly because she disagreed with a command decision. Seems an interesting choice for the head of security.”Scott took another drink of his coffee as SAM reminded him of her details. Kelly did sound like a piece of work but she’d done a lot to keep everyone alive in the early days of the Nexus’ arrival. Not everything she’d done had been disastrous.

“She and her people left, took a lot of stuff with them which left us struggling on the Nexus.After that, Tann ordered everyone non-essential back into cryo to try and preserve resources but did a shitty job of announcing it. Only about half of those ordered into cryo went willingly. There were probably close to three or four hundred who left rather than go back into cryo. My friends chose to leave as they were scared what would happen if they went back into cryo and were never woken up again.”

“And they’re doing okay out there? Without the Nexus support?”Scott asked.Vetra was clutching her drink a lot firmer than she had been when they started talking.

“One of them died. The rest of them are, for a definition of okay, doing okay now. It’s been very rough and they aren’t with Kelly. One of them is former Alliance Navy and two of them used to work for the Council. By trading, they’re supporting both themselves and us.It’s a win-win.”

Worked for the council or were still under assignment?Vetra’s reference that two of her friends had worked for the council reminded him of Brecka’s comment about being part of a team investigating Cerberus—but that Vetra wasn’t part of it officially.If she was good friends with two former Council workers.... the connections being made here were all circumstantial but there. However, if Vetra wasn’t read in on Brecka’s investigation, Scott wasn’t about to tip his hand either. “It sounds like they’re good people if they’re willing to trade with us.You trust these people?”

Vetra leaned forward and placed her hands on the table, drink forgotten. “Scott, they’re good people. I trust them—but you don’t have to take my word for it.I can keep my connections as mine—not yours—and you get plausible deniability if Tann asks.”

Scott took a moment to think. Vetra seemed willing to tell him whatever he wanted to know, but she was right in that if he knew things and was asked by Tann... would he tell him? Even if it possibly could harm others?No.He wouldn’t disclose anything that could have a potential for harm—either to the Initiative or the exiles. “I want to know when it’s relevant, like Aya. I don’t want to have to ask Vetra. However, I get what you mean by plausible deniability and I think it’s a good point. They can stay your contacts but if you hear something that might be useful or needed I’m going to ask you to pass it along. You don’t have to tell everyone but I think I need to know.The more information I have, the more likely my decisions are going to be the right ones.”

Vetra gave a sharp nod.“You’re right. I should be a bit more forthcoming. I don’t have any problems with this kind of arrangement.I was right about you—Kesh thinks she needs more time to assess you but I can already tell that her worries are unnecessary.”

Blushing at the compliment, Scott took a drink of his rapidly cooling coffee to distract. “Um thanks. But this means you need to pass things along. I don’t care if it’s in writing or verbal but it needs to get passed to me.”

“No problem Pathfinder. No problem at all,” was Vetra’s response, a gamine grin on her face. “You need to learn to take compliments better.”

“I do not,” Scott growled back, realizing that they’d broken the seriousness of the conversation.He could now hear someone’s footsteps approaching and moments later Liam entered the mess, reaching for the coffee pot.

“I see you both are hard at work,’ he commented as he dumped three packets of sugar in his coffee and a packet of powdered creamer.

Eyeing the mixture, Scott pulled his half empty cup closer to his body, his teeth aching just watching Liam add stuff to his coffee. “We are. Just discussing our next mission.”

“Yeah?The last minute switch means that Evfra told you something important right?”

“Well... there might be Turians on Havarl,” Scott admitted to Liam.

“An Ark?”

“Maybe.At least some cryo pods if what Evfra said was accurate.Turians have been seen on Havarl so—“

“Fuck yeah!This means at least the Turian ark made it to Heleus too,” Liam chattered excitedly. “Aren’t you excited?” He asked Vetra.

“I am, but the details mean that it might not be the whole ark—it could just be some jettisoned cryo pods and the ark is still missing but it’s a lead.”

“But it means someone else made it.That’s huge!”It was hard to be a downer in the face of Liam’s enthusiasm. Scott exchanged an amused glance with Vetra. Yeah... it was good to hear someone else might have made it.

***

2818 CE November 12th

Unnamed Resistance Base, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis

Status: I’ve got a bad feeling about this

 

After his discussion with Maiko last night, Reyes had felt more settled but still felt like something was out there, waiting to happen. Vestus and Kenax had both picked up on his restlessness—and he could tell both of them were on higher alert because of it.When Kenax asked him obliquely what was up, he only could tell his friend “I don’t know... something’s coming.” 

Kenax had nodded and looked thoughtful.Both turians had slept with weapons close to hand last night, Reyes had slept poorly.The plan had been to leave as early as possible for their first trading mission to Elaaden as it would take almost a full 24 hours given the route he planned on taking. Only Reyes and the turians were going as Maiko had stuff to do with the plants and Alzik was assisting her. Julia had something she was working on with Maiko’s boyfriend but had been vague when asked for details.

Reyes just knew something was going to happen... and soon. He’d give anything for the weird creepy feeling at the back of his mind to shut off and tell him to relax. Maybe it was just nerves about their trip? 

Maybe... or maybe not.

Sitting in his pilot cradle, Reyes ran through the preflight checklist in a perfectly organized dance with Kenax. Their fingers moved in concert as they activated the engines in the correct order and rechecked the checks they’d done yesterday due to Reyes’ odd feeling. Vestus was strapped down in his customary jump seat, just outside of the cockpit area. Reyes hadn’t said anything when Vestus had packed a weapons locker this morning and Kenax had merely clapped his shoulders and propelled him onto the ship. Keema had wished them good luck and said she’d keep an eye on their friends as she could also tell that Reyes was feeling.... freaked... no he’d call it concerned. He just wasn’t sure what he was concerned about and that was the worst part of it.

As the engines hummed to life, their familiar sound was comforting. Having spent so much time in ships for his adult life, the sound of the well tuned engines told Reyes that his ship was ready and in good condition. He’d just have to get over his preoccupation with whatever was bugging him.

Finishing their process, Reyes took the controls and gently lifted off.It was still dark out and they’d be flying without lights but the ships sensors laid out the mountains around them in good detail and he accelerated smoothly, following the path they’d previously taken with a few deviations in case anyone was watching. Soon they were leaving atmosphere and he said a silent ‘see you later’ to Kadara as he input the coordinates for Elaaden.The course they’d plotted would actually take them the long way round to make it look like they were coming from deep space.Most of the pirate routes were on direct lanes between Kadara and Elaaden.They were going wildly out of their way so they’d have a clean approach.

“So far so good,” Kenax told him as he accepted the VI’s course corrections and they were off.

“Yeah.So far so good,” Reyes murmured, eyes just briefly sliding to meet his friend’s before focusing back on the HUD.“So far so good.”

***

The journey to Elaaden ended up being almost anticlimactic. Other than going the long way around, it hadn’t been a particularly challenging route to take.Reyes had been mapping the entire way, deciding where he could use gravity assists in the future as well as good places to hide if they got a tail following them.

Approaching Elaaden, he could see where they were headed was the port that had been established close to the Krogan colony.They would not be allowed into the colony on this trip per his discussion with Tarbok. Tarbok had given strict instructions about who they were to contact upon landing as clan Nakmor ran the port. Normally there would be fees involved but as they were importing for the clan’s personal use, they were getting around these fees.They’d also not be charged the usual export fees. 

Tarbok wouldn’t be able to do anything about the fees the outcasts would claim if he landed in Kadara Port.Reyes planned on making it look like he’d taken most of his cargo trade in credits when it came to the docks—but in reality it would be a 50/50 split. As they entered atmosphere and set down, Reyes made note that it would be difficult to be intercepted while doing so due to the steep angle required to make it to port and not overshoot into the huge hole in the ground.

Huh... ‘note to self, don’t fall into the gigantic hole’ he thought as they approached the port.

Tarbok himself was there when they landed, greeting Reyes with a hearty clasp and a, for a Krogan, gentle headbutt. He hadn’t thought he’d made such a good impression on the krogan but evidently he had.Vestus and Kenax just were silently amused, their eyes telling Reyes that they’d rib him later for this after his ears stopped ringing and he felt less dazed.Tarbok had brought a small army of younger krogan to offload and reload their ship.Reyes took close notice of all the cargo that they were exchanging, opening and double checking with Vestus and Kenax as each new crate was exchanged for a water barrel.all three of them were watching closely as other exiles moved about the space port—some of which were watching them with interest as they were unknown. Reyes marked a few that looked like they might be willing to shiv a man to get his cargo but the presence of the krogans moving about kept the other inhabitants away.

“When we come for our next load, would it be possible to get things loaded in the water barrels?That way we don’t have to continually find new ones...” He murmured as he inspected the load of silica that was in that crate.

“Should be able to.Makes sense,” Tarbok agreed and tapped on his omnitool to send Reyes the credits he owed—8 credits per liter of water when Tarbok could charge a minimum of 10 credits per liter to his people or more if they weren’t clan Nakmor. “That should be the last of it.I got two thousand liters of water, so that’ll be sixteen thousand credits.”

Reyes’ own omnitool chirped and he accepted the transfer of credits, the agreed upon amount. “I’ll see you in five days then,”

Tarbok gave him another enthusiastic clap on the shoulder as his people departed the ship. “Watch out for yourself Vidal.Keema was right about you.Pleasure doing business.”

“The same,” Reyes said and tried not to wince as he was given another very gentle headbutt which made Tarbok laugh uproariously as he walked away. 

“Let’s get out of here,”. Reyes told his companions, not wanting to tarry given the krogans were busy hauling away their trade and they’d soon be alone on their landing pad with the locals.

“Yes lets,” Kenax agreed, shepherding Reyes towards the cockpit where they both sat down and began to speed through their checks. Seemed they both didn’t want to hang out in the heat.

Vestus kept eyes on the environment around them but nobody approached and they soon were lifting off and headed off planet, the ascent smooth and before Reyes knew it, out of atmosphere and headed back towards deep space.They’d need to vary their arrival and departure points but today he didn’t think there’d be anyone looking for them as it was a first run. 

Every run after this would be a bit more exciting as the pirates operating out of Elaaden likely now knew what their ship and crew looked like. Reyes would hate to be predictable. As the Exodus took off and started climbing in the atmosphere without signs of anyone following, Reyes tried to relax but still felt tense.Even as they left atmosphere his body just refused to let him calm down.

He was about done with this feeling.

“Relax,” Kenax finally said, aware Reyes was still keyed up.“So far no signs of anyone following us.”

“I know.Maybe I just woke up on the wrong side of my bedroll today.”

“Or you know something subconsciously and you’re just not fully aware of whatever’s bugging you.”Kenax gave him a concerned look before turning his attention back to the HUD.“You’ve got good instincts, just listen to them.Nothing is currently going on.”

“I know...” Reyes ground out, sighing in frustration. “Believe me I know.”

***

Returning to Kadara was quiet.Vestus had taken a nap in the back and was well refreshed by the time they landed. Guiding the Exodus down in the valley, it was late, almost 2300.As the engines cycled down, Reyes tried to take a deep breath and tell his brain to shut up.No signs of being followed. Nothing. They’d done the first run without any issues.

As the airlock cycled, several angarans quickly began unloading the ship.Maiko was standing at the entrance to the caves and checked each container before giving directions for where it belonged. Grabbing one of the smaller crates that had eezo canisters in it, Reyes hefted it above one shoulder and joined the off loaders. Stepping up to Maiko, he told her, “It’s the eezo supplies.Do you want them in your lab?”

Face tired, Maiko nodded. “Yes.Alzik and I were hoping they’d send some in the first batch since we already have a few uses for it. Can you put it on the workbench next to the fabricator?”

“Sure.Where’s Julia?”Reyes said as he adjusted the heavy crate.

“They’re not back yet.Tovrel sent me an update saying Julia had met some doctor and was going on a date.He’s skulking about it but waiting for her so she’ll be safe.” Maiko said absentmindedly as she peeked into the crate Vestus had in his hands.

“A date?” Reyes asked, aware he was holding up the line.

“That’s what he said.Get moving...” Maiko told him as she gestured for Vestus to take his crate with Reyes.

Walking deeper into the caves, Reyes took the second left into the cavern that Alzik and Maiko had made into their workroom with the motion activated lighting system coming on with Reyes’ presence.Working his way through the cluttered area, around various parts of machinery in various states of completion, he found a corner of the large bench on the right wall that was Maiko’s and placed the crate on it.Vestus—who had followed him—put his crate right next to Reyes.

“It’s getting late for them to be back,” was Vestus’ comment.

“Yeah it is,” Reyes agreed.He was tired from not sleeping but somehow the news that Julia and Tovrel were not back safe at home worried him.

Returning to the ship, Reyes continued to help finish unloading which took until almost midnight. Dead on his feet, he found himself stripping down to his underclothes before crawling into his bedroll.Kenax and Vestus were right behind him and he was out almost as soon as he pulled his sleeping bag over his chest to snuggle down into slightly cool fabric. It’d been a long day.

***

Three hours later, Reyes woke up as a hard shove turned him over onto his back and the cold air hit him as his sleeping bag was pulled back. “Reyes..... Reyes!” Was the loud whisper of Maiko’s voice as she shoved him again trying to wake him up.

Groggily, Reyes tried to fend off Maiko’s hands that were ice cold. “Wha.... what?”

“Julia’s not home and Tovrel isn’t answering my comms....” Maiko said, her voice pressured and anxious.

“What time is it?” He asked her quietly, sitting up and pulling his over shirt that he’d discarded next to his bedroll on as the cool air of the cave made him start shivering.He could hear the snoring from next to him that said neither Vestus or Kenax were awake.

“Almost four. They should have been home hours ago....” Reyes couldn’t see Maiko’s face in the dim light but he could hear she was scared.

“Wake up Vestus and Kenax.I’m going to go get one of the shuttles warmed up,” Reyes said as he pulled on his pants and grabbed his boots, pulling them on as he stood.

Giving a sigh, Maiko touched Kenax’s shoulder which she barely laid a hand on before she was gripped tightly by two turians twisting like a startled cat and pinning her in place, a set of mismatched knives held to her threateningly before they realized who had disturbed their sleep. “Maiko?” was Vestus’ calm question.

Finishing putting his other boot on, Reyes whispered urgently, “Julia’s not home.We’re going to the port to find her.”

Neither turian balked and they quickly jumped to their feet, Kenax briefly apologizing to Maiko who sounded fragile—which wasn’t a word that Reyes usually associated with her.

Running ahead after he’d grabbed his jacket, Reyes jumped in one of the smaller angaran style cruisers and began checks. The ship was emptied and usually only required one pilot. Rapidly cycling through the checks, he had the engines running by the time Vestus and Kenax jumped onboard, pulling Maiko and Keema with them.

“Get buckled in,” Reyes told them as he hit the command to shut the door.

***

The ride to the port was tense.Reyes could hear quiet murmuring conversation between Keema and Maiko. As he contacted the port and landed on the appropriate bay, Reyes shut down the engines as his companions unbuckled.

“We’re going to split up into two teams to look for Julia and Tovrel.Kenax and Reyes, then myself Maiko and Keema,” Vestus announced, shooting a significant look at both Kenax and Reyes who didn’t say anything other than nod in agreement. Maiko made a small noise of protest but otherwise didn’t argue.

Keema, aware that they all keyed up, merely stated to Reyes, “Keep in contact. Check in every fifteen minutes. No reply within five minutes of check in time and we assume that the others are in trouble. The other team will then radio the base for more support.”

“Agreed. Maiko,” Reyes gentled his voice. “Did Maiko or Tovrel tell you anything else?Anything we should know?”

“She said that her date was at Tartarus in the slums. A doctor she said—implied he was a medical doctor—but didn’t give me his name.I didn’t think to ask as I was too busy in my lab.”Maiko’s voice was thready but loud enough to understand. “Tovrel said he was going to hang out in another section of the bar while she had her date.He told me he’d let her have her fun but stay available in case he wasn’t a good date.”

“Tovrel’s last comm came from a relay station in the market, however,” Told them.

“So you take the marketplace,” Reyes told Keema.“We’ll take the slums and Tartarus.”

“If necessary I will speak with those that I know that still live up here,” Keema agreed.

They quickly split up, calling in their comm checks like they should with brief updates—nothing as of yet. Keema had found the comm relay that the last message had come through and checked the traffic on it as it was Angaran tech.She was able to trace back that Tovrel’s message hadn’t come from the marketplace but had been relayed from there, most likely from the slums but they would rule out a few other places topside first before joining Reyes and Kenax. Taking the elevator down, Reyes tried not to fidget in impatience. Kenax looked bored but Reyes could tell that his friend was just as anxious as him to find Julia and Tovrel.

Once off the lift, the first place they went was Tartarus which was winding down business for the night.The bouncers at the door recognized Reyes from his earlier visit and just nodded as he walked past, having been informed by Kian that he was now renting the back room. The bar and dance floor remained loud but sparsely populated, the dance cages still occupied by frenetic dancers despite the late hour.It didn’t take Reyes long to discover that Julia wasn’t in the main room.Kian was at the bar and busy but Reyes waited patiently for Kian to notice him.

Kian approached and nodded to a side alcove that was more sheltered from the noise so they could talk.Reyes pulled up an image of Julia on his omnitool and asked the bartender if he’d seen her.

“She was here earlier with Nakamoto and his entourage.Kelly doesn’t let him go anywhere on his own anymore—too valuable to her,” Kian told Reyes, a small frown on his face.“They were here until may 2ish and drank quite a bit.”

“What about him?” Reyes asked as he showed a picture of Tovrel.

Kian squinted at the picture.“I think he was the one that got in the argument with the two Outcasts. I had him escorted outside and they followed him.Was shortly before the girl left with Nakamoto.”

Reyes thanked Kian and slipped him a few credits for his intel which got him a grin as the barkeeper returned to his usual spot.Reyes wondered if the man ever slept or if he just propped himself up behind the bar when he got too tired.He made a mental note to set up a financial agreement with Kian for intel in the future.

Stepping outside, Reyes had a brief chat with both bouncers and they echoed Kian’s story but had more information on Tovrel.“The Outcast patrol snatched him up quick.Probably threw him out into the badlands after stripping him of all his stuff.He’d pissed off someone.”

Fuck, Reyes thought as he met Kenax’s concerned look. Stepping into he shadows, Reyes commed Keema. “We think Tovrel got shoved out into the badlands. I don’t know if I want to approach the guard post at this time of night but someone needs to get outside to see if he’s out there.”

“I’ll have someone make the overland trek—it’ll be a bit dangerous but even outlaws sleep at some point,” Keema told him. “Keep looking for Julia.Tovrel knows to stick close to the outside walls until we come for him.The predators out there don’t come close to the port walls—too much light and noise—so he’ll be alright if that’s all that happened.” 

“Roger.We’re going to go check out deeper into the slums unless you know where Nakamoto lives?”

“He lives with Kelly’s forces.I’ll see if anyone up here has a seen anything.”

Reyes toggled his comm off.“Let’s go,” he told Kenax.

Kenax just nodded, his silent Turian shadow as he confidently walked deeper into the slums.There was only one prostitute working, the male who gave Reyes a smile as he passed but didn’t press him. The crossroads was shuttered that Reyes had visited previously. Most of the slums inhabitants seemed to have closed up shop for the night. 

Returning to the prostitute, Reyes approached the man directly which got his attention. “I’m looking for information not other services,” Reyes told him as the man gave him a hungry look.

This made the man’s face go blank and businesslike, the sultry pose he’d adopted when Reyes had approached becoming less overtly sexual. “What did you have in mind?”

Kenax indicated that he couldn’t see anyone watching them and Reyes nodded. “I’m looking for this woman,” Reyes said as he pulled up the picture of Julia.“She was with Dr. Nakamoto earlier and hasn’t come home.”

The prostitute studied the picture.“You care about her?”

“She’s a good friend,” Reyes allowed, tone neutral.

“Well if she’s a good friend she picked a horrible date. Nakamoto tends to have his female company end up drugged and then given to the rest of the Outcast animals—the ones even we won’t deal with.About twice a month they end up dead and thrown over the wall.”

“But did you see her tonight?” Reyes asked, his pulse picking up with the man’s information.

“She looks similar to the girl I saw with them tonight when I was coming back from my last, ahem, business deal. If that was the girl, she was on Nakamoto’s arm and already high as a kite.”The man’s face looked sad as he watched Reyes’ reaction.“I’m sorry if she’s your friend but it usually doesn’t end well.”

“So Nakamoto uses them and then they get torn up?”Reyes asked, trying to get more information.

The prostitute sighed, running a hand through his short hair. “I’ve been to those after parties. It’s not so much Nakamoto gives them to his guard dogs as that he’s too wasted to stop them.”

“Where are these parties held?”Reyes knew his voice was cold and calculating but figured this was appropriate so didn’t try to censor himself.

“I can show you but I’m not going in.... and honestly it’s too late if it’s her.They went by almost two hours ago.If it was her and she makes it, she’ll be let go in the morning.” 

“I don’t care.I’ll pay whatever you want for the information and the escort.”Kenax shifted in the shadows as Reyes made his offer.

“I’m happy to take you there.... this one’s on me though.If she’s your friend... it’s good that someone still has them down here.”The man wound his arm through Reyes and began pulling him deeper into the slums down an alley that Reyes hadn’t gone down before.

“I insist,”Reyes told him quietly as he hit a few buttons on his omnitool to transfer a sizable amount of credits, way more than he’d given Kian. “I don’t want you or me owing any favors.”

“You made sure Ruby got paid the other night and you’re looking for your friend. I don’t need payment for this.”

“Then consider it a gift,” Reyes told him, refusing to make eye contact as he watched the shadows of the walkway for movement.

As they took a few turns, he could hear a deep thrum of music coming from a larger, hanger like structure ahead.

“This is as far as I go.Good luck,If you need help again, my name is Colton but I go by Topaz down here” the male said, indicating that the archway where the sounds were coming from was where Reyes was looking for.

“Thanks again,” Reyes told the rapidly disappearing man as he eyed the dimly lit entryway with a slumped figure laying against the wall, dead asleep instead of keeping watch.“Comm Keema.I’m going to see if there’s another way to slip in.Nobody’s guarding this place and it’s probably because they’re all stoned or drunk.” 

Kenax didn’t look happy but he nodded his agreement. Reyes slipped one of his knives out of his boot and slipped down the side of the wall around the hanger. He did find another gap in the corrugated metal walls that would be just big enough for him or Julia to slip through but did require some wriggling.

Once inside, Reyes saw a bunch of couches surrounding a bonfire that was burning low. The music was turned up but most of the figures inside were passed out on the couches—maybe six in total including the two busy by the fire. Two men were busy coupling right next to the fire, completely naked. The larger one holding the smaller one down with his greater weight as he grunted with each thrust, his partner obviously enjoying himself and mewling for ‘more daddy’. There was movement off to the right side in the dark where a few mattresses had been strewn and the sounds of rough coupling reached Reyes’ ears, a female sounding voice whimpered continuously with the rhythmic slap of flesh meeting and a bass male grunt of satisfaction. He didn’t see Julia’s red hair anywhere around the fireplace and there was nobody who was small enough to be her on the couches.

Sticking to the shadows, Reyes made his way around the room until he reached the mattresses. The first two he saw were occupied with men that were asleep as well as the asari he’d seen with the scarred face, from the appearance of things they’d been fucking as well and fallen asleep after, bags of white powder that had spilled on the back of a datapad that they’d been cutting lines on.All of them were asleep and smelled heavily of spilled alcohol, bodily fluids and smoke. Wrinkling his nose, Reyes didn’t see Julia and continued on, stepping over discarded clothing and weapons. Now that he was closer, the female noises were coming from a curtained off alcove which he headed for next.

Taking his knife, he used the tip to pull the curtain just far enough aside that he could see two men fucking a red headed woman.... who was not Julia. The woman was taking both men at once and, when he looked a bit closer at her, was the same prostitute he’d demanded be payed the last time he was in the slums.The men were close and finished as Reyes watched and the male with his back to Reyes pulled out just as he finished so he could spray the woman and the other man with his semen. Classy... Reyes thought to himself snidely as he pulled away and continued his search.

There were three more alcoves with curtains on them but there was only the noise of snores that he could hear from the outside. He inspected each alcove similar to the first—none of which continued a female of Julia’s size and description. Stymied, Reyes cast around for where he could have missed her before giving in and heading back the way he’d came.He was just passing the first alcove when the woman he’d previously met stumbled out, having difficulty with her legs as she pulled her clothing on.

Their eyes met in startle ent and Reyes held his finger up and “shhh’d” her, grabbing her hand and pulling her around in the shadows until he could exit the same way he’d come in. She hadn’t resisted him but looked started to see him once they were back in the hallway and far enough down that they wouldn’t be heard.Pulling up Julia’s picture, Reyes showed it to her.“Have you seen this woman?” He asked in a hushed whisper.

The woman’s eyes darted back and forth from the picture to Reyes and then back again to the picture.Her face was sad and she hesitated to speak. “Do you know her?”He asked again.

She put her hand on his omnitool and deactivated it, the picture winking out. “She was here tonight.You should stop looking for her.”

Reyes closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Do you know where she is?

The red head looked around nervously and bit her lips after licking them, shaking her head. “I.... she’s.... “

“Where is she?” Kenax growled from the shadows, stepping out so the prostitute could see him.

Reyes put a calming hand on her wrist before she could do anything. “He’s with me.We’re just looking for our friend—we think she might be in trouble.”

The woman looked like she wanted to cry and her increasing sad look was not reassuring at all. “She’s dead. I saw them take her body out and throw it down the chute earlier.She couldn’t handle the “fun” they were having but kept insisting she could keep up. Insisted that the doc inject her since she didn’t like snorting things.”

Rage flooded Reyes and the woman shrank from him, obviously reading his anger. “Who did this?Where is she?”

A few tears leaded out of her eyes and she compassionately put her shaking hand on his forearm, realizing that Reyes wasn’t going to lash out at her. “It happened before I went to earn my fee...maybe an hour or two ago.They throw the bodies out the chute... it’s that way.Empties out into the badlands and the scavengers keep things clean so they don’t have any smell.”

Reyes gave a sharp nod.“Thank you,” he hit a couple of buttons and transferred some credits her way.“Get out of here.You don’t want to be here.”

Her bright red hair, so similar to Julia’s bobbed as she nodded, eyes huge and still leaking tears, skittering past Reyes and Kenax as she took off down the alleyway away from them and not looking back.

“Reyes....” Kenax said in warning, a vibrating growl coming from deep within the Turian’s throat. He already had his own knife in his hand and was looking back the way they’d come, obviously ready to get revenge on those who’d harmed his family.

“Tell Keema to take the ship and pick up Tovrel and... Julia’s body.We’ll need pick up out there.”Taking his own knife, Reyes swiftly went back to the entrance and the asleep guard.He didn’t hesitate when in one powerful swing he buried the vibroblade in the man’s throat, a gurgle and brief struggle as the man died under his hands, blood staining the Outcast blue of his armor almost black. Reyes could feel Kenax right behind him and saw the knife in his friend’s hand flash.Seemed they were of a similar opinion of what the response should be for something like this.

Another human male seemed to have heard the noise from the dying guard and approached the entryway, Kenax’s blade and hands took care of this one. Reyes picked up the assault rifle from the dead man’s hands and checked the chamber. Putting the shoulder strap around himself, he let the gun hang loose as he entered the room and found each sleeping Outcast member. Between him and Kenax... they killed half of them before anyone knew they were there. The two men who’d been having sex earlier died under Kenax’s blades, quietly. Reyes had just pulled his knife from the throat of a Turian when he was thrown against the wall by a biotic lift and pinned there.

Luckily for Reyes, Kenax’s next response was to put two bullets into the naked asari’ s head, her death releasing Reyes from where he was pinned. Chaos erupted and naked Outcasts tried to figure out what was happening but died quickly. In the mix of things, Maiko wielding Vestus’ spare knife and Vestus with his biotics both showed up. Vestus’s form glowed blue as he swept the Outcast members off their feet to be felled by his friend’s knives until there was just one Outcast left alive—a thin Asian man, he was half naked and made no attempt to protect himself or interfere.

Looking around, Reyes noted that it appeared everyone else was dead.He approached the man, aware that a significant amount of blood now covered him. “You must be Nakamoto?”

The man was shaking as he looked around himself. “This is about Julia.... isn’t it?”

“It is,” Reyes assured him, voice cold and flat. “Do you know where she is?”

“Where they put them all,” the man admitted. “The chute at the end of the alley leads to the badlands.... her body will be down it.”

“And did you give her drugs? Oblivion? Inject her?” Reyes inquired as he stepped closer, his hand tightening around the blood slicked handle of his knife. Maiko was just behind him and had her hand wrapped around his wrist, holding him back from burying it in Nakamoto’s gut.

“What did you do to my sister?”Was Maiko’s cold question, her voice frosty and flat.

“What she asked me to?I told her that it was a bad idea to come with me... she said she liked living dangerously and... she laughed when I told her bad things happened to girls who stuck around me.She didn’t get it when I said my ‘friends’ liked rough trade. She took it as a challenge.... said she could take whatever we gave her....”. Maiko’s hand flashed out and she slapped Nakamoto so hard that he rocked sideways with the force of it, falling to his knees having traveled almost a meter.

“What part of speaking with a woman means ‘I’m going to dug you’?”Reyes asked in a falsely pleasant tone.“What part of being with a woman means ‘I may pass you around to my friends’?Because,” and he paused for dramatic effect as he crouched in front of the man who hadn’t stood up. “that’s no way to treat anyone, let alone a nice girl like Julia.”

“You don’t understand!,” Nakamoto exclaimed.“If I don’t go along with things they’ll kill me!”

Reyes, crouched on his heels, stared pitilessly at the sniveling man in the poor light, his face in shadow making him appear as a shade come to life. “Kill you?I can think of much worse things to do than to kill you. You rapist, drugging puta!”

Reyes paused as he felt Maiko’s hand on his shoulder, gripping firmly in a command to stop. He stood, allowing her to approach Nakamoto who was a pitiful figure, cringing away from her, his own eyes with blown pupils showing he was under the influence of his own creations. “We’re not going to kill you.... no. What we’re going to do is make sure that everyone knows that you let us in, let us kill your entire protection squad. And you’re going to tell Sloane Kelly that you’re not going to make any more of your product for her.You’re going to spend the rest of your life in fear of us... in fear of the Collective.Because, if you step out of line one time, if you make one more bad choice.... I will turn you over to Anubis and ask him to make you feel each moment of pain, each moment of suffering all of those girls that you’ve let get rapped and drugged... each moment of fear... you’re going to experience before you die. You better try and make up for your sins... or the Collective will come for you.” 

Reaching out her hand, Maiko took some of the blood from her clothing, the blood of two men she’d killed and rubbed a circle on Nakamoto’s chest before taking her knife and pressing it just enough to carve it into his chest as if she were following a pattern.She then drew three lines through the bottom half of the circle with her knife.“So you’ll know our mark.Be on your best behavior Doctor.... we’ll be watching and waiting for your mistakes to take you.”

Maiko then stood and kicked the man in the face, breaking his nose and making him give a gurgling scream as his head snapped back. Turning, she pulled Reyes with her as she turned to go down the alley in the direction of the chute. Reyes could hear both Turians following them, giving their own kicks to Nakamoto.Even in the haze of fatigue, anger, and bloodlust, he wanted to ask Maiko why Nakamoto wasn’t dead... but figured it could wait. Less than a minute later, they were standing in front of a meter by meter garbage chute that smelled strongly of waste. Maiko stood in front of it before looking at Reyes. “This is our way out.Keema will be outside with Tovrel... and Julia,” her face scrunched up like she was about to cry and she gave one sob before composing herself and her face again becoming a cold mask of fury. “The plans Keema gave us say there’s about a two meter drop at the end.Might be some scavengers at this time of night... might not.”

“It’s a way out,” Reyes agreed, opening the door to the chute. The smell of trash was stronger as well as the smell of rotting meat and sulfur but he ignored it.Putting his knife back in his boot, he looked at Maiko. “Count to twenty and then follow me.Vestus and Kenax, you follow. Whoever’s last pull the door closed after you.”

The trip down the chute was disgusting and not something Reyes ever wanted to repeat, the drop at the end was less than he’d been expecting and he landed on several bags of trash, scattering small animals that had been finding their dinner in the heap.As he tumbled down towards the bottom, he lit his omnitool once he came to a stop.Ten paces away, he could see Julia’s red hair in a tangled cloud.He could hear Maiko coming behind him and he pulled his jacket off—it was ruined anyways and Yaansa would make him another when asked—and he cradled Julia’s cool body, putting the jacket around her and tucking her porcelainface into his chest so Maiko wouldn’t have to look at the milky pale green eyes that were unblinking in death.Julia had been wearing a tight fitting outfit that Yaansa had made for her, black and emerald green to set off her fair skin and bright hair. Julia had loved the outfit and said it made her feel like she could take on the world.Seeing that she was still wearing her pants, they were dirty and torn in places but still intact. Her left arm that dangled from Reyes grasp had a large bruise in the inner part of the elbow.... where the drugs had been injected. Oh Julia.... always willing to try something new... fearless as well as reckless.The little sister he’d never knew he’d wanted. Reyes silently cried as he waited for Maiko to join him.

“It’s her?” Was the soft question. As she huddled close to him, her hands stroking Julia’s body through Reyes’ jacket and crying just as he was.

“It’s her,” he replied.

Two loud thumps announced Kenax and Vestus’ arrival through the chute.

“Signal Keema with our location,” Reyes ordered them, not looking away from where he held Julia, Maiko leaning heavily on him.Vestus moved so he was blocking the cold wind from hitting them as Kenax stepped out far enough to signal Keema.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE April 17th_

 

_Change of plans. We’re now headed to Havarl instead of Voeld—which I suppose I’m most excited about the change as we might be on the trial of the Turian ark.There’s been Turians spotted on Havarl and wreckage of cryo pods... which means they’re from the ark not exiles. I’m still very concerned about the ticking clock on finding the Moshae but I have the feeling that Evfra isn’t going to let me near her unless I prove myself in some other way first. Whoever my ghost is, he’s a hard man to follow.Evfra as much as told me that my ghost is an exile._

_Speaking of which... I wonder if he’s the same unnamed one that Vetra knows, this prior Alliance Navy guy or if he worked for the citadel council.From the incomplete records that could be a lot of exiles.I could press her but I think she’s right—plausible deniability may be important at some point if Tann tries to corner me about this._

_The more I learn of whatever happened, the more I’m pretty sure that everything was handled poorly on the Initiative side and Sloane Kelly’s side—who my ghost evidently doesn’t belong to either of them. Vetra doesn’t seem to have a high opinion of her... which from reading her dossier... what the fuck Dad?Did you let Jien Garson pick someone who obviously was probably unfit for a command post?I don’t care how “spirited” she was and how much “she impressed” Garson. Then again... I was discharged too under, shall we call it, less than ideal circumstances._

_The hardest thing about this some days is... that I’m still angry at you Dad.Some days unspeakably so. You wrecked all my hard work, only told me half of what I was getting into and I still signed the fucking paperwork to come. Maybe I’m just an idiot... but I’m still angry too. I miss you and I’m so angry. But I also miss you too. Which is why some of the reasons things were done frustrate me so much.I just want to be able to sit and talk with you, ask you why.Just why._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love, kudos appreciated. Thanks for reading


	27. Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

 

2819 CE April 22nd

Heleus (aka Habitat 3), Faroang, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Welcome to the jungle

The two day journey to Faroang was a brief respite that Scott didn’t realize he’d needed in order to catch up somewhat on paperwork and his team. Peebee and Lexi were having some sort of spat about something that neither of them would admit to Scott what it was about. Vetra seemed in the know and had told him that it wasn’t something that he needed to worry about. Cora had found it all hilarious and just snickered when she showed up to read in his room late at night when he asked her about it.It was an asari thing she told him—he didn’t really need to know. Giving up, Scott had instead focused on getting a game plan together for rescuing the missing scientists.

Havarl, previously known as Habitat 3, was originally supposed to be a lush garden world with abundant supplies of water per their long range scans from the Milky Way—a perfect golden world.Per the reports Jaal forwarded him from Evfra, that wasn’t exactly the case anymore.Jungle world, yes. Habitable? Well it depended on your definition of habitable. Per the reports, Havarl had undergone a massive transformation after the arrival of the Scourge. Havarl was the ancestral homeland of the Angara and it had a special place in their hearts which Jaal made sure Scott understood. The arrival of the Kett had been devastating to Havarl and it’s population and cities entered a severe decline. 

The cities of Havarl were in the process of being reclaimed by the jungle. And the jungle was fierce and hungry. The Scourge’s arrival had tipped the biodiversity of the planet dangerously with genetic mutations running rampant causing accelerated growth with plants growing huge and animals as well.The native animal population, as described by Jaal, sounded like some weird mishmash of dinosaurs with native Heleus populations.The picture that Jaal had shown Scott of a rylkor that he swore looked like it could be a dinosaur if you squinted when you looked at it. According to Jaal, rylkors, when provoked spat acid—which when Liam heard this his eyes got huge and he started murmuring something about one of his movies. An old twentieth century one that had been remade a few times but the original was still the best in Liam’s informed opinion.

Movie night that night had been the original Jurassic Park.Scott was not going to forgive Liam for introducing him to velociraptors any time soon.He’d had nightmares about being stuck in Jurassic Park and being hunted by velociraptors for two nights now.Fuck their acid spit and he was totally not sleeping with his M3 in his bedside table (he totally was). Jaal was fascinated by the movie and kept asking if it was a documentary since Cora commented on the inaccuracies when it came to portrayal of the dinosaurs.Scott let Liam handle that explanation.Peebee had almost broken something rolling on the floor laughing at Liam’s detailed explanation of film and the power of fictional story telling as social commentary.

Even Lexi had rolled her eyes at Liam for that one.

Arriving in Faroang, Jaal had delightedly informed them of the history of each planet and why they were special. Posbaar, the first planet, was the fiery protector of Faroang. Havarl was the moon of the second planet Faroang (a gas giant) and their official destination. Third was Farrum, a poisonous planet with an atmosphere of carbon dioxide and argon that turned the sky green above oceans that boiled in the light of Faroang and had towering forests of fungi. Fourth was the gas giant Yednoeth with it’s satellite Yilfaen.Yilfaen was covered by powerful storms but had large deposits of graphite, sulfur, iron and plutonium. The last object of interest in system was the comet Dawnstar which had high concentrations of nephrite but was difficult to mine due to it’s orbit.

Jaal stood next to Scott as he stood in his spot on the bridge, a scan of Havarl in front of him as the Tempest integrated with the Map Evfra had given him.The navigation data suggested landing in a less densely forested part of a plateau that was within walkable distance to the research station the missing scientists were based out of—Pelaav Research Station—which was small but had a steady population of scientists and Resistance fighters. The map also identified two monoliths similar to the ones he’d experienced on Eos.Scott hadn’t said anything to Jaal about the monoliths but he’d addended the growing task list in his mind to add vault activation. Turians had been seen in areas that were accessible from the research station but would require overland travel as the forest was too dense to allow the Tempest to land.Older maps indicated that this area of Havarl was riddled with narrow canyons and Remnant buildings that had been adapted long ago by Angara but were now being retaken by the jungle. Unhelpfully, Jaal was from the other side of the planet and was unfamiliar with the area they were haded to.

There was also a footnote from Evfra that was a warning: high concentration of Roekaar fighters.

“So the Roekaar are an offshoot of the Resistance that xenophobically targets anyone non-angaran?”Scott asked Jaal.

Jaal, fidgeting to show his discomfort with Scott’s line of questioning tried to deflect, “They are not part of the Resistance.They don’t coordinate tactical goals with us and are known to raid our supplies.”

“So will they shoot you too because you’re with me?”Scott pointedly asked.

Jaal sighed, shoulders slumping. “There is a good chance they will,” he allowed finally.

Great.So add probably hostile angaran force that will be difficult to tell apart from the friendly ones. Sighing himself, Scott tried not to get frustrated before they even landed. SAM’s scans suggested that it would be tough going as the jungle was dense and the area they were landing in was going to be no man’s land. “Well, good to know.Kallo, take us down to the LZ. Everyone on the ground team get geared up.”

He supposed the one advantage they had was because it was one of the golden worlds there’d been an advanced deployment module automatically sent to orbit around Havarl.So they’d have FOBs to deploy once they were on the ground for supplies. So at least they’d not have to carry heavy supply packs while hacking their way through the jungle.

As they descended, Kallo had been slightly disturbed when he saw the same flying animals that Scott had seen from a distance on Habitat 7. The large flying animals undulated in the sky and were unbothered as the Tempest passed them by.His entire team had congregated on the bridge and those that hadn’t been on Habitat 7 were fascinated by the creatures.Up close, Scott couldn’t really recognize anything that looked like a head or mouth but the animal most reminded him of a manta ray by how it moved through the air, body fluttering in the air currents with wings that rippled in the invisible current.He vaguely wondered what it ate but decided that as long as it left him and the Tempest alone he’d leave the creature alone and just watch it fly from a distance.

Just another day in Heleus.

***

Kallo, like the professional he was, neatly set them down on the plateau they’d identified.Due to the wind, there were less tree (if one could call the overgrown fern-like plants and giant fungi trees) here so the Tempest was able to sit on a small rise without crunching the vegetation on it’s way by gravity to the ground. Scott was wearing his armor and had his guns mag-locked in place as the Tempest’s engines cycled down to idle and then silenced, the light vibratory thrum stopping as the thrust cut out abruptly with landfall, not even a jolt as the landing gear bit into the plateau rock base and they were officially on another planet. The readings outside the Tempest showed a warm and humid planet, heavy amount of plant spores in the atmosphere but nothing that should impede breathing without a helmet.Scott had his helmet attached to his hip and wore a small tactical visor across both eyes instead that gave him clear sight lines but still gave him some of the same functionality as a full HUD on his helmet.

He felt much less claustrophobic with just the visor. Vetra had given it to him when she’d heard what happened on Habitat 7.Her look of understanding as he’d grimaced about having to wear his Dad’s helmet on Eos had been noticed. Scott had been beyond touched by her getting him the visor.

Looking at the rest of his team, Jaal was wearing his own armor with the flowing protective cloak he’d called a rofjinn and had the angaran version of an assault rifle clipped to his armor. Vetra, Liam and Cora had their usual load outs while Peebee had added a kett rifle to her usual gear along with a backpack so she could store samples. Drack had an impressive looking shotgun but otherwise was nonchalantly leaning against the bulkhead doors, waiting for the airlock to cycle.

“Everyone ready?” Scott asked, rolling his shoulders to try and get the tight knots in his muscles to relax.Yoga hadn’t helped this morning at all despite doing his usual sun salutations and a few extra back bends and twists in addition to calisthenics.

A chorus of positive replies was his answer and he signaled SAM to open the airlock, warm, humidified air hitting his face as it opened with a scent that he attributed to tropical environments—plants, soil, water with a metallic tang to the air.Suvi, Gil and Kallo would remain onboard and maintain the Tempest. The rest of them were going to go check out the research station before he decided on further duties. It was approximately a one and a half kilometer march to the research station and it was midmorning already and the temperature was rising. Thankful for his armor’s cooling feature, Scott set off down the ramp, following the heading on his visor to where the station should be, his team falling in behind him with gaps between to allow for tactical space. They’d evaluate on foot before even attempting to get the nomad out as it wasn’t really built for this kind of environment.

As they walked, the chatter was kept to a low hum but Scott mostly listened, just occasionally contributing to the observations of his team. He agreed with Liam that the lavender sky was unusual—he couldn’t remember being on a similar world prior to this one.The large gas giant that Havarl orbited was a pale pink in color and you could see the large weather systems that created swirls in the atmosphere.Jaal commented that the gas giant was viewable most of the day from this latitude and longitude and Scott stored that information away in the back of his mind for his report.

The ground underneath his feet was a thin layer, only about five centimeters of soft loam before turning to hard packed grey-colored clay.In some areas as they walked, the clay was scraped away to reveal harder bedrock underneath.The plants grew in every niche and ran the gamut of colors.Whereas Aya had been blue and green, Havarl reminded him more of Habitat 7, blue, green, and purple with brighter shades of neon every so often but the plants were not uniform in color.One plant was blue on one side and purple on the other with a mosaic patten to it’s genetics per his scanner.The plateau they were on had a brisk breeze that caused the fern-like plants to ripple like a sea of fronds, hiding the uneven ground. SAM privately informed Scott that the amount of genetic mutation he was finding was exponential and very abnormal. Evolution of this planet’s plant species were out of wack and possibly a symptom of the Scourge or a vault that wasn’t working right.

Small animals were seen underfoot, an odd combination of reptile and mammal that was unique to say the least and he could hear the sounds of what seemed to be insects and birds in the vegetation that he couldn’t see. He could vaguely see the giant floating animals that he’d nicknamed Mantas off far in the distance, almost at the horizon. Approaching the end of the plateau, the ground sloped down to where the research station was built into the side of the cliff side in terraced prefabricated buildings where there was a constant water source. Fabricated buildings could bee seen in a cluster, their roofs resembled sails but were solar panels that powered the station during the day with several wind turbines almost hidden by the tree line where they were protected from shuttle traffic.

Finding the ramp that was hewn into the rock, Scott continued to the station, Jaal just steps behind him, followed by Peebee, then Liam, then Cora and Drack at the rear. They’d been sighted when they landed and two angarans in Resistance colors—dark green—met Scott and Jaal as they approached. Letting Jaal take the lead, Scott waited patiently as Jaal greeted the two, saying that they were expected and Evfra should have sent word.

The two angarans eyed Scott and his team as they approached with caution but were not immediately hostile as they listened to Jaal.The one on the right, slightly more bulky than the other and with a pale face that darkened over his crown to evergreen green nodded and gestured to a larger building off to the left.“You are expected. Kiiran awaits you inside and up the stairs.She’s been waiting since last evening.”

“Thanks,” Scott added as Jaal vocalized his appreciation of their assistance. Scott nodded his head to Cora and she took up a post at the base of the stairs, pretending to check her gear as the rest of them walked up the stairs.Drack stopped next to her and made idle conversation making it look natural. They passed several Angarans as they ascended to the upper level of the research station, all of which gave them curious looks. Not all the angaran were wearing Resistance colors or uniforms but they didn’t appear to be Roekaar either.

Reaching their destination, Scott let SAM passively scan their surroundings before reaching out to open the door.The door opened quickly and he entered the darkened interior.The light within came from data screens that were hung on the walls but part of the series of rooms was open to the air outside with large windows allowing for a steady breeze to keep the building cool. Two Angarans looked up from their stations as he entered and stared at him, their looks more curious than anything else. Jaal confidently entered before Scott and asked the first one where Kiiran Dals was—their contact per Evfra’s information. The angaran Jaal spoke to peered around him to look more closely at Scott once Jaal made his request, making Jaal sigh with impatience to get the other male’s attention. 

Scott, for his part, waited patiently but was taking in everything.SAM was unobtrusively linking into the data streams around him, wheedling his way through firewalls andsifting through the information while trying not to alert anyone to the fact that an AI was in their systems. A hardline connection through Scott’s omnitool would have been better but SAM was a very capable hacker and was in the system shortly. Finally, they were directed to a secondary hallway and workshop where they found Kiiran Dals, a female angaran, hard at work over data and making distressed noises every so often.She had not noticed Jaal or Scott yet but seemed preoccupied with an algorithm that was scrolling on the screen before her. 

Jaal cleared his throat which started her, causing her to pause her work and look up at them.Kiiran was pale faced with a faint reddening around the eyes.She had mirrored curved lines extending from the outside corner of her eyes up over her crown in a tattoo similar to Paaran Shie’s, her eyes curious as she took in Scott standing next to Jaal.

“Hello.I’m Scott Ryder, Pathfinder for the Andromeda Initiative.I believe you should have been messaged by Evfra to expect us.” Scott politely introduced himself.

“Yes... Evfra did mention that he was sending us someone who could help,” Kiiran said, a doubtful look on her face as she looked up and down at Scott, seeing how much smaller than Jaal he was but not commenting specifically as to her doubts. “He did mention that it would be one of the new aliens that would be helping... but I wasn’t expecting someone like you.”

“Ah,” Scott smiled lightly and deflected the awkwardness of the conversation.He knew that next to Jaal he didn’t appear that physically imposing.“He felt that my skills would be of use to you and help prove that we are interested in collaborating with the Angarans.”

Tilting her head, Kiiran again studied him before replying. “You are not the same species as those we have seen here.”Vetra had hung back in the hallway chatting up another Angaran along with the rest of the team.

“I am not.I have been told that there are Turians here on Havarl as well.I hope to make contact with them after I have found your missing scientists.”

“And I have been sent to observe and report,” Jaal added as he crossed his arms over his chest to show his presence wasn’t just for decoration.

“Yes. That was mentioned as well,” Kiiran seemed to decide that she’d let them get to it. “One of our scientific teams was sent to evaluate power fluctuations at this site.”Kiiran changed the display on the wall to show a local map of Havarl that showed their current location as well as the surrounding canyons and plateaus. Pointing to a specific spot with her slender hand, Kiiran input a command to her workstation and the map rotated to give a 3D outlay of the land between the research station and the worksite. “The Remnant site here has had significant power fluctuations according to our data and was the last known location of the team.They have been caught in a stasis field that we have been unable to deactivate for quite some time now.Our resources here are stretched too thin which is why we requested assistance from the Resistance.”

“How long have they been in this stasis field?” Scott asked.

“Several weeks.They appear safe—just in stasis.The animals avoid this site due to the stasis field.It will take significant skills with Remnant technology to break them free which we do not currently have.Are you able to do this?”Kiiran’ s face was concerned and her tone became sad as she asked Scott.

“I won’t know until I try but I’ve had success with other Remnant technologies.Also, a member of my team is a Remnant tech specialist.”Hopefully between SAM and Peebee they’d have some luck.

“That is reassuring to hear.One of our experts has tried and has himself become entangled with the stasis field.If you are able to free them and deactivate the field we will be most thankful for your assistance.”Kiiran, now turned to Jaal. “I am surprised Evfra had the resources to send you given the current situation...”

Jaal interrupted her before she could say anything further in front of Scott, his face grimacing as he indicated for Kiiran to stop before she said anything else.“Yes.Your scientists are important and he felt that it was a mission well suited to the Pathfinder. The other.... situation... is stable for now.”

“I see,” Kiiran said, her eyes flicking between Scott and Jaal.“Evfra would know best.Do you plan on leaving today?”

“My understanding is that we should not waste time, so yes.If we could have a copy of your map we’ll be underway shortly,” Scott asked, tone businesslike but friendly.

“If it will help, yes.Your wrist tool?”Kiiran asked, pointing to Scott’s omnitool.

Scott quickly showed her how to transfer the information she wanted to Scott which she did. SAM silently confirmed reception of the map data with nav point. “Thanks,” Scott said. “Is there anything else we need to know?”

Kiiran looked thoughtful for a moment. “The Roekaar have not recently been in that canyon but it is because there are have been many rylkor reported in that area.I would advise caution as you make your way to the nav point.”

“Thanks for the heads up.We have what we call forward operating bases—FOBs—that I’d like to deploy so our communications equipment works.You should see them coming down from above atmosphere. I just wanted to warn you that they’ll be deploying so we can get your scientists.I’m happy to share any data they gather with you as well.”It seemed the Heleus-equivalent velociraptors were going to be a problem quickly. He really wished he’d skipped movie night. Maybe the FOBs would be able to tag the beasts... but he wouldn’t hold his breath on that.

Kiiran’s eyes widened at this news. “Communications equipment? Most does not work due to the jungle density and the ancient buildings dampen signals.”

Well that sounded not great.“We won’t know until I deploy them how well they work.”

“If they work you are more than welcome to use them. Our communication distance is very limited here.” Kiiran then dismissed them, obviously eager to get back to what she’d been working on before they’d interrupted.

Leaving, Jaal seemed to be chewing on something as the rest of the team fell in behind them. “These FOBs.... what do they all contain or do?”

“Mainly they’re for communication equipment, radar, limited supplies are also on them so we don’t have to carry heavy packs.Unless you want to eat our food though—you’ll need to bring some of your nutrient paste with you.”Scott answered, being slightly vague to see how much Jaal would press.

“I see,” Jaal said, sounding not at all like Scott had clarified anything. 

Scott then sent a copy of the nav point to the entire team as he approached Cora. “We’ve got a location to start with.Cora—you and Drack are on rearguard. I’m going to drop a FOB for communications relay with the Tempest at that high point up there,,” Scott pointed to the ridge behind the research station. “And then we’ll be on our way.We’re going to have to overland hike this one for now.”

Cora made a face but didn’t argue. Shortly thereafter, they had the first FOB for Havarl deployed and SAM verified that it was sending and receiving information from the Tempest with limited radar capabilities due to the terrain and old Remnant structures causing interference. However—their comm equipment would work for now. Sending a message to the Tempest to let them know where they were headed, Scott set off down the strap incline towards the bottom of the canyon they were entering, following what appeared to be a foot trail versus a game trail that was well worn through the dense undergrowth.

He wished he had a machete like an old earth explorer would have had for this kind of excursion.

And hopefully no Heleus velociraptors today. Scott didn’t think they’d get that lucky. SAM started to update him on what he’d found from snooping in the data stream of the research station as he used his omniblade to wack at some of the undergrowth. 

***

2818 CE November 13th

Unnamed Resistance Base, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective

Status: How does one stay in the shadows?

 

Keema had found Tovrel who’d been thrown broken outside the main gates, barely conscious enough to pull himself upright and lean against the wall but alive and he’d eventually heal.He hadn’t been able to tell Keema what happened, repetitively asking if she’d seen Julia, he couldn’t find Julia.... She’d hauled him into the ship by herself before going in search of the rest of them. Maiko was in shock, unable to stop touching her sister’s body until she was pulled away and then just buried her face in Vestus’ breastplate and sobbed continuously. Reyes felt so angry... but it didn’t have a focus anymore. He was covered in blood that wasn’t his own and smeared with god knows what from their trip down the trash chute. And he couldn’t stop shaking or crying. Vestus had gently picked Maiko up and taken her to the shuttle when Keema landed, Reyes had held Julia with Kenax assisting him every time he stumbled. He’d eventually made it to the shuttle on, mostly, his own steam.

Keema’s eyes dimmed as she saw Julia’s condition.She didn’t ask and just took over piloting duties from Reyes who couldn’t seem to put Julia down. Maiko’s sobs had quieted but they were all silently crying, none of them meeting each other’s eyes. The trip back to base was almost completely silent as Tovrel had fallen unconscious from where Keema had belted him in.

When they landed outside the cave system, daylight was just breaking over the mountains painting the sky a beautiful golden pink and blue with white fluffy cumulus clouds. To Reyes, he felt like the morning light was grey, everything colorful sucked out of the world. When Tefa had died, it had been a blow.Julia dying... felt different, felt like a family member had died.. and she really had been. He’d thought of her as a kid sister in so many ways... or at least what he’d always thought someone would feel for a younger sister. Fond, tolerant of her antics, protective, wanting the best for her.

Now... well he needed to do what he could for Maiko. And Tovrel... he wasn’t in good shape. Kenax had managed to at least do some basic first aid, applying pressure to any cuts still sluggishly bleeding but Tovrel had a nasty set of bruises that went over the back of his head and back. He’d been wearing comfortable town clothing, not armor, so he’d had no protection against the Outcasts that he’d angered somehow. 

They wouldn’t know what exactly happened until much later, but Tovrel had been cautiously watching Julia, noting that her behavior had become very disinhibited—more so than it should have been—and he suspected Julia had been drugged before she willingly accepted anything else shortly after midnight when he’d sent his last comm through the relay comm buoy.Per Tovrel’s tale, Julia had accepted the invitation of the doctor to have a drink with him while in the marketplace as he’d remarked on her brilliant flame red hair being so lovely that afternoon—they’d been sent to get some chemicals that weren’t readily available in the badlands.She’d been charmed and thought that making a connection with an Outcast would be beneficial to their goals. Tovrel had cautioned her but Maiko would gently tell him that her sister didn’t believe in being timid about chasing men—Reyes being a soft example of that.

Julia had met Nakamoto in Tartarus at the agreed upon time. She’d initially been hesitant of his Outcast minders who were fairly rough and liberal with the drugs and alcohol but she’d relaxed quickly to try and get everyone talking and occasionally dancing with Outcast members. Everything had gone okay until about midnight. Tovrel confessed what happened exactly was slightly fuzzy, but two of the posse had noticed him keeping an eye on Julia and taken offense.They’d joined him at his table, quickly deduced he was with Julia and sought to isolate him.He’d tried to push back but had been asked to leave the bar.He’d panicked as soon as he stepped outside and an Outcast patrol had been waiting for him. 

What happened to Julia afterwards was mostly conjecture. The assumption was that, already inebriated and high, Julia’s tendency to push boundaries had been in full effect. At some point, she’d been injected with too much oblivion... which when introduced to her system she’d lost consciousness and stopped breathing.If Nakamoto had been any sort of respectable medical doctor... Julia shouldn’t have died.Reyes actively struggled with the impulse not to go hunt the man down and end it.

And where had that idea come from that Maiko had said that?That Anubis would judge him? Give out his punishment? Reyes hadn’t agreed to be the judge and executioner... but Maiko had named him as such.

After Keema had taken Maiko and Julia’s body away to clean them up, Tovrel had been given over to their field medic. Which left Reyes, Kenax and Vestus covered in blood and gore, unsure what to do in the early morning light. Eventually, Sishi who was one of their roommates herded them towards where they’d made an outdoor shower. He’d taken their armor and clothes and told them to start scrubbing.

As Reyes scrubbed at the blood that had gotten under his fingernails, the numbness started to fade and the harsh bristles of the brush started to hurt. He found himself crying again, bookended by Kenax and Vestus who were similarly subdued. He felt so tired and flayed open. Taking an ewer of water from the bucket, Reyes dribbled the water over himself to wash away soap suds and repeated until the water ran clear instead of pink and green. Standing mostly naked covered in cold water, he finally stopped crying.

Vestus had been the first one finished and wrapped him in towels before handing him a clean set of clothes that Sishi had obtained and left for him. Dressing, he found his way to his bedroll that he’d abandoned hours earlier.He pulled the sleeping bag around him buried his face in the thin inflatable travel pillow. He was cold and miserable.

Vestus and Kenax also found their own bedrolls, their crests drooping in fatigue from little sleep and trying emotions. Kenax, who had been pushing his mate into a better position for him to cuddle took one look at Reyes before hauling him into the hollow between their bodies and crooning to him like a child. Vestus gave an annoyed huff before pulling Reyes sleeping bag to use as padding for Reyes so it was more comfortable for him as he wasn’t used to sleeping surrounded by hard plated Turians.

He was out almost immediately. He was so done with today, he wanted it over now.His earlier emotion of grief quickly fading into feeling numb with fatigue and vague sense of anger.

***

Awakening, he saw that Maiko had taken his bedroll with her own sleeping bag and Alzik was curled around her. She’d washed up and was wearing different clothes. The room was dark around them despite being early afternoon. From his Turian cocoon, Reyes could see that Alzik was awake and, as usual, tapping away on his omnitool.

Noticing Reyes was awake, Alzik nodded. “Keema wanted to speak with you as soon as you awoke.”

“Is she okay?”Reyes asked lowly.

“No,” Alzik said with a sigh. “Will be functional sometime but not now.Let her sleep.”

Giving a dip of his chin, Reyes started trying to get loose from his sleeping bag which Kenax was wrapped around him like an octopus. He now understood why Vestus always waited for Kenax to wake up.Every time he got a limb free, Kenax would mumble and rearrange himself to pin Reyes again. This went on for several moments before Vestus calmly reached out and replaced Reyes limb with his own.“Go on, get up.Keema wants to talk to you,” Vestus told him, his voice only heard as it was centimeters away from Reyes.

Getting free, he was cold but toed on his boots that were still damp from being cleaned. Sishi had put his boots with their knives back inside the bunk room. Steeling himself, Reyes lefthis friends behind to go talk to Keema.He had a good idea that this wasn’t going to be pleasant.

He found Keema in what they’d started referring to as the ‘office’ because it held several flat surfaces, one of which they’d attached a holo projector to so they could use it for visualizations—either tactical or maps for planned smuggling routes. Keema was staring at a map of Heleus, the angaran worlds highlighted in gold, the known kett strongholds highlighted in red. Zheng He, the current location of the Nexus was green. She had one of her dream weed cigarettes in hand but hadn’t lit it.

“You asked to speak with me?”Reyes said, pulling her attention away from the map.

She inhaled before letting out a sigh, shoulders sagging, posture tired. “What you did had consequences we need to discuss.”

“Such as?”

“Don’t play coy.You know very well that loosing your temper like that was beyond irresponsible—no matter what set it off.”Keema wasn’t angry, she just sounded disappointed in him, which was, of course, worse.

Reyes gripped the tabletop in front of him, splaying his hands to try and collect his thoughts. He’d acted beyond rashly, not thinking at the moment other than to lash out. Killing Outcast members like that... it’d provoke a response if it was him so he could imagine what Sloane Kelly was doing. If Nakamoto remembered everything... if the prostitutes talked... he could be in big trouble and all their plans ruined. “I didn’t think...”

Keema snapped at him her reply, hands flying up in the air as she gestured emphatically to make her points. “Of course you didn’t think!Reyes! You left witnesses! And Nakamoto!You’re very very lucky my friend that he was high out of his mind and thinks that an actual Egyptian death god was waiting to punish him.And I had to have explained to me by Maiko what an Egyptian death god was!”

“Nobody else saw anything. If Nakamoto doesn’t remember us right then it’s salvageable.”He winced as he said “salvageable”.

“Salvageable?” Keema said incredulously.“I’ve been having my people get as much information as possible all morning and you are beyond lucky. Kian is a good friend and likes you better than Kelly since you, so far, have payed up without complaint in advance. My sources tell me multiple people saw you in the slums around the time the attack happened—none of them are talking to the Outcasts. Again! Luck!”

Reyes pursed his lips as he rubbed his eyebrow as his head started to hurt. “I know I messed up.It won’t happen again.”

Keema was looking at him and didn’t say anything, her eyes looking for something in him. “Reyes... Sholaon... This is not the man I chose to be my second and to eventually take over. You cannot continue on like this—solving your problem with slaughter even if it may have been justified.We must be measured in our responses, plan carefully and then we will win.This is not winning.”

“No it’s not,” he agreed, voice hoarse as he tried to vocalize his thoughts on what he was coming to fully understand about how Kadara Port worked. “I get it now.The Outcasts... they aren’t interested in setting up an actual functional government with rules and an economy, safety nets for those who need them. They’re a pirate organization that deals in flesh, drugs and treasure.Eventually... they’ll bring war to Heleus.”

“And?” Was the sharp verbal jab.

“And... we need to be better than them. We need to be a functional outcome that is better, that people will gravitate to if given the choice. Not lowlife thugs who solve their issues with killing.”

“Which is what we said we would do when I took you on.Has this changed?”

Wincing, he shook his head.Keema looked at him indicating she needed a verbal reply. “No it’s not changed. I still agree with all of that.”

“Then you need to think before you react. And that means you may have to tell Maiko no when she asks you to do something that is not within these goals.” Keema walked over to him to stand nest to him, her hands resting softly on his left, a warm tingle evidence of their skin contact that felt like a hug from his abuela. “Being a leader is not an easy road Reyes. You will have to do what is necessary which will not always be what you want to do or what someone else wants from you. You cannot react, it is better to plan and have responses that are measured, that do not put us all at risk and that accomplish our bigger goals. Sometimes small sacrifices are necessary.”

“Not my people.Never them,” Reyes said, pulling his hand out of Keema’s grip, eyes burning with a new round of unshed tears.Why the fuck was he feeling so emotional—swinging from grief to rage with minimal time in between that made him feel numb. “I won’t give up on my people.”

Keema smiled at him.“Then plan ahead and act with caution always and bravely when necessary.” Her voice was kind now, no longer admonishing him. “Know when the difference is indicated Reyes. I have seen moments where I see the future of our people within you... but you must follow this path before you and not stray.”

“I’m not a hero Keema,” he said, voice remarkably steady for how off balance he felt.

“No you’re not,” she agreed. “You’re learning how to lead your team and that’s part of growing up.I do not ask for you to be the hero—I ask that you learn to be a diplomat, a spymaster, a strategist, and occasionally take up arms when there is no other option.”

“That’s a lot of tasks for one person,” he tried to say lightly but it came out more strangled.

“And I do not doubt that you are up to the task, Sholaon.” Keema sighed, her eyes clouding with other thoughts. “The Initiative sent an assassin after Sloane Kelly last night and they failed in their attempt, Kaetus personally took care of them.The timing was in our favor as she is distracted from what happened in the slums. Eventually she will figure out that the two events are not related but for now she is angrily tearing apart the port looking for Initiative agents.”

“The only people I spoke with were Kian, his bouncers, and two of the prostitutes,” Reyes said, thinking about what Keema had told him.The Initiative was worried enough about Kelly that they were sending assassins.... had she been directing the Outcasts to raid Initiative ships?

“Kian will keep what you said to him to himself—as will his people. I chose Tartarus because he was already unhappy with how the Outcasts treat his people and customers.He will need minimal prompting to become an active asset for you.As for the prostitutes... my people talked with several of them and they didn’t not mention you at all, even when offered financial incentive.Whatever you did to either scare them or bribe them is so far working.”

“Why did the Initiative send an assassin after Kelly?” 

Keema pursed her lips and her frown deepened.“They have been raiding supply ships for the Initiative.Per my reports, the Initiative has been trying to establish an outpost again in the Pytheas system, second planet that is very arid but has a radiation problem. Kelly has been attacking their ships and stripping them of everything they can including people. They are being very bold.”

“So either she’s extending a lot of resources to track these ships or she’s still got an information source in the Initiative...”

“Yes.So be careful who knows you.What sorts of intel would the Initiative have on you?Anything that could be identified as a weakness needs to have a response planned.”

The Initiative intake files were fairly extensive for everyone... he’d need to see if Vladimir would help out and make those files go missing. Just Maiko calling him Anubis might be easily searched. On the other hand, Kelly had to be pissing off the Initiative... they’d escalate if things continued this way. “I’ll speak with my contacts before the supply drop in six weeks. I may be able to have the files go missing on myself and my team. The only way I know how to make Kelly pull her goons off the Initiative ships is going to be keeping her busy at home.”

“You need to get recruiting,” Keema added. “Create instability will be a good way of doing this. If people see that Kelly and the Outcasts are weak, they will be more susceptible to a recruiting pitch from your team.”

“We also need to shut down the Oblivion trade,” Seeing the effects up close and personal... he’d never go down the route of being a narco. He wanted predictable responses not a bunch of feuding drug gangs.

Keema nodded. “I was going to suggest you add that to your task list.My people have been tracking Outcast teams and their shipment routes. You should have time before your next Elaaden delivery to do some scouting.You also need to be a more established presence in the Port—visibility of yourself and other Collective agents will help with recruitment.”

“I won’t be associated directly with the Collective,” Reyes interrupted. “I’m going to be a free agent who can point people who seek the Collective in the right direction but not a visible member. I’ll work better from the grey zone and I may be able to get closer with Kelly and her team if I’m considered a free agent.”

An eyebrow lifted. “That potentially puts you in a riskier position—Kelly could just decide she needs to ensure your loyalty like she has with Nakamoto?”

“Why would she? I’m just a smuggler with a regular, albeit lucrative, trade route with Elaaden.”

“Ah Sholaon... as if you could ever stay that under the radar. Smugglers around here areplentiful but they are more of the pirate variety.You will stand out unless you plan on being one of them.”

“You’re saying that I need to be visible enough in port to be a part of the background... which means I can’t keep living here.”Reyes didn’t like being separated from everyone, but he got it. He needed to be seen as an independent operator to give him room for maneuvering.Didn’t meant he wouldn’t still participate in the missions that they’d need to disrupt the oblivion trade, Outcast supply routes and general disruption. After all, he still had to have a regular smuggling run each weak or maybe two. One had to work for a living...

Keema looked sad. “Sadly you are correct.I would keep you here with us but you will be more effective in port. Don’t worry—I will be there very often and your regular “drinking partner” as Kenax calls it.”

“Neither Kenax or Vestus are going to be happy with this,” He added after a moment. His Turian friends had made it clear that they felt he neededa minder—which he didn’t—but it did add some to his peace of mind to have backup.

“I assume they will go where you do.I would suggest them as your regular business partners.Maiko has barely been to port—and I will continue to discourage that. She can run the farming part of the operation.She has made it clear to me she doesn’t want to have responsibility for giving orders to anyone.”

A crew of three would be more than adequate for his needs.And well, Maiko wasn’t going to like having to be around the Outcasts on a regular basis so it made sense for her to be part of the operations that had the least to do with them.“Alzik?”

“He is happy to stay with Maiko and I would encourage that,” Keema advised.

Reyes nodded, deep in thought. There were so many things that could go wrong...but there were also a lot of opportunities.

“Sholaon, I don’t mean to be so harsh on you.I know that we ask a lot of you and you did not necessarily volunteer to be my second when you accepted.”Keema now sounded apologetic, which he supposed, was unnecessary from his perspective. He got it.The consequences of leaving things as they were... he didn’t want to imagine how bad things would get if Kelly continued to pick fights with the Initiative.Evfra had made it clear the angara would ally themselves only with those that had similar attitudes about keeping promises and preserving life.Reyes was already worried he’d colored Evfra’s opinions about the Initiative too much.

Sighing, Reyes rubbed at his temples as he was feeling the fatigue of the day hitting him again before running his hands through his hair, holding his head which didn’t help the developing headache. “Do I have to leave for port tonight or do you think it’s okay for me to have a night out here?If it’d be less suspicious for me to be in port I’ll go.”

Keema tilted her head in thought as she regarded Reyes, a calculating look in her eyes. “You are most likely okay for now.I would actually suggest contacting the krogan for an early delivery to give you an excuse for why you’ve been absent while the port settles down a bit.That will give my people time to evaluate the situation before you stick your foot in it.”

“I suppose....” he really was emotionally exhausted.

“Reyes....” Keema appeared concerned as she looked at him. “Spend some time with your friends before you need to leave. You all need some time to deal with Julia’s death and I assume Maiko will want to do something for her sister—Alzik has told me about human burial traditions.”

“Yeah,” he found him saying just above a whisper. “Yeah. We do need some time.”

***

Keema kept him for a while longer, talking to him about why he needed to do each task she set out for him.The biggest of which was he needed to get set up at port as a free agent smuggler... but still be available for the Resistance and the Collective.He couldn’t see Maiko allowing him to back out and just stay within the Resistance after yesterday—if he even wanted to.Which he really wasn’t sure what to do now.Taking revenge had been instinctual but Keema was right—he’d left loose ends that could be deadly for both him and his friends.

He’d taken the time to send an email to Vladimir and tried not to feel anxious while awaiting a reply.Reyes couldn’t see a reason why Vladimir wouldn’t do as he requested and remove all their information from the Initiative’s main information database. He could only hope nobody had made a copy of his or his friend’s information in the meantime.

Rather than return to the bunk room, Reyes found himself wandering again through the hydroponics farm.It seemed so long since yesterday—had it really been yesterday?—that he’d had his conversation with Maiko here.Or that first moment that started all this when the power went out that fateful day. Small leaves were beginning to sprout and he could see the pea plants, soybeans, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, other fruits and vegetables ,and the herbal roots beginning to peak out of the media they’d been planted in.The lights cast an odd purple violet glow on everything as they were currently simulating ideal wavelengths for this stage of growth. It was also warmer in here than it was outside.

Climbing the scaffolding, Reyes took a seat in the rafter up where he could look out over the structure, head almost touching the wall. The ledge he found was just about big enough for him to lay lengthwise with his arms pillowing his head as he lay on his back.He really just needed a few moments alone where nobody would find him.Keema’d been right.He needed to be more careful. No more loose ends.

Taking a deep breath, he started making a list of things he needed to accomplish:

1\. Establish himself as an independent operator/smuggler

2\. Recruit for the Collective

3\. Maintain regular trade routes with the initiative, angara, and Elaaden.

4\. Sow discord in the Outcast ranks to weaken them and break them apart

5.Take over Kadara Port

6.Stop the Oblivion trade

His list made it sound so simple... but it would be anything but.He began tapping away at his omnitool, making observations and sub goals underneath the headings he’d come up with.As he continued to think, he tried not to despair at the length and breadth of the tasks he was listing.

Finally realizing he was out of things to add, Reyes turned off his omnitool and rubbed his face with both hands. He’d gotten stiff laying on the rock surface but was really hesitant to rejoin everyone else.There was a faint noise of a gun racking which startled him, making him look around the cavern. While he’d been working, he’d not noticed that he had a visitor and Kenax was sitting calmly below him, working on cleaning a rifle that Reyes had never seen before.

“Kenax?”

“Are you done doing whatever you’re doing up there?” Kenax asked calmly, removing the firing pin from the rifle and fiddling with something in his hands.

Leaning over the edge, Reyes tried to see what he was doing. “Just thinking.”

“Well you can do your thinking down here with me then,” Kenax said, not taking his eyes off his work.

Not sure what to make of this, Reyes decided he should just join his friend. Carefully climbing down, he jumped the last meter to the ground and it crunched under his boots.Kenax was leaning against the cave wall, methodically taking the gun apart and cleaning each component, fingers sure and familiar with each task. “How long were you down here?”

“Long enough.Vestus and I assumed Keema had an opinion about what we did.Wasn’t sure what you were thinking though.”As he finished talking, Kenax looked up at Reyes with a look that asked Reyes to talk to him, making him feel guilty.He really hadn’t had time lately to just talk with Kenax. There’d been so much work...

“Can I help?” Reyes asked, sitting next to his friend.

Handing him a cleaning cloth, gun oil and several pieces, Kenax indicated for him to get to work. “You can help but you still need to tell me what’s going on in that head of yours. I’m’ good but I’m not a mind reader.”

Fiddling with the small parts, Reyes looked at them rather than at Kenax. “Keema thinks I need to live out of the port—be visible.”

“Makes sense,” Kenax agreed.

Eyeing his friend who was also focusing on his own work, Reyes tried to figure out if Kenax was being nice or purposefully talking around things. “Which means I can’t stay here at the base most of the time.”

Kenax made a noise that Reyes assumed meant he thought the same. “I know.Vestus knows.Pretty sure Maiko and Alzik know too. Not really happy about splitting up and leaving Maiko and Alzik here but their role in things is better suited to the hydroponics and science side of things.”

“I didn’t say that you were coming with me to port,” Reyes said, amused that Kenax wasn’t going to let him leave him behind.

“It might have been implied,” was the snarky response with a side-eyed glare.“Don’t make me tie you up and implant a tracker in you to make sure you don’t run off on us.You need someone to watch your back.Vestus talked about the first night and walking through the slums.He said that it would be the best place for you to infiltrate but not without backup.He said you had some run ins with the same prostitute that told us what happened to Julia—something about payment.”

At the mention of Julia’s name, both of them looked away and were silent for a moment before Kenax continued. “You’re our friend Reyes.We’re not letting you go off and get yourself so deep in trouble that we can’t find you or help you.”

“Maybe you should.Vestus and you did have your mission.....”. Reyes couldn’t make eye contact as he gave Kenax an out. 

“Don’t even.Vestus and I may have come here for a mission but that doesn’t mean we can’t still figure out how to make a living here too. We’re not going on another 600 year journey back to the Milky Way. Somebody has to keep your ass out of trouble....” Kenax reached over and poked Reyes in the shoulder, making his point with emphasis.

Reyes cleared his throat, suddenly slightly tight and dry mouthed. “Well, I wouldn’t want to think that I’d totally ruined your mission.”

Kenax put the part that he’d been reassembling down to look directly at Reyes. “I’m guessing Keema already called you an idiot and told you to be more careful.Which would be useful next time. However, mine and Vestus’ mission,” Kenax waved his hands expressively, “is to make sure that the colonization efforts don’t have a nefarious force behind them. I don’t think you qualify as nefarious.”

Reyes couldn’t help laughing at the nefarious comment.“You don’t think I can look the rogue?”

That got him an exasperated look.“You know what I mean.Reyes,” Kenax had stopped all work on his gun for the moment in order to make sure Reyes was looking at him. “Reyes—Vestus and I both think that when we talk about what we want for our future that we agree with you.A colony, probably not under the thumb of the Nexus or Initiative run, but a working, functioning, growing colony that’s multi-species. You’ve shown more leadership than Kelly so far so we’ll stick with you as our horse for this race.”

“You’re comparing me to a pony?” Reyes asked, trying to make light of Kenax’s comments.

Growling, Kenax took the parts out of Reyes hands. “Stop.You’re not putting them together right and I know you know better. Reyes—you have a lot of ambition. Enough ambition and vision that your friends are willing to follow you. Is that a bad thing?”

“Maybe.It’s a lot of pressure.And I might screw up fantastically.”He couldn’t meet Kenax’s gaze and wanted to squirm but held still.

“We’re all going to screw up at some point,” Kenax pointed out with a huff. “Based on how many plans you made just for the approach to Elaaden I’d like to point out to you that you’re already thinking of contingency plans for each possible problem and Julia wasn’t your fault.We don’t have to have a functional colony tomorrow. This is going to take time, blood, sweat, and tears by the end of things.But I can see us having a functional society when I hear you and Keema talk.I want that future Reyes.”

“I know.I just don’t know how to get us there... I mean I have a vague idea of what to do but... how?”

“We’ll take it one step at a time and we’ll get there,” Kenax tried to redirect him. “Not everything needs to happen overnight.”

“I know,” Reyes whispered, looking at his hands. His skin was still rubbed raw from the brush he’d used to clean them of blood this morning. “I just never saw this as what I came to Andromeda for.”

“Why did you come to Andromeda then?A new beginning?All of us were looking for that,” Kenax noted, no longer working on the gun.

“Some days I think I came here to be someone else... someone other than what I was in the Milky Way.Maybe figure out what I was outside of the shadow of my family.To be someone that makes their own decisions and faces the consequences, come what may.”

Kenax carefully chose his next words. “Reyes, you always will be someone. My friend, Vestus’ friend. Alzik’s friend. Maiko’s friend. Keema even seems to think you’ve got potential.I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t been assigned to be your copilot.”

Chuckling, solemn mood broken, Reyes agreed. “I don’t know where I’d be either.Possibly back in the deep freeze.”

“But you’re not and I’m not. We can do this Reyes. We will do this,” Kenax insisted with a flare of his mandibles before his gaze flickered to the entrance to the cavern.

“If you say so....” Reyes trailed off as he saw Maiko approach from the direction Kenax was looking, Vestus and Alzik trailing behind her.“Maiko?” Reyes asked as he stood to greet her, Kenax following his lead.

“I’m not sorry we did what we did,” Maiko stated, her face blank but her eyes still shone with an inner anger.

“I’m not either.I could have done it differently maybe but I’m not sorry,” Reyes agreed.

“What are we going to do about them?” Maiko asked, her voice with a slight tremor to it the only evidence of emotion.

“We’re going to shut down the Oblivion trade and, eventually, the Outcasts,” Reyes admitted the bare bones of his plan.

“Good. Then we’re in agreement.Sishi told me that there’s an outpost where they make Oblivion... it’s not too far from here and it’s too close for my comfort.”:Maiko was now all business.

Reyes hesitated and didn’t just blindly agree like he probably would have done before his discussion with Keema. “Where’s it located?” He stalled for more information.

Maiko broke eye contact to tap into her omnitool to bring up a map which was projected on the floor between them. “Here,” she said activating a big red marker about thirty kilometers away in the side of another mountain. “The Resistance information says that there’s a manufacturing module there that’s staffed minimally. If we shut it down, it’ll shut down a large part of their production abilities.”

“Did Sishi have any more information on it?”Reyes asked thoughtfully.

Maiko paused before shaking her head. “I didn’t ask.”

“Well, let’s go ask him before going off half-cocked. I want to make sure we’re effective if we’re going to target their oblivion trade.”

Maiko frowned but nodded. “Let’s then.”

Reyes followed her out of the cavern, Kenax rapidly reassembling the gun before following them. It seemed that he’d have to work on those skills Keema was after him about quickly. Maiko didn’t seem in the mood for platitudes.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE April 22nd_

 

_I’m writing this because I can’t sleep. I always enjoyed books set as adventures—including tales about jungle adventures.I can’t say, however, that the experience thus far is that great.We found a small area of Remnant architecture that creates a shelter to hole up in for a few hours rest. Walks in the jungle, I’m finding, are not relaxing nor are they easy.We’ve been sticking to game trails that wind through enough that we can pass. The vegetation is thick and my arms and shoulders are aching from using my omniblade to cut a path through it._

_There’s no way we’re going to be able to use the nomad here—there just isn’t enough space at least where we’re currently operating. We made it halfway to the nav point before stopping—mainly so our arms could take a break. Cora’s sword isn’t much better than an omniblade when it comes to whacking your way through._

_Also, Peebee evidently hates jungles. She could have mentioned this earlier but I suspect she’d never have let me have her consult from the Tempest. I suspect she has some bad memories of a similar environment but she doesn’t want to tell me about it and I’m not sure I want to ask._

_As the day has gone on.... the humidity is wearing on us all. So far no velociraptors—sorry rylkor—have been sighted.But they’re evidently nocturnal so that might be changing rather shortly._

_I deployed a second FOB at where we turned to go down the other canyon.SAM thinks line of sight is better to help with the signal interference in our coms and radar capabilities—which have been particularly shitty due to the weird electromagnetic readings we’re getting from all the plants and animals around us.Jaal tried to explain that this is a normal Heleus thing but I’ll admit I’m having trouble just blaming it on Andromeda. I think it’s the vault...._

_Speaking of vaults—we can see two monoliths. The first one we passed by but it was obviously activated. If it’s not working it would be pretty simple to backtrack and set it off right. The second one, it seems, is right on top of where the scientists are stuck. So if I can fix the stasis field I may be able to activate a monolith too... I just wonder if this is a three monolith vault or if there’ll be more surprises ahead._

_I really should try to get some shut eye. SAM keeps telling me to slow down long enough to take a rest. Tomorrow we hopefully will reach the scientists._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late everyone—I’m still not happy with Reyes’ section but I’ll get around to editing it sometime in the future. I vastly underestimated how busy I was going to be over the last week. The next update may not be for two weeks (possibly sooner... depends on free time but work schedule is hectic and I have to go out of town after the new year). I may post an interlude in the meantime but we’ll see.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Comments are love, kudos appreciated!


	28. Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

2818 CE November 14th

Kadaran Badlands, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective

Status: Planning covert ops should probably take more time and planning next time

Sishi did not, in fact, have more information on the oblivion manufacturing or transfer. However, Keema did and gave Reyes the information when he went and asked for it.There was multiple different sites where oblivion was most likely made, of which one was approximately 30 kilometers away and towards the port from their current base.

The site in question was small, approximately five buildings total, one of which was sunk deep into the side of the mountain and possibly had tunnels attached to it. Resistance intel said there was a permanent crew of perhaps as many as eight with a fluctuation in population at the site of an additional ten or so.There was regular travel of transports between the base and the port which was guarded visibly by Outcast members. Transports usually consisted of three overland vehicles and a heavy transport that was only half loaded, approximately ten guards in total. The transports came and went on a very regular schedule and one had just left yesterday which meant it wasn’t due back for about three days.

Assuming nothing had changed with the assassination attempt and Reyes’ own cleaning up of Nakamoto’s guards. Keema had cautioned him that things could change due to his handing of the Outcast guards—Kelly might assume that the oblivion trade was being targeted despite Nakamoto being left alive.

Or she might not.

Maiko, when he’d relayed this information, had insisted they go check the base out and if it was not obviously well guarded they should take it out.

Reyes was less sure and he could see neither turian was very enthusiastic. Alzik was decidedly neutral but had simply started packing crates full of explosives into a land cruiser after he saw how rigid Maiko was standing. After some quiet arguing, Reyes got Maiko to agree that if there was any suggestion of an increased presence they would turn around and come back another day. He was pretty sure Maiko had no intention of keeping her promise but he wouldn’t call her a liar without evidence at this point.

Which meant that as the sun set, they were all huddled on the ridge overlooking the base. The base had a typical setup—obvious fuel cells attached to a solar grid with augmentation from a wind turbine for night operation. Four buildings were arranged in a square around a long tube that inserted into the mountainside with a minimalistic fence of wire surrounding it with the only entrance being a gate between two security cubicles. There was a pair of sentries that were stationed at the front of the narrow space looking towards the road that went to port along with several turrets that covered the approach but had crappy shooting angles for a posterior approach.There was a single land cruiser parked next to one of the buildings that was pretty beat up in appearance, obvious having seen regular use but there was signs of multiple other vehicles based on tracks in the loose dirt courtyard.The mountain face that surrounded the small base was steep and couldn’t be approached with a vehicle... but it could be rappelled down if you were careful but there was lots of loose rock and the wind frequently dislodged gravel that pelted the base. 

The sentries didn’t even look with a small fall of rock that told them that they’d become used to the noise and wouldn’t investigate small noises. One of the sentries even seemed to be watching a vid of some sort but the other seemed to take their job more seriously. As they watched from above, shift change occurred and the second set of sentries—both human—seemed bored as they took their spot in the small security cubicles. The turrets however were simple VIs that could easily be hacked by anyone who knew what they were doing. Vestus could identify them via his scope which made Kenax rant about crappy manufacturing standards.

So turrets could be taken out, check

Sentries were used to noise and unmotivated, check.

No extraneous vehicles showing that more staff were present, check.

Maiko gave Reyes a vicious grin and asked, “So how are we doing this?”

Reyes had made everyone bring a helmet that was equipped with a voice modifier. When wearing them, all anyone who saw them would know was their species, so they would hopefully have some anonymity in keeping with his own promises to Keema. The explosives that Alzik had packed were attached to radio activators that were originally intended to be used for mining blasts but could be used to bring down the mountain on that building that went into the rock face... but what was in it? Or was it simply one entrance to a series of caves like theirs?

“We need more recon work.We don’t know how deep that building goes or if it just goes to a series of caves like ours.There may be a second entrance we don’t know about so if we just collapse the rock face on it we could be doing nothing,” Reyes said to his companions.

“Or it could be the only entrance,” Maiko insisted.

“Or it could be the only entrance they are aware of,” Vestus agreed with her.“Reyes is right. We need more intel.” Vestus began stripping off the extra weapons he’d attached to his armor until he only had a single pistol with a silencer attached and a set of knives. “I’m going to go check things out.”

Maiko made a noise of protest but Reyes over rode her. “Be careful,” he said as he gave Maiko a quelling look. “We’ll wait here until you get back. Two clicks on radio means you’re okay. Check in every ten minutes. Any other noise and we assume you’ve been caught and we’re hearing you give intel on them so we can get you out.”

Vestus smirked at Reyes. “Look who’s picking up some tricks.I’m proud of you.”

“Just please be careful,” Reyes said with a put upon sigh.

“Always,” Vestus crooned, pulling Kenax to him to do their usual low pitched trill before stepping away and quietly making his way down slope and away from them.

The moon was just a sliver in the sky so it was very, very dark out. Reyes continued to watch through the scope of the sniper rifle Vestus had left. As he watched, Vestus slipped in and out of the two buildings on the left hand side that didn’t have any visible lights. He regularly used the agreed upon code, checking in like clockwork. When he made the third building, a light came one right before he was going to slip inside so he backed away and hid under the stairs.

Ten minutes passed and a very sleepy looking pair of humans exited the building turning it off and heading for the center building. Watching closely, Reyes watched them tap the code 3641 into the keypad which made the door open and they entered. The other building was where the off duty sentries had gone. Vestus, having made a tactical decision, continued to wait. Fifteen minutes later, a more alert pair exited the center building and went into the building Vestus was crouched under.

That made eight people accounted for—which was the baseline number Keema had given Reyes. Vestus waited another fifteen minutes before exiting his hiding spot and approaching the keypad.

“3-6-4-1” Reyes said quietly into the comms, watching as Vestus didn’t look away from the keypad but gave a visible thumbs up to indicate he’d heard Reyes.A few taps later and Vestus was in.

An hour later, Vestus had checked in like clockwork but there was no movement on the base.The light in what they were now assuming was living quarters had gone out for the night.Just as Maiko was about to insist they go down, the door opened and Vestus slipped out, making his way directly for where he’d entered.

Five minutes later, Vestus was crouched beside them as if he never left. Reyes handed him a canteen and Vestus took several gulps as he rested, Maiko tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for Vestus to tell them what he’d found.

“Well?” Maiko finally asked, unable to contain herself.

Amused, Vestus chuckled and took another gulp from the canteen. “Keema’s numbers are right.There seems to be a total of eight Outcast members... but they have several more workers that are, shall we say, less than voluntary.They’ve got another four workers handlingthe chemistry to manufacture the oblivion. They’ve actually chained them to the work benches and they’re in poor health. No drug addictions from what I can tell but they’re spirits have been broken.”

There was a few seconds before everyone asked questions. Vestus only paid attention to Reyes, however. “Will the workers put up any resistance if we take the base and destroy the equipment?”

Vestus thought carefully for a moment before replying. “I don’t think so.Two of them—both humans—look like they’re on their last legs... they’re so thin and in ill health... I don’t know if they got medical attention if they’d make it.The other two—a salarian and a human—are obviously newer but they’re not in much better shape, just have more weight to them. Not sure they’re being fed or just beaten every time they don’t do what’s asked of them.”

Reyes inclined his head as he listened to the details. “But the base itself has only the two guards, the turrets and the two supervisor’s awake?”

“Right now, yes.I could hear the other’s talking before they went to sleep. Shift change isn’t until morning so we have a window of opportunity if you want to take it.”

Reyes nodded in thought. “Show us the layout of the workroom.”

Vestus proceeded to draw in the soft dirt the layout of the building that went into the side of the mountain.Keema’s intel had been accurate—the inset transport building opened into a cavern inside the mountain but it wasn’t very deep. Just deep enough to have a storage area and a workroom.The workroom had a makeshift chemistry workbench and grow lab.Evidently, oblivion’s first step was as a bacterial culture which grew well on agar. It was then harvested and went through multiple chemical reactions to refine it into the product that the Outcast’s sold. The chemicals used were basic and readily available but the process took time to occur.The storage area had several months supply of the oblivion trade as well as the chemicals it took to make it.The labels on the crates that Vestus had inspected however indicated the Outcasts were also storing other goods at the site.Goods that, perhaps, might be useful to a rival group if they went missing.

Deciding that they’d be able to overpower the current staff, Reyes told Alzik to comm Keema and ask for a transport to be here in two hours to load everything they could take into it. Reyes could hear the other end of the conversation and Alzik had to do some quick talking to get the Angarans to agree. Meanwhile, Reyes, Maiko and the turians decided who was entering which way and taking responsibility for who. Vestus and Kenax would take care of the security cubicles and turrets. Reyes would take the security bunkhouse while Maiko took the other after the turians joined her. They would then enter the workroom/storehouse and attempt to liberate the prisoners as a secondary objective but the primary one would be eliminate the ability to manufacture oblivion.

Details decided, Reyes handed Vestus his sniper rifle back and drew his ushior in his left hand. Vestus and Kenax descended first as their targets were the furthest out.They would not make a move until Reyes and Maiko were in place. Reyes allowed Maiko to proceed him and gave her cover before following. Kenax was remote hacking the turrets and they would continue to cycle but not react according to his prior experience. Reyes really hoped that was true. Standing in the shadows, out of sight from the security cubicles, Reyes tapped his mic to let everyone know he was in place.He could hear Maiko’s response that she was also in place. There was the sound of something scraping through the comm before Reyes could hear distantly a thud as Vestus took out his security guard. “Security done,” Kenax said lowly through the comms which was Reyes’ signal.

Opening the door to the bunk house, Reyes could see in the dim interior that there were two beds, both of which were occupied with the sound of snoring coming from underneath the blankets. A bright blue Outcast banner hung between the bunks, telling everyone who saw it the allegiance of those in this place. Entering, he closed the door silently behind himself, holstering his ushior to remove his knife. He didn’t look at the face of the first man as he sunk his knife in through the throat and the great vessels of the neck in a smooth motion, his other knife already headed for the other male’s throat as he’d been taught by his friends. He didn’t watch closely as they died, both making gurgling noises as they bled out quickly with minimal thrashing. When they stopped moving, he wiped the blades on the blankets and sheathed them, pulling his ushior out again as he went to the door. “Bunkhouse one done.”

He waited for response which came less than two minutes later. He didn’t really want to think closely about what he was doing or who he was doing it to, did they deserve what he was doing to them?At least they’d died quickly and he hadn’t tortured them. “Bunkhouse two done.”

Hearing the signal, Reyes exited and quickly moved to the shadowed side. He could see Kenax join him with a touch to his back.They then moved together to the entrance to the workroom. Vestus and Maiko were on the other side.Alzik, who was running surveillance verified that there was radio silence, nothing new on any frequency. Eyeing Vestus, Reyes nodded as the turian input the door code for the second time that night, opening the door just enough for them to slip through.

Sure enough, there was one person at the entrance to the work room who looked bored and was playing on his omnitool. Vestus made a slight noise, just a scrape of boot on the wood floor to make the man sigh and stand up to go investigate. Kenax’s knife clipped the man smoothly across the throat as Vestus hauled him back out of the spilled light from the work area. The sounds of glass and metal clinking together continued unabated from the workroom for several minutes.

“Gary?” Finally the other guard had noticed that his companion was missing. As the other man stepped through the doorway, Reyes put him in a headlock with one palm across the man’s mouth to silence him as he pulled him sideways and out of the light so the prisoners wouldn’t panic.The man suddenly slacked in his grip unexpectedly.Maiko had stabbed the man directly in the heart, her dark eyes glinting in the faint light from the doorway as she twisted the knife in the man’s chest. She had removed her helmet at some point—wanting everyone to see her doing this. Reyes saw her body language was rigid and it made him shiver at the coldness in it. She didn’t say anything but pulled the knife out and then stabbed it into the dying man’s gut using her body weight to penetrate and tearing down, disemboweling him.

Startled, Reyes didn’t say anything as Maiko then pulled her knife out and casually cleaned it on the dying man’s clothes. “You can release him.He won’t be causing any more pain or suffering,” Maiko told him.

Swallowing at the sudden dryness in his mouth, Reyes nodded and pulled the man off to the side and released him gently to allow his body to fall to the floor. There was no reason to disrespect a dead body but Maiko just kicked his foot out of her way as she entered the workroom. What the fuck Maiko?

Maiko stood in the light, waiting for the prisoners to see her which took them a minute. The first to notice her was the salarian—who even for a salarian was painfully thin and one of the horns was broken off which appeared recent as the wound hadn’t closed. Noticing Maiko, the salarian stopped their work, a beaker full of some sort of chemical held in the right hand which they put down clumsily, spilling everywhere, and then took a step back from the workbench.

This drew the notice of the humans—two men and a woman. The woman looked like a stiff breeze would knock her over, the men not in much better shape.Two had burns on their face from chemicals, the other had deep lacerations cut into his cheeks in a triangular pattern. They all stopped work and pulled back as far as their ankle chains would allow but did not speak, eyes cast towards the floor. One of the men whimpered. “I’m not here to hurt you,” Maiko said.

The man with the triangles cut into his face, who looked in slightly better health than the other two, looked up briefly at this and snorted before cringing and looking back at the floor.

Having gotten a reaction, Maiko approached him but stayed a good meter away. “We’re not here to hurt you.We’re from the Collective.I am called Pascal.What are your names?”

The prisoners were silent but the salarian was now also looking at Maiko.Maiko tried to wait them out but Reyes spoke next. “And I am Anubis.We will unlock your chains but we need to know where the keys are.Can you tell us where they are?”

Since he’d called attention to himself, he could see that the stares were now centered on him. The salarian—who he couldn’t tell if they were male or female—spoke with a harsh voice that said something bad had happened to it’s throat. “They’re kept on the guard’s belt. Should be there.”

Reyes nodded to show he understood and went to get the keys, leaving Maiko to try and talk more to the prisoners. Kenax and Vestus stood next to the outside door which was open just a bit so they could hear if anybody was approaching outside. Alzik’s voice on the comm said that the Resistance transport should be there in five minutes and asked if they wanted to meet it at the gate. 

Activating his comm, Reyes responded in the affirmative. “Yes.Vestus will meet them at the gate and let them in.We need to strip this place of supplies and then set charges.Maiko’s working on getting the prisoners to be cooperative.”

Kenax, who’d gotten a look at the man Maiko had stabbed asked Reyes, “Is that a good idea to leave her with them?”

“I’m going back and you’re coming with.Vestus?You’ll be okay letting them in by yourself?”

“I got this,” Vestus said, exiting the building and leaving the door still open just a crack behind him.

“Maiko shouldn’t have come on this mission,” Kenax said quietly, his comm off so nobody else would hear him.

“No she shouldn’t have,” Reyes replied after shutting off his own comm. “I can’t leave her alone with them and there’s enough of them that I don’t trust the prisoners either.”

Kenax and he exchanged a look before they went to rejoin Maiko.Maiko was now cajoling the human female, trying to allow her close enough to look at the nasty wound around the anklet restraint. Reyes had the keys in hand and he indicated for Kenax to hold the woman as he unlocked the cuff. Reyes didn’t pay attention to what Maiko was saying but the tone was soothing. The woman stared at Reyes and was shaking as he slid the key in and twisted it, the cuff loosening so he could pull it apart and off.As he pulled the cuff away, the woman began crying, not making any hostile moves.

Pulling away, Reyes indicted for Kenax to have the woman sit against the wall where there was no equipment. As she walked, she swayed dangerously, unsteady on her bare feet that showed signs of chemical burns from dropped chemicals and her clothes smelled strongly of the same and an unwashed body. Standing, Reyes looked at the remaining three. “Who’s next?”

The human male with the cuts on his face spoke up, “Please,” he swallowed trying to make his voice stronger and was now meeting Reyes’ gaze albeit he was trembling as he spoke. “Please. If you’re really doing this... please.”

“Ankle please,” Reyes asked quietly, aware Maiko was hovering as he knelt to get to the man’s ankle.Sliding the key in, the man let out a sob as Reyes turned the key and pulled the cuff off the damaged skin underneath bleeding slightly when exposed to air. The man willingly went to where the other woman was sitting and leaned into the wall, his eyes closed as he silently cried.

This left the Salarian and the other man. The other man just shivered where he stood but made no attempt to draw Reyes attention but the Salarian was watching him closely as he approached and moved their ankle to give Reyes access. Kneeling, Reyes again removed the cuff and pulled it away. A quiet, “thank you,” was heard as the Salarian independently moved over to sit with the other two freed prisoners.

Which left the last male who had an absent look on his face. Maiko continued to offer quiet, soothing noises as Reyes pulled the man’s ankle to a better angle and removed the cuff. As he pulled away, the man collapsed where he stood, out cold, almost falling on top of Reyes as he scrambled to stop the man from hitting his head on the counter. Arms now full of passed out male, Reyes tried not to exclaim at how light his burden was as the man’s head rolled limp over his shoulder.The man maybe weighed fifty kilos... severely underweight for his height and was easily lifted by Reyes.

Getting a better grip on the man, Reyes noted he was still breathing but it was shallow and fast. “I’m taking him to the entrance.He needs medical care,” Reyes told his friends and left the room, Kenax eyeing the prisoners as Maiko continued to talk at them.

Seeing a heavy jacket hanging by the door, Reyes paused and checked the pockets which were empty, before setting his load down and carefully putting the coat on the man who was cold to the touch. If he couldn’t hear the man breathing, Reyes would almost be afraid he’d died while he moved him from one room to the next. Through the open door he could hear the approach of a motor—likely the transport—as well as angaran voices as well as Vestus.Alzik would be remaining up on the ridge to be lookout.

Activating his comm, Reyes spoke quietly into it as he readjusted the limp man’s head so his neck wasn’t so twisted looking. “I need medical assistance if possible.”

“Roger,” Vestus replied. “Sending in the medic to you. We’re stripping the security booths and turrets.”

Reyes sighed, looking at the unconscious man. It was easily after midnight now and he felt like this day was never ending. How had he gotten here?Maiko wasn’t thinking right—it was obvious—but what to do about it?Keema was going to ream him up one side and down another for him allowing her to come on this mission. Were they doing the right thing?There was a lot of bloodshed for what? He didn’t have answers for any of his questions and found himself thinking that Keema was right—he needed to think things through more thoroughly before acting in the future. Kenax and Vestus hadn’t balked at all... neither had Alzik... but were they all just following his lead or was it because Maiko wanted to do this?

“Anubis?” Came Kenax’s call. “You good?”

“I’m fine.Just waiting for you,” Reyes said into his comm rather than shout down the hall. He could hear shuffling noises that indicted Maiko and Kenax were moving the former prisoners towards him. The door next to him swung open and the medic was there, crouching to take a look at the one Reyes had carried out and Reyes gave him room.

***

They’d been fully loaded when they retuned to their base.They’d set charges and blown all the buildings up after removing all the supplies they could take. There would be no more oblivion made at that site without some major renovations.Reyes had insisted they take the time to bury the Outcasts properly so they wouldn’t be picked at by scavengers and it had made him slightly happier about everything but he still was feeling off. They’d needed Alzik to bring their own ship down to the site so they could put the former prisoners on it—there’d been no room for them on the transport.

When they made it back to base, Keema was there and helped direct unloading but not until after she’d given Reyes a hard stare—not disapproving, but telling him without words that she wanted to talk to him again. He didn’t know how long she’d wait but he guessed it wouldn’t be very long.

The prisoner who’d collapsed hadn’t woken up and the medic was very concerned about him and the woman.Both of them were in the final stages of starvation and the wounds they had from spilled chemicals and broken glass hadn’t been healing. The other male and Salarian were in slightly better shape but that wasn’t saying much.Maiko had managed to get a name out of the male—Theo—and the Salarian—Alona—but the female human had remained silent. Neither of the other two knew her name or the unconscious man’s when asked, indicating they’d only been at that site for the last two days and had been at a different oblivion manufacturing site prior to that. Reyes made a mental note to question them further about the other sites once they’d had some rest, food and medical care.

Dawn was just beginning to creep across the horizon signaling the end of civil twilight when the unloading was finished. Reyes purposefully sought out Keema who took one look at him and said, “Office.”

He nodded and started walking, Keema right next to him.

“I see you planned slightly more in advance than last time but I don’t think you understood what I was telling you,” Keema said with a sigh as they reached the office.

Reyes winced, too tired to keep up a neutral facade. “I shouldn’t have taken Maiko with me.”

“No you shouldn’t have.I told you that you’re going to need to tell Maiko no—and I meant that. She’s not thinking right at the moment and... I don’t want you to regret your actions because of that.”

Sighing, Reyes nodded. “I get that. It’s just hard to say no when it’s something that I would otherwise maybe have said yes to.”

“But?”

“But just because, in theory, I would have otherwise said yes doesn’t mean I should have in this case.She... she was out of control when we entered their base. If it weren’t for the prisoners... I don’t know. Something isn’t right.”The look on Maiko’s face when she’d killed that Outcast guard... she hadn’t been herself.

“She’s mourning her sister.I don’t expect her to be her usual self,” Keema said with kindness. “And that means you can’t let her go off like this.”

“I know,” Reyes bit out, frustrated with himself. “While we got a lot of supplies from the base and liberated those prisoners... I... I don’t think we should do things like that again.”

“What do you mean?” Keema asked for clarification.

Reyes took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to organize his thoughts. “We didn’t give the Outcast members any chance of surrender or a chance to protect themselves.We just killed them, some while they slept. It... It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.I don’t see myself as a murderer or assassin... but we did that.I did that.”

Keema hummed, leaning back against the desk. “So you think that they would have let you take things without resistance?”

“No... I don’t think that,” Reyes huffed in frustration. “You said I needed to be persuasive, that we need to have a functional society. Just killing anyone who’s wearing Outcast colors will drastically reduce the population. Since only the Nexus made it to Andromeda... we don’t have a lot of extra people to count on if I just keep indiscriminately killing them.”

“Ah.But how will you persuade them to not just open fire on you? Especially if you’re taking everything away from Kelly?”

“I don’t know.But,” Reyes gestured helplessly, “not this again. I’ll talk with Vestus and Kenax.We need to do this differently next time.”

Keema didn’t say anything for several moments, her dark eyes sad.“Maiko had asked that we prepare a burial plot for her sister which has been done.You are tired but we had planned for the burial to be this morning. I am not sure if we should postpone until later or not.”

At the mention of Julia, Reyes swallowed heavily feeling as if his throat had just closed up and his eyes burned.Closing his eyes, he rubbed his face tiredly with the heel of his hand. “We’ve delayed long enough. It won’t get any better if we wait.”

Keema nodded.“Well then.I will get everyone together for a few words.I assume you will want to say something prior?”

“I’ll figure it out,” Reyes said quietly. “I’ll think of something appropriate.”

***

The sun was up and it was early morning, still chilly when everyone gathered by the tree line.Maiko had requested that the grave be near the trees as Julia had remarked that she loved the look and smell of them as they were a ways away from the springs. A grave had been dug and Julia’s body wrapped tightly in the same cloth that rofjinn were made from, her form barely visible in the folds. Reyes, Kenax, Vestus, and Alzik carried her on a pallet with Maiko trailing behind followed by almost all the angarans that had come with them (the medic and several lookouts were excused from the funeral).

Walking solemnly to the gravesite, Reyes put his corner of the pallet down so it hung over the hole. Ropes were then slung around the handle and Julia was carefully lowered down to where she would rest. Reyes thought, for a moment, he could hear her laugh on the wind that swept through the trees as they lowered her, but he knew that was just his imagination. The pallet fully lowered, they pulled the ropes out and Reyes went to stand next to Maiko, Kenax, Vestus and Alzik taking spots on either side of them.

Bending down, Reyes took a handful of dirt and worked it with his thumb to loosen it and make the grains smaller, staring at it rather than where Julia’s body now rested. Maiko threaded her arm in his and she leaned heavily into him, soft hiccuping cries escaping her as she quietly cried into his arm. He could feel Vestus pressing into them both from the other side,

“Julia was a wonderful sister. She brought a lightheartedness that I didn’t know I was missing until I met her. She is the sister I never knew I wanted. And, even though it’s been only a day, I miss her so much...”

Reyes paused and took a deep breath before continuing his eyes burning with suppressed tears, “She was always able to see the positive in things, wanted to be in on all the jokes and explore Heleus to find out everything there was to know. Could light up a room and make friends with anyone. She embodied the spirit of what all of us wanted to find in Andromeda. To make friends, to find new family members, to make a life here.”

Maiko made a noise of agreement and clutched his arm tighter. “She wouldn’t want us to forget any of that—no matter the cause of her death.We came here to make a new life, find new family and friends, live our lives to the fullest.”

Holding his hand out, he let the dirt dribble from it. “Goodbye Julia.Until we meet again.”

His goodbye was echoed by all present. He then helped Maiko grasp her own handful of dirt andlet it fall on Julia’s body.Vestus, Kenax and Alzik followed their example, then Keema and the rest of the Resistance walked in an orderly line past the grave, each saying goodby and a few words as they put a handful of dirt in the grave. When everyone had passed by, he let Maiko have a few words with her sister that he purposefully didn’t listen closely too. When she was done, Maiko pulled him away and started walking back to their home.

“Goodbye Julia,” Reyes said with one last look behind them.

***

2819 CE April 22nd

Heleus (aka Habitat 3), Faroang, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: In the still of the night....

Moving further away from the research station, Scott felt like they were being watched but it wasn’t the type where it made him grip his M3 tighter. The jungle around them was full of wildlife but so far they hadn’t seen anything big like a rylkor. Jaal pointed out various plants he did recognize but he seemed sad when he talked about the changes taking place on Havarl. Scott listened and asked the appropriate amount of questions.By mid afternoon, they’d only stopped briefly for water and a protein bar apiece at noon. From what Scott could tell, the canyons they were walking among were actually created by tall Remnant structures that had been overgrown by the jungle.Later, when he’d had a chance to have SAM do some map manipulations, he’d realize they’d been walking in between the alien equivalent of skyscrapers—it’d been so long since the Remnant had been active that the jungle had coated everything making it hard to see from the ground.

The game trail they’d followed was leading in the right direction. Straight ahead up the canyon from the research station they’d been able to see a monolith which was activated and had it’s light been heading towards them. It was quite a distance away and Scott found himself mentally thanking that it was activated and he wouldn’t have to crawl through the jungle that far to reach it—or at least he didn’t need to yet.

By late afternoon, they’d reached an offshoot canyon from the one they were in that led away to the right.This was the one according to Kiiran’s map that would lead them to the scientists. The map also suggested there was a structure similar to a monolith close to where the scientists were held. After brief consultation with Cora and Peebee, he called a second FOB down to help with line of sight communications.Without deploying a FOB, Peebee didn’t think their comms would work once they were out of the main canyon that they stood in.

Watching the FOB descend, Scott found himself explaining how their system’s worked in layman’s terms to Jaal who seemed intrigued. Knowing that they were wasting daylight, Scott urged his team up and moving again.

Within the side canyon, it immediately became much dimmer as the sunlight didn’t penetrate well at this angle for this time of day. Which meant the jungle around them was much more active. Peebee was spooked and stayed close to Scott, jumping at the slightest hint of movement that wasn’t from them. Scott himself was unnerved by the jungle as it had become quieter when he intuited that many of the animals Jaal had described were nocturnal... which meant the jungle should be coming even more alive this time of day. Jaal kept a tight grip on his gun and became less talkative.

When the light became difficult to walk through without stumbling over roots every few steps, Scott called for everyone to start looking for a place to make camp. Liam found an area that was surrounded by the smooth mineral Remnant stone on three sides but did not have a roof.However, it did allow them to have their backs against something they could depend on so Scott approved it as their bivouac spot.Cora took his viper and used her jump jets to perch herself in a niche in the wall that gave her a good view down the trail they’d come from. The rest of them sprawled out in the small area to find a spot to get some shut eye after eating another protein bar.

Having just filled his water bottle from a nearby waterfall that came off the walls of the canyon, Scott found himself setting up a water purification station and filling everyone’s bottles, happy to have a task to occupy himself with. Liam helped and they soon had it completed. Finding his own section of wall to prop himself up against, Scott tried to sleep but found himself instead writing in his journal.

He finally got a few hours of sleep before SAM awoke him for his watch at almost midnight. Stretching to warm himself up, he used his jump jets to get him up to the crack in the wall that they were using.Liam greeted him, handed him his viper, and went off to get some sleep of his own, telling him that Vetra had volunteered to follow his shift.

The next hour crawled by and it was shortly after midnight when he saw movement in the foliage surrounding the camp sight. A narrow diamond shaped head with a center fin between two reptilian eyes poked it’s head out where he could see it, the head the size of a large watermelon. Two slitted nostrils flared as the animal took a good sniff of them. Sighting down the scope, Scott switched to infrared and saw that the head was attached to a bipedal animal roughly the size of a large horse with a long tail.Fucking rylkor.

 _SAM! Wake up Cora and Liam quietly!_ He ordered. Sweeping his scope, he identified three other rylkor just outside of the clearing they’d made camp in. Jaal could’ve mentioned they hunted in packs. He could see Liam waking up as well as Cora, both of them gripping their guns, Cora who had been sleeping next to Vetra calmly put a hand on the Turian’s arm and shook her awake before silently pushing Vetra’s gun into her hands. Drack continued to snore from where he was propped up in a corner, Peebee curled up in a ball not far from him and the furthest from any of the rylkor.

The rylkor who had stuck it’s head out far enough to be seen by Scott slowly advanced, long slender neck followed by powerful body with short front arms that were tipped by claws that Scott could see clearly in his scope.Telling SAM to have Cora count to three, he aimed at the rylkor’ s head and released his breath, finger squeezing the trigger and a single shot finding itself buried in the head of the lead rylkor. Which didn’t kill it but made it very, very angry and it roared, the noise shattering the silence of the night as it leapt to attack due to the pain.

The other rylkor came to the defense of their pack mate, jumping into the small clearing. Cora, who’d been close to the one Scott had shot had pulled her sword and swung it, shearing off one of the clawed limbs of the flailing, angry beast. Vetra was pumping shots from her assault rifle into it while Scott desperately tried to find another headshot.

Drack, awoken in the commotion, pulled his shotgun and took aim at center mass of another one, putting two pumped shots into the beast and felling it. Peebee, wide eyed and startled, pulled her own pistol and put several shots into the flailing, dying beast, the last shot finding it’s eye and it stilled, dead.

Liam was shooting another one but was being flanked by the last remaining one.Scott, unable to get a good angle on the shot, used his biotics to throw the animal high into the trees with a large crash as the flailing body impacted the trees. Jumping down from his perch, Scott drove his omniblade deep between the front shoulders of the animal as his legs squeezed around the midsection to try and keep himself in place as the blade bit deep. Liam, agog at Scott’s actions, stopped shooting so he wouldn’t hit Scott.Hanging on for dear life, the rylkor bucked and thrashed under him as he pulled his blade free and then slammed it again into the neck before the whiplike tail smacked him from behind and dislodged him, blade tearing free from the neck and spraying blood everywhere. Liam, with his typical war cry, then continued pumping shots into the animal as it hissed and spat acid at Scott before teetering and then dropping to the ground, body convulsing as it died from its multiple wounds.

Scott, wind knocked out of him from the double impact of tail and ground, had barely had time to raise a barrier as the spit hit it, sizzling as the chemicals and biotics reacted and giving off a rancid chemical scent as the barrier prevented it from reaching him. He’d lost his viper somewhere in the undergrowth so he pulled his M3.While he’d been distracted, Cora had buried her sword to the hilt in the chest of the rylkor she’d been dealing with and it still was giving off twitches as it died and she pulled her sword out with a gush of dark blue blood.Drack, pumped his shotgun as he reloaded, Peebee next to him gripping her pistol with pale hands.Vetra had her assault gun in hand and was carefully watching the wall of foliage for movement.Jaal, who’d been untouched during the battle but had put a few shots of his own into several of the rylkor, was looking at Scott with a frown.The rylkor Scott had thrown was the only one still theoretically alive but wasn’t in their campsite.The jungle around them was eerily silent.

“How did you do that?” Jaal finally asked when the rylkor didn’t immediately reappear.

“Do what?” Scott asked, standing with a few winces. He was going to be black and blue under his armor. SAM silently told him that he would optimize his pain tolerance so he could move and the pain immediately dulled.

“That blue barrier.... what is that?”Jaal was staring at Scott as the barrier fizzled out, spent.

“It’s my biotics....” Scott trailed off, trying to figure out how to explain biotic powers to Jaal. 

He was spared further explanation immediately when the last rylkor roared and jumped into the center of the campsite hissing and spitting acid which impacted another barrier that Scott threw up hastily around Jaal who’d had his back to it.He and Cora reacted immediately—he with a lance and Cora with a nova. The rest of the team riddled the body with bullets and the animal dropped in place.

Nobody said anything for several minutes as they all stared around them at the jungle. Scott activated his scanner and jumped back up to the niche so he could see further. Liam, finding the viper, threw it up to him and he activated the thermal scope and carefully scanned the area. He could heard his companions talking quietly as they pulled the bodies from the center of the camp to the edge of the jungle in a pile. When he couldn’t detect any more movement or thermal bodies for the next forty minutes, he jumped down to help pull the last dead animal to the pile.

“What do we do now?” Vetra asked when the task was complete.

Everyone exchanged looks. Nobody seemed interested in further sleep but it was still too many hours until morning.

“We try and get some rest. Just bumbling around in the jungle isn’t going to be productive and we could get attacked easier,” Scott finally said when nobody came up with other suggestions.

“We should burn the bodies. Might keep others away,” Liam offered.

Jaal didn’t have a strong opinion regarding that option so Scott let them set the bodies alight after Peebee and Cora took some samples for Suvi.He and Cora alternated using a barrier to make sure the rest of the jungle didn’t catch fire.It was a long rest of the night for everyone and they only dozed. Scott kept himself up in the niche with his viper.He couldn’t sleep anyways.

***

Morning didn’t come quickly but when it did, everyone was up and ready to go as soon as the light penetrated enough to be able to see the ground. Everyone was tense and quiet as they made their way to the nav point.They came across some wild adhi and a few other animals that they put down quickly. There was no sign of either Roekaar or turians and Scott didn’t know if he was happy about that or not but it was one less thing to worry about right now. No rylkor either, thank god.

When they came to the end of the canyon where a large pool of water had formed from the runoff from the cliffs, it was almost midday and everyone was tired, sweaty and exhausted but nobody wanted to stop.They ate briefly, refilled water bottles and started climbing up the vine covered slopes to where the science team should be.The monolith towered above them, it’s base hidden in the trees above them. After the first hundred or so meters of climb, the rock face they’d been half climbing half scrambling up turned to the familiar stone mineral that the Remnant architecture was made of. This made their journey up easier as they could use their jump jets to get from ledge to ledge.There was still plenty of plants that had invaded the ledges but the rocky surface didn’t crumble under their hand and foot holds. Jaal expressed interest in their jump jets but displayed an ability to leap that was impressive. Drack just grumbled but accepted assistance when needed.

When they reached the base of the monolith, there was an entrance below it that was cut into the walls in such a way that made it known it was intentional. Vines grew along the wall but they’d been cut to allow entrance with the nav point showing it was maybe a hundred meters below the monolith. Standing in the sunlight, Scott ate a protein bar before going in which was his last one. “Cora, I want you, Vetra and Drack to keep an eye out here. The rest of us will go in.”

Cora frowned but nodded, her face thoughtful. “Be careful.”

“Always,” he said as he pulled his M3 and entered. Jaal, Liam and Peebee on his heels. Once they were beyond the entrance, the floor took on the appearance of all the other Remnant structures they’d been in and light pedestals activated to show them the way. They had to climb over several areas that had pillars that had fallen in and obstructed the hallway but were able to continue onwards.

Climbing over one last broken pillar, Scott could see the large platform that he’d expected to find.There was a center console with a triangular layout of pillars that came from each corner and rose into the darkness of the monolith. Three angaran were caught in a light blue colored stasis field, frozen mid motion.The one closest to the console was evidently familiar to Jaal and he made a choked off growl followed by a name that Scott didn’t quite catch.

“Do you know him?” Scott asked, looking at the Angaran caught in the field with his hand outstretched towards the console.

Growling, Jaal gave a sharp nodding gesture that he’d picked up from them. “Yes.His name is Torvar.I knew him growing up.”

Stopping Jaal from going into the middle of the room, Scott brought his scanner up and carefully scanned each step. “I think we’re safe to walk into there as long as we don’t try and activate the console,” he told Jaal, letting him pass.

Jaal immediately went to stand in front of Torvar and his face was anguished looking. “You will help them?” He asked.

“Yes.We will,” Scott said confidently as he indicated for Peebee to start looking around.Liam kept on watch for any Remnant robots. Scott continued to scan the center console, noting that the usual glyph set was incomplete, showing only two glyphs when there should be at least four. “We’re missing two glyphs...” he mused to himself.

“Scott, may I suggest following the power flows like we did on Eos?” SAM spoke from his omnitool which made Jaal jump. Peebee, from off to the side agreed with SAM from where she was poking around.

“Who was that?”Jaal was staring at Scott’s arm like it had spontaneous formed into a separate creature.

“I am SAM—Simulated Adaptive Matrix.I am the Pathfinder team AI and assist when necessary.”

Jaal looked unbelievingly at Scott. “Is this SAM in your arm?”

Amused, Scott shook his head. “I have a SAM implant in my brain that allows me to converse with SAM and allow him to sense things though me but SAM lives in a computer system on the Hyperion, the ship I came to Andromeda on.”

“That is technically inaccurate Pathfinder.I do not live anywhere but my main memory banks are indeed on the Hyperion.”

Jaal was not satisfied with these answers.“SAM is in your brain?”

“Not exactly.There is an implant that allows him to sense the same things as me and interact but he doesn’t live there.SAM is too complex to be stored in an implant like I have.The implants were designed by my mother Ellen Ryder as a way to help those who’d had brain or spinal cord injuries but they’ve been adapted for use by the Pathfinder team in other ways.”It was somewhat soothing to talk about his mother’s work to someone who didn’t know all the bad things associated with his Father’s AI work or how his mother had died. Jaal was just curious and there was nothing wrong with that. “However, I need to do some investigating so we can get this field turned off.We can talk more about SAM later.”

“I see,” Jaal said, his tone indicting he was still confused but he moved out of Scott’s way as he scanned the main console.There were two lines of power that flowed from the the console that were not activated—there were two that already had been activated and Scott assumed they belonged to the two glyphs he could see on the console. Following the first inactive line, he walked around the frozen angaran and off to the side. Towards the ground, he found an additional glyph that when he placed his hand in the center of it, he could feel SAM work to activate it which it did.The inactive power line started up and power flowed to the console. The stasis fields flared brighter for a moment but nothing else changed.

“Whatever you did Scott, it’s helping,” Peebee called.She had her own scanner out and was watching the console with it.

Following the second inactive line took longer but eventually Scott located another unique glyph and he activated it as well, causing Peebee to call him back to the console where he joined her. The angarans remained in their stasis field.

“I think they tried to activate the monolith but without the other glyphs activated they triggered a self-defense mechanism,” Peebee told him as he joined her.

“So can we turn it off?” he asked, aware of Jaal crowding him closer to her.

“Maybe?I know I can’t.These things still don’t recognize me because I don’t have a SAM in my head like you.”Peebee was scowling in frustration but when she turned to look at him it was obvious it wasn’t him she was frustrated with. “You should give it a try.The other monoliths didn’t try to trap you so you should be fine.”

“I still want you guys out of the way when I do.No sense in all of us getting trapped. Cora should be able to use SAM if something happens to me.” Scott waited until everyone had stepped back into the entryway before he put his hand over the console.In his mind’s eye, he could see the encryption that was incomplete, asking him to finish the code before giving access. This time, he didn’t need much help from SAM and he was able to quickly unlock the encryption, slotting each glyph in its’ place without difficulty. As the final glyph was selected, he could feel the console activate and allow him to give it more commands which he then selected the option to reboot as part of the system seemed to be malfunctioning.

This did two things.First, the stasis field cut out, releasing the angarans. Second, the reboot made the monolith come online as active.Through SAM he could feel a rush of data passing through him but he was unable to make heads or tails out of it but could tell SAM was recording it for further study. As the keys undulated in waves under his hand, the keys then all activated and then settled into their slots, the console sliding into the floor to await it’s next user.

Hand falling back to his side, Scott winced at the slight headache that interacting with the console had caused. He also wiped at his nose as he felt a trickle of fluid from his right nostril which, when he looked, showed that he had a nose bleed. Great. Pinching his nose to stop the bleeding with SAM tutting in his head about missing the nosebleed, he turned to look at his companions, all of which were now crowding around him to see what was going on, caution forgotten. No murder bots at this monolith—maybe the Remnant builders hadn’t felt the need as there’d been the stasis field to protect it.

Tovar, released from the stasis field started talking as if he’d been mid sentence, “—reading off the monitors and...” he blinked, looking around confused taking in Scott and his team along with Jaal who he fixed his gaze on. “Skkut!Skkutting stars! What? Who are... How did... Jaal?!?”

“Thanks aren’t necessary,” Scott offered as he continued to pinch his nose, seeing the perplexed angaran, taking a sniff to verify SAM had stopped the bleed before dropping his hand to talk. “Just doing our job.”

“They are aliens from another galaxy,” Jaal offered. “They were able to get you out of the stasis field you have been trapped in.”

“More aliens?Out of nowhere? Jaal?”This last part was Torvar demanding answers from Jaal, the Angaran’s body language saying he wanted answers immediately.

“Do none of you remember getting frozen?” Jaal asked instead of explaining.

“Frozen? I don’t understand...” Torvar stuttered, confusion written all over his face. “We were working on the monolith and... and then you appeared out of nowhere!Weren’t you assigned to Aya?”

“I am assigned to Aya but I was given the assignment of monitoring the Pathfinder and his team,” Jaal indicated Scott and company, “as they were given the task of rescuing you.”

“Rescuing us?” Torvar sound insulted. “We don’t need rescuing...”at Jaal’s look Torvar’s annoyance bled away and he looked contrite as he looked around himself at his two companions who now stood close by but were letting Torvar lead the conversation. “We thank you for your assistance.”

“It really was no problem to help.Kiiran Dals will be waiting to talk to you at Pelaav Research Station where we came from.Do you need assistance making it back there?”

“We should accompany them since we were not ourselves able to get here without incident,” Jaal insisted.

Scott inclined his head before nodding. “I agree. Peebee?Do you need more time here?”

Peebee who’d been wandering the room while Scott spoke with he Angarans shook her head.“There’s nothing out of the usual for a monolith now that you’ve activated it.SAM tells me he has all the data for me to look at once we get some down time.”

“It’s almost nightfall... I’d actually recommend staying up here tonight and heading down in the morning,” Liam spoke up for the first time as they reached the entrance where Cora and the others were waiting.

Seeing the position that the sun was in, Scott agreed.“Yeah.I don’t know about you Jaal but I don’t think any of us want to encounter another rylkor pack.”

Jaal, also looking at the setting sun agreed when Torvar looked at him for a response. “There are many rylkor about,” he told Torvar. “The Pathfinder team is right to be cautious.We had an encounter last night where we were very lucky to not have anyone injured.”

“We make camp here then,” Scott ordered, watching his people immediately start clearing a space for a fire where the wind wouldn’t catch it and it wouldn’t be visible down canyon. He agreed that a campfire would be comforting as well as generate some appreciated heat once the sun went down.For a jungle world, Havarl had chilly nights. Hopefully it would also keep any adventurous climbing animals away.

“Yes....I suppose you would know best,” Torvar allowed.

***

That night was uneventful, even if Scott slept poorly when it wasn’t his watch. Torvar and his companions had food that was only palatable to Jaal.Nutrient paste was an acquired taste that Scott was’t going to acquire any time soon.Liam had given him half of a protein bar he’d been saving, telling Scott that his biotics were more important than Liam being a bit hungry.Scott had hesitated before accepting the half eaten bar but his stomach had complained loudly right at that point and he’d given in.

On his watch, he could see the manta’s flying in lazy spins around the sky as they danced in the light of the gas giant.The dark purple sky and pink light was still novel enough that Scott found it pretty and unusual. When relieved by Drack, they’d had a brief conversation about the next day but Scott hadn’t felt talkative and found his empty spot out of the wind and huddled down to try and get some sleep while fully armored. He’d learned the skill during his service time but he still woke up sore and stiff no matter how much he told himself that he was a tough former spec ops soldier who didn’t need coddling.He’d grown too used to a soft bed.

Morning brought hungry, empty stomachs but they headed out without breakfast down the sides of the cliff, following the angarans who were much more familiar with the easiest route down. Rubbing his thickening stubble with his arm, Scott again debated growing a beard due to the scratchiness but gave himself a reminder to shave as soon as he could reach the Tempest. Reaching the pool at ground level, they again filled up their water bottles and he dunked his head to wash the sweat out of his hair.Yeah, he was due for a haircut too.

Flicking his hair back with a few passes of his hand, Scott stood up and headed back the way they’d come down the canyon, everyone falling in behind him. They made good time as they’d already physically hacked a way through and, despite the rapid growth, didn’t require as much clearing to pass through a second time. They had just about reached the main canyon when SAM alerted him that they were being watched and he sensed radio chatter on a frequency that was unfamiliar to them.

_Turian SAM?_

_No.The language being used is a derivative of Angaran that I am unfamiliar with._

Scott paused, ostensibly to take a break for water.His team was strung out in a line behind him but bunched up as they stopped for a water break taking Scott’s lead, the path too narrow for them to walk abreast and the terrain sloped upwards on both sides with thick vegetation limiting visibility.It was an ideal ambush spot. Taking a deep drink, he continued talking with SAM as he watched for movement around him. _Hostile do you think? Roekaar?_

_That seems most likely. Watch out!_

With that, there was multiple shots fired from around them. Scott raised a barrier around them with Cora’s help that meant nobody took a fatal shot but several shots did get through before he could raise it fully, Liam’s grunt as he took one in the shoulder and Vetra’s snarl as one clipped her told him that he’d been too slow. Peebee screamed as her leg was just outside the boundary and she took one in the foot and one in the thigh muscle as a through and through. Scott’s visor informed him they were surrounded by maybe eight or so angarans and they continued to shoot at his barrier making him reinforce it.

The science team was huddled in the middle and Jaal hovered over them protectively, his gun in his hands but he seemed torn about firing back.Drack, who was obviously pissed, roared and charged during a pause in the firing, stampeding through the undergrowth and thick trees towards two of the markers on Scott’s visor. Scott could hear the discharge of Drack’s shotgun and one of the markers winked out of existence. Putting more into the barrier as the firing resumed, Liam took off with his jump jets straight into the air and then angled for another grouping as his armor shield flared with hits, his assault rifle firing back. Vetra’s own assault rifle poked through the barrier to return fire but stayed put next to Peebee who was holding pressure on her leg. Cora and he continued to hold the barrier as the Roekaar continued to fire on them.

They were sitting ducks here on the trail, he needed to get everyone to cover...

More markers bloomed on his visor but they were different from the Roekaar.Screams that came from Angaran throats were heard as well as ongoing gunfire. Drack gave another roar and charged again. Scott, realizing someone had shown up to help them, just focused on keeping the barrier up even when Cora’s part wavered he reinforced his, pulling from reserves he didn’t really have to spare.

The fight was over within minutes and when his visor informed him all the Roekaar targets were down, Scott let the barrier fall, wavering on his feet and almost falling but was caught by Torvar who looked at him with worry.

“Are you alright?” Torvar asked him.

Scott however, wasn’t paying Torvar any attention.His attention was on the Turian who stepped out of the forest around him.The turian was heavily armored and carried an angaran style gun which was slung nonchalantly over a shoulder.More turians followed, approximately twenty of them and they appeared as if by magic, melting out of the undergrowth as Drack and Liam reappeared on the trail.

“Thanks for the help,” Scott said, tightening his muscles so he’d remain standing.

The first turian, a large dark grey colored specimen with a brilliant white colored colony mark, flared his mandibles into a bloodthirsty, yet friendly, smile. “Glad to be of service.Now whom do I have the pleasure of assisting?”

“Scott Ryder, Pathfinder and my team.”

“Pathfinder eh?”The turian seems amused and delighted. “Fancy that.I don’t suppose you’ve seen the arks have you? Specifically the turian ark?”

“No.Haven’t seen it.”Scott found himself smiling back at the turian.He appreciated a sense of morbid humor.

“Damn. Well then. I suppose I should take you to meet Avitus. He’ll want to talk to you.”

The name didn’t ring any bells with Scott but SAM identified the likely turian as Avitus Rix, second in command of the turian pathfinder team and former Spectre. Not another pathfinder but someone who was almost just as good.Scott immediately wanted to talk to this Avitus.Finally someone else he could talk to about decisions. “I have no issue going to talk to this Avitus... but I need to get these three back to the research station.”

The unnamed turian eyed the four angarans critically but then shrugged. “If you speak for them we have no issue with them. They’re not like these,” the turian pointed to a dead Roekaar who was wearing orange colored armor with his boot.

“They’re a separatist movement, rebels of a sort,”. Scott offered.“These are friends. Jaal is Angaran Resistance.We’re trying to forge an alliance with them.”

The turian nodded, holding out a hand to be shaken which Jaal just stared at it.“You shake it to say hello,” Scott told Jaal. “It’s a Milky Way custom.”

Jaal stiffly took the hand and squeezed back when the turian did, much to the amusement of the turians. “I am glad to meet friends of the Pathfinder.”

“Any friend of the pathfinder is a friend of ours,” the turian replied with a smile to Scott.

“Likewise,” Jaal intoned, his face showing his doubt.“We must get these scientists back to Pelaav without delay.They have been missing for quite some time.”

Scott also didn’t doubt that Jaal wanted to report to Evfra ASAP.“Did you see the FOB deploy?”

“Yes we did.We came looking for whoever had deployed it which is how we found you.”

“How about we meet back there in two days time.That gives me time to escort the scientists back and pick up supplies.”

The turian watched Scott and the others thoughtfully, obviously listening to a com in his ear but stalling for time. “That works for us.We will meet you at the second FOB in two days time.”

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE April 24th_

_So I’ve now had an encounter with the Heleus equivalent of velociraptors... and Liam really didn’t need to introduce me to them before hand. They’re just as not fun as expected.Lexi took a look at my ribs and asked SAM to stop the pain blockers he had been giving me. Which—ouch. Several applications of medigel later and I’m somewhat patched up but we’ll be moving out at first light to rendezvous with the turians.I’ve also not been keeping up with my nutritional requirements but that’s not a huge surprise. Lexi is very disappointed in me but she’s distracted by everyone else being more banged up than me for once. Peebee is going to take a few days to get back on her feet._

_Turians!I’ve found some wayward turians and evidently not their pathfinder. But—this Avitus Rix that they mentioned is huge.According to SAM, Avitus Rix is a former Spectre and was the second in command of the turian pathfinder team. The turian pathfinder’s name is Macen Barro according to records. If Avitus hasn’t gotten SAM from Barro that means he’s still alive somewhere... and the turian ark is out there. Either way, a former Spectre is going to have skills that will be useful. The turian ark must be somewhere in Heleus or we wouldn’t be finding it’s crew. Maybe I will have a colleague soon—oh god someone to talk to that’s not a journal. I really want this to happen but I’m scared to hope too much._

_In other news, we got the scientists delivered back to Kiiran. She is very happy to see them and has been much more open with us since.Jaal has even relaxed some but he slipped away to talk to Evfra while I was busy with Kiiran.Kiiran tells me that Havarl has been becoming more and more unstable as the years pass. They suspect it’s getting to the point where the instability will become unsustainable and the genetic mutations nonviable. SAM is working on figuring out if there is another monolith given the geometry of the output from the two that we’ve seen here—he thinks there’s another but Kiiran’s maps don’t show a third monolith. If there is a vault, we need to activate it sooner rather than later.Peebee may be unable to walk very far but she’s quickly becoming friends with Kiiran and says she might have some ideas for me when I get back from meeting with the turians._

_I’m going to take advantage of a safe place to get some sleep now. I’ll update my journal when I can but it might be a while if we’re in the field._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I ended up writing instead of doing anything else productive on my list of things to do today. Enjoy. Will for sure have a break between posting for the next week or so (maybe two). Happy new year early. 
> 
> Comments are love, kudos appreciated. Thanks for reading.


	29. Interlude I:

2819 CE May 16th

Tartarus, Kadara Port, Kadara, Govorkam System, Heleus Cluster

Reyes Vidal, smuggler, secret fan of telenovelas

Status: Not drunk enough to have this conversation

 

Reyes reclined on the bench in the back of Tartarus, sipping from his glass of the Angaran version of what he supposed might be likened to bourbon—which wasn’t that bad but definitely would benefit from some aging in whatever version of oak barrels he could find some day. Keema sat across from him, smoking, occasionally sharing bits of Angaran gossip but mostly asking invasive questions about his ethnic identity and family structure and comparing it to Angaran family traditions.Ever since Keema had been introduced into different cultural differences in humans she had been captivated.While there were some similarities between Chilean culture and Angaran, he didn’t think his family life experience had been a great example to use for Keema.Someone—not him—had made the mistake of letting Keema know about his stash of old earth telenovelas. Keema was now addicted to them and seemed especially obsessed with the South American lifestyles that had gone out of fashion almost a hundred years prior to coming to Andromeda.Keema was enamored by the romantic comedies and working class melodramas. She was determined that Reyes was missing his family and in desperate need of a romantic life partner.A true life partner to be his equal, the romance of the ages.Oh how that was the exact opposite but how to tell her without explaining too many embarrassing details.His current pattern of short term, transactional relationships, was evidently not convincing to Keema that he was fine without finding the love of his life.He wasn’t even sure that there would ever be a love of his life, after all it hadn’t worked out so well for his mamá or his tío (but that might be slightly unfair to his poor tío).

“Have you talked with Evfra lately?” Keema asked.

Taking a sip, Reyes replied, “Not in a while. Why?”

“The human Pathfinder landed his ship, the Tempest, on Aya three weeks ago.Evfra was his usual charming self and gave them a mission to prove their usefulness.”

“I’m surprised the Initiative is helping—there has to be a reason.Evfra isn’t someone they would want to make an enemy of but I can’t see him wanting to give them anything for free and I don’t see Evfra helping them out too much anytime soon.The Resistance has enough fights to fight without adding saving the Initiative from starvation”Reyes couldn’t help expressing some surprise at Keema’s news.Keema made no secret of the fact that she felt Evfra could do more to help out the Initiative which would keep them out of Kadara Port—or not.From what he’d heard of Alec Ryder, from those who knew him somewhat well, he shouldn’t be interested in anything the exiles or a guerrilla group of Angaran rebels were doing unless it directly benefited settlement or supplies for the Initiative. “From what I know of Alec Ryder—and I don’t know much—he has no interest in anything that doesn’t immediately benefit the Initiative.”

Keema’s face did the Angaran equivalent of raising an eyebrow.“But it’s not Alec Ryder who’s been the Pathfinder involved. It’s been a Scott Ryder.”

Choking as he swallowed a larger mouthful than he meant to, the bourbon burned itsway down his windpipe. Coughing to clear his throat, Reyes leaned forward. “Who?”

Laughing as if she’d made a joke, Keema took a pull off her cigarette.Keema was fond of what was colloquially called dream weed by the exiles, which in angarans produced a mild stimulative effect similar to nicotine.In humans, when ingested in high amounts caused hallucinations and psychedelic highs.When smoked it caused a mild anxiolytic effect similar to marijuana.Reyes didn’t really care for it but Keema was a long time user.Reyes missed tobacco dearly even though he knew he should never pick up the habit again since he’d quit when he’d joined the Alliance. Savoring the draw of smoke off her cigarette, Keema offered more information. “Evidently Alec Ryder is dead. Scott Ryder is his son.”

“Evidently I need to check back in with some contacts for better information.What do you know about Ryder the younger?Other than nepotism is evidently alive and well within the Initiative.”

Knowing she had Reyes attention, Keema studied him for a moment, trying to decide how to answer the question.“Young. Idealistic. He somehow is getting things done that I would have thought the Initiative was unable of doing given how they lost a lot of their more ambitious members to the exiles.Evfra even said that he wasn’t completely hopeless.”Keema paused to take another pull off her cigarette and gave a secretive smile. “He’s also quite handsome and single evidently.My sources were not able to find out his preferences for romantic partners.”

Staring at Keema, Reyes couldn’t believe how much she kept needling him over his love life.“I’m not looking to make a long term relationship commitment of the romantic sort. Besides, he’s Initiative and a Pathfinder.While I applaud your desire to strengthen our political stance, I’m not offering a marriage alliance to whatever poor young sap they tapped to be Pathfinder.Given the life expectancy of the Initiatives prior explorers I doubt they’ll even make it this far.”

“So if this Scott Ryder makes it to Kadara I should make sure you—what’s that human phrase—run into him?”

Rolling his eyes, Reyes tried and failed to stop his own sarcasm.“If Scott Ryder makes it to Kadara I’ll happily meet him.But I doubt he will.”Finishing his bourbon. Reyes changed the topic purposefully. “So who gave you access to the telenovelas? Was it Maiko?”

Smiling that she had won her prize, Keema gleefully switched to her current favorite topic other than her human friend’s love life. Now if only Reyes could convince her that Blasto was a better watch so she’d leave him alone about his love life.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————-

 

_To: Vladimir Brecka_

_From: Reyes Vidal_

_Subject:Catching up_

 

_You and I really need to catch up.Let me know when and where._

 

_Reyes_

——————————————————————————————————————————

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the very *first* part of this fic that was written. Still don’t plan on any other update until after mid-month as I’m going out of town for the next week and not taking a computer. 
> 
> Comments are love, kudos appreciated!


	30. Chapter Twenty Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

2819 CE April 25th

FOB 3B59812-C, Heleus (aka Habitat 3), Faroang, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: It’s a lovely day for a stroll in the jungle

Scott would admit to a certain amount of excitement when they set back off into the jungle headed for the rendezvous with the Turians. If this Avitus ended up being who he thought he was... he might have someone he could run ideas by who would have constructive feedback that he could trust. Also—he generally speaking enjoyed the turian attitude of stoicism and warfare that he’d studied back in school. He got turians.This was something that felt like it actually belonged in his wheelhouse. He’d left Peebee back with Lexi—neither of them had been happy with this outcome but even Peebee admitted she needed more time spent healing up before heading back out into the jungle. Peebee had promised him she’d have the data analyzed to triangulate another monolith by the time he returned.

Jaal, however, was being even more cagey than he was when they set off to rescue the scientists. Whatever Evfra had said to him hadn’t made him any more friendly or free with information.When asked about the Roekaar, Jaal had been less forthcoming than Scott would have liked but did admit that there was a significant presence in the area and that Jaal would shoot back if they shot at him. Which at least meant Scott could return fire if need be and it wouldn’t be seen as an act of war.

He really needed to pin down the rules of engagement here at some point but his task list was depressingly long whenever he looked at it.

Setting off just after dawn, Scott had a spring in his step that made Liam laugh at him. Responding with a good natured riffing, they’d briefly tumbled each other into the brush in their mock argument before Cora had put an end to it.That hadn’t made the best impression with Jaal but Scott figured that the Angara would quickly figure out how socially awkward he could be so there was no point in trying to hide it.Drack had found it to be fun and promptly head butted Scott which SAM had not appreciated and left Scott slightly dazed for a moment. Vetra had pulled Drack off Scott before a second head butt could occur.

After that, they’d set off in a more orderly fashion and it was midday by the time they were in reach of the first FOB and it would be another few hours to the second one where they’d agreed to meet up. Stopping at the first one, Scott refilled his water bottle and ate another ration bar that he’d grumbled about as he noticed it was his least favorite, butterscotch.

“Hey Scott,” Liam asked as he refilled his own canteen. “This Avitus guy?Do you know anything about him?”

“If it’s the Avitus SAM thinks he is then he’s kind of a big deal.He’d be the second in command of the Turian Pathfinder team and he’s a former Spectre.”

Liam stared at him after spitting out the mouthful of water he’d been drinking. “A Spectre? Really?!?”

“If the Avitus that the other guy mentioned is Avitus Rix, then yes.”Scott finished filling his canteen and packed it away before taking Cora’s from her and beginning to fill it.

“Wow.... a Spectre!That’s huge!”Liam started going on excitedly about what Avitus had possibly done as a Spectre which Jaal listened to with interest.

“So this Spectre... it is a very important warrior type for your peoples?” Jaal asked in a pause in Liam’s bombastic description of the feats that had been attributed to Spectres.

“In the Milky Way they’re a special elite type of soldier that worked for the Systems Alliance Council.The first human Spectre was appointed just a few years ago and it was a huge deal when that happened,” Scott told Jaal.

Jaal looked suitably impressed. “So you must be very special to be one of these Spectres. Were you one?” He asked Scott.

Scott laughed in deflection.He may have had private fantasies about someday being good enough to get that sort of assignment but he’d know realistically that it was probably out of his reach—even with his biotic capabilities.He’d been admitted to the special forces but he didn’t have the sort of record that Spectre candidates had. “No I wasn’t a Spectre. As Liam said, the first human Spectre was just appointed a few years before we left the Milky Way and that was seen as really unusual.Usually a species has to be well established before they have a Spectre candidate selected.Commander Shepard, the human Spectre, had the type of resume that was very unusual and he’d been specially selected to be the first.I was in the special forces which meant that I had advanced training but I had just passed my N2 training—Shepard was an N7 and one of the great ones at that.I had a long way to go before I could even think of training to become a Spectre.”

“Don’t sell yourself short man!” Liam told him with a quick friendly punch to the shoulder. “You would have been a candidate eventually given your Dad and everything.”

Scott tried not to grimace at this.Yeah... his dad was one of the reasons why he’d never have made N7. Especially since he’d been forced out, career over. Good to know that wasn’t wildly available information. “Yeah... maybe I would’ve made N7 someday.But we’re here so...”

Cora, sensing that Scott didn’t want to keep talking about his father, changed the subject by asking Jaal if the Angarans had special forces. Scott knew that Cora likely had a better idea of why Scott was in Andromeda instead of back in the Milky Way having a successful military career.

Jaal, distracted by the question, responded. “The Resistance is not as organized as your militaries seem to be.We have different ranks of responsibility but most of our forces are organized in cells that report to their captain.I was in charge of one such small force here on Havarl before I was reassigned to Aya. Being transferred to Aya was seen as an advancement in rank.We do not have your ‘special forces’ but are all trained in a similar manner.”

“Is that because you are still considered a volunteer resistance force?” Scott asked, genuinely curious.

“When our society was divided by the Kett we lost much. Our societies retreated into our separate worlds.We lost much of our technology and had to rediscover space flight.Shelesh—our common tongue—was redeveloped. This set us back in many ways and made it very difficult to resist the Kett. We lost many of our people this way and there may still be homeworlds of ours out there that we have lost in time.The Resistance was poorly organized before Evfra and many of our successes are due to him.”Jaal continued to explain as they resumed their hike.

Scott asked a few more clarifying questions but got the picture that the Resistance was a guerrilla force that was very young and, while it’s members were enthusiastic and dedicated, it was also of limited resources both personnel-wise as well as resource poor. The Initiative could offer a lot to the Angaran Resistance which would be mutually beneficial.

As they walked, conversation broke down to mainly just Jaal and Liam who maintained a back and forth cultural exchange that Scott idly listened to as he paid attention to the jungle around him.Thank god Liam could carry on conversations when Scott didn’t feel inclined to. Cora had taken the lead and Scott and Drack were bringing up the rear. Drack grunted to get Scott’s attention as they’d let a bit of space grow between them and the rest of their team. “Your discharge was a stupid decision,” Drack told Scott with a rumbled growl.

Scott didn’t look at Drack.He didn’t like talking about how he’d ended up signing his paperwork for Andromeda but it seems it wasn’t as closely held of a secret as he wished. “I agree. It was an extremely stupid and misguided decision but one I couldn’t really do anything about.”

Drack grunted.“You’re nothing like your father kid.” Scott scowled at that and Drack added, “That’s not a bad thing in my book.I met your mother and you seem to take after her.More practical by far and a better head on your shoulders.”

Scott found himself looking at Drack in surprise.“You knew my mom?”

Drack gave a toothy smile. “I did.She did some of the work on some of my implants. A great woman—your mom.”

Scott didn’t know what to say but nodded. “Yeah.She was a great mom. I miss her a lot.What kind of implants did she work on for you?” 

Drack laughed. “She worked on a little bit of this organ and that one.When you’re as old as me you collect a lot of things that don’t work like they should.Your mother was quite inventive.”

“Just how old are you?” Scott asked before he could stop himself.

“Well if you subtract the journey here from the total—which I do since I spent it as a popsicle—I’ll be 1500 in a few years.They pass by faster every year too, kid.”

Scott stumbled a little at Drack’s answer. But that would mean... “Were you alive during the Krogan Rebellions?”

“Not quite.Was born a century or two after the last one ended—depends on who you ask as to when the last one ended. My clan line includes Shiagur. Have the marks to prove it too under all this armor.”

Scott was now just staring at Drack and ignoring the jungle around them. Shiagur was one of the famed female warlords of the Krogan Rebellion. The accounts he’d read about her...wow. He’d been assigned a not-small dissertation on her tactics in school. His professor had called her brilliant and Scott had agreed with that assessment.

“Don’t look so surprised kid.I’ve been around a long time and been a lot of things in life. Andromeda was another opportunity to help out the clan so I came.”

“Well, I’m happy you decided to join my team,” Scott finally said after not being able to think of anything more intelligent to say.

“You’re alright kid,” Drack said with a laugh and a thump to the back which made Scott stumble.Scott couldn’t help the grin that broke out across his face. He had one badass krogan by his side.

***

They made good time and reached the second FOB approximately two hours later.Sweating in his armor, Scott appreciated seeing the white of the conical FOB in the green, purple and blue of the jungle. Reaching it, they spread out around it, taking a rest. Not twenty minutes later and without warning, a turian stepped out of the undergrowth.It was the same turian that had greeted them previously. SAM had alerted Scott that they’d been watched for the last hour but he didn’t do anything to give away that he had known they were watching. If he was in their place, he’d be cautious too given he was meeting them with an Angaran in tow. 

“I see you made it back,” the turian greeted him, mandibles flaring in a smile.

Scott greeted him with the traditional military forearm clasp that he’d had drilled into his head by Vetra as being appropriate. “We did.How much further until we meet Avitus?”

“Not too far,” the turian said.“We’ve been mustering up our supples assuming we might be moving out with you.”

Scott nodded as it made sense. He’d sent a message to Tann and included Kandros—since he was currently the highest ranking Turian in the Initiative—that he was hoping to be bringing some turians home. There had been no reply as Scott had purposely sent it late so he wouldn’t get an unnecessary set of instructions to follow. “I’m just glad to see more of our people.We’d not seen any evidence of the Turian ark until I heard rumors of wreckage on this planet.”

Gesturing to follow him, the turian who he still didn’t know the name of, kept talking. “We hadn’t had contact with anyone since we woke up in our pods scattered across the jungle. Been in skirmish after skirmish since then—no offense,” the turian said the last part to Jaal.

Jaal, face neutral, gave an exaggerated shrug that he’d picked up the mannerism from Liam. “No offense taken.The Roekaar can be unreasonable but they do not speak or act for all of us.”When they’d asked Kiiran about the Turians she had merely said that they had not had any hostile interactions with them.So all the conflict had been with Roekaar as far as Scott knew.

“That’s good to hear,” the turian confessed. “I’m Caslio by the way. Caslio Aciltus.”

“Jaal Ama Darav.”Jaal awkwardly grasped Caslio’s arm similar to how Scott had. He’d loosened up a lot since his previous interaction with Caslio. 

Scott made small talk as he followed Caslio as he led the way to a small game trail that they would not have found unless they’d been shown it. The trail twisted and turned and Scott had to scramble over some underbrush to follow but the trail led up higher on the canyon sides to a flat area. About an hour later, they reached the first sentry who greeted Caslio and carefully examined Scott’s team but let them pass. Three more layers of sentries later they made the Turian camp which was perched in a flat area that was well disguised. Cryotubes had been scavenged for materials and the lean-to tents were made out of cryotubes and other parts of what looked like an ark ship. There were also containers of supplies that looked Angaran in nature that were carefully and orderly stacked towards the back where they’d be difficult to steal from. There had been signs of gunfights—bullet marks and singed plants—that they’d noted on their way in.

The camp was busy in a way that reminded Scott of how things got right before deployment. Packs were being packed, the area secured for later return. About thirty or so turians were busy at work. Seeing so many of them made Scott relax slightly. He’d been worried they’d find only a few with reports of more dead.This was much better than he’d anticipated. 

Caslio instructed them to wait just shy of the first lean-to. “Wait here.”

Continuing to look around, Scott watched Caslio approach a turian that was in white armor with a white face, two lines bisecting each eye for a clan mark that almost met in the center of his forehead with two smaller horizontal lines below the eyes that followed the curve of his face. This turian appeared to be in charge of those around them and at Caslio’s approach he looked over at Scott and their gaze met. The gaze was piercing, evaluating but the turian didn’t comment and just calmly listened to whatever Caslio was saying before nodding and approaching Scott.

Scott couldn’t help scrutinizing right back. The turian walked with what he mentally called “Special Forces Swagger” that spoke of confidence with a gun and anticipation of need for deadly force but there was also something else in the body language, something that made Scott’s lizard brain tell him that this wasn’t just any turian but a dangerous one.His armor wasn’t standard issue but appeared a custom job, his guns angaran in appearance and similar to the one Jaal carried. Scott assumed they’d run out of ammunition for any other guns they might have brought with them and were using captured weapons. The armor and guns were in good condition and clean despite the humid jungle.

“Caslio tells me you’re a pathfinder but you don’t look like the Alec Ryder I know,” the turian greeted Scott, holding out his hand for the standard warrior’s clasp which Scott automatically returned, the grip to his forearm firm enough to be felt through his armor.

“Alec Ryder was my father. He died during our first mission in Andromeda,” Scott said with a slight side eye to Jaal to indicate to the turian he didn’t want to pursue that line of questioning in mixed company.“My name is Scott Ryder and he appointed me his successor.”

The turian smoothly got the hint and nodded with a mild flare of his mandibles. “I’m Avitus Rix and second to the Turian Pathfinder Macen Barro.” 

“Glad to meet you,” Scott said as he turned to his team and introduced them. “Cora Harper, my second,Liam Kosta, Nakmor Drack and Vetra Nix.The angaran is Jaal Ama Daravand is a representative of the Angaran Resistance that we’re working with.”

Jaal held out his hand and Avitus shook it with a slightly amused look but nodded at the rest of them except for Drack who he accepted a head butt from with a grin. “You’ll have to tell me the longer story behind how you became Pathfinder later as we have business to discuss. Please follow me to the command tent.”

The command tent was slightly larger than the others and had a piece of metal that belonged to an Angaran-typeshuttle as a table with homemade chairs situated around it. Avitus invited them all to take a seat before indicating the hand drawn map on the table surface, placing a small mechanical part from an engine to indicate where they were. “We’re here. I’m assuming you either have news about the Turian Ark or the Nexus.Either would be welcome but I’ll confess I’m most curious about the Natanus.”

Scott looked over the map with interest. There was detailed information about the canyon that they were in that matched the maps they’d been given by the Angarans.There was a new marking that showed where both FOBs were as well as the research station but there wasn’t much detail about it.There were several other markers, two of which had big Xs through them that SAM didn’t know what they were from their locations as they didn’t match anything on their intel. “We haven’t heard from the Natanus as of when I last checked in. We’d heard rumors of ejected cryopods here so I was given the task of sorting out that rumor.”

Avitus didn’t look happy with the news that Scott hadn’t any further information. “We know that Macen has to be still out there—I haven’t had the Pathfinder role transferred to me so he must still be alive. He’s probably looking for us rather than checking in with the Nexus.”

Scott nodded as he listened. If he knew his ark and people were missing it’d be his first duty too as long as others were working on making things habitable. “What do you remember?How’d you end up here?”

“I woke up in my crashed cryopod—had to tear my way out of it like we all did. From what we can tell something happened to the Natanus to trigger the escape function on the pods.Are you sure you don’t have any more information?”Avitus still looked hopefully at Scott but tempered with the knowledge that Scott probably didn’t have what he wanted.

Scott shook his head in the negative. “This is the first rumor I’ve had to check out that found someone so far—but that doesn’t mean much.I’ve only been in Heleus for a little over a month.”

Avitus thought on that for a moment. “A month?We’ve been here maybe three. We’ve also been having difficulty with ones like you that wear orange,” he said as he pointed his head at Jaal. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Jaal clipped back before sighing and his shoulders drooped. “The Roekaar have taken the position that all non-angarans should be wiped out. That is not the Resistance’s position.We believe that if we are to defeat the Kett we will need allies.”

“Kett?” Avitus asked, his gaze flickering back to Scott.

“Another race of sentient aliens. They preceded our arrival and they’ve been attacking the Angarans for,” here Scott looked at Jaal asking for him to fill in.

“Over seventy years.It has been many, many years and very damaging for my people.”

Scott cleared his throat.Seventy years was a long time to be at war and yet the Angarans were still alive and fighting back. “They are not native to Heleus and have been capturing and killing the locals who are willing to be our allies.”

Avitus stared hard at Jaal for almost a minute. “You are not winning this war agains the Kett?”

Jaal stared at his hands. “The war has not been going well. We have lost much as they isolated us, pretended to be friends at first. We know that we must have friends to back us up to regain what we have lost.”

Avitus stared hard at Jaal and crossed his arms over his chest, gaze flicking between Jaal and Scott before giving a small nod to Scott. “Any friend of the Pathfinder’s a friend of mine.”

Getting the impression they’d talk much further once they were in private, Scott also nodded. “What is your plan?You don’t want to stay here do you?”

Avitus’ flared his mandibles, amused at Scott’s subject change but answered none the less. “No. We’ve been systematically mapping this sector and finding as many cryopods as we could. We’ve found maybe sixty pods, about a fifth of them had dead bodies in them—either during the crash landing or couldn’t get free. We haven’t found anyone alive in weeks.We’ve buried the dead and marked it so we can come back if necessary. We’ve lost another three to raids by your Roekaar who we’ve been taking supplies from since they weren’t friendly.”

Jaal grimaced and opened his mouth to speak but Avitus continued.“They shot first,” he told Jaal as an aside. “And we didn’t have any choice since they refused all communication attempts.I’d prefer to not continue our small war unless necessary.”

“Understandable,” Jaal agreed, his face showing his discomfort.“The Roekaar have been hostile to us as well but we understand their position even if we do not support it.”

“Then you should understand that I will protect my people and i expect you to do the same,” Avitus told Jaal with sincerity. “I’m happy to leave those alone who leave me alone but lay a hand on my people and you answer to me.”

“I see,” Jaal said quietly.Jaal seemed to get the point that Avitus was making and understood it. “If you are friends of the Pathfinder than we of the Resistance will consider you our friends as well.”

“I consider the Pathfinder to be of my people,” Avitus said without inflection.Nice to know Scott was just as good as a turian in Avitus’ book. Avitus was a breath of fresh air to deal with compared to Tann or Addison. Avitus was making sure everyone knew where he stood.

“Ah.Well yes then we will be friends,” Jaal added with some awkwardness, looking at Scott for support.

Scott tried not to smile as he steered the conversation. “If you’re not staying here then I need to get you back to the Nexus.How are your food supplies doing?”

“Terrible but we’re not out yet.We have a few weeks left and we found some roots that are dextro that we’ve been supplementing our diet with.”Avitus grimaced showing that the roots weren’t that palatable to him. “I’d prefer to wait for a transport someplace with reliable comms so we can get started on the search for the Natanus and Macen.”

“The research station has storage areas that can be used for short term housing while you await transports and we do have communication equipment,” Jaal offered.

“That would be more defensible than here.We’ve had to move multiple times due to your Roekaar.”Avitus had picked up the marker he’d used to indicate their location and fiddled with it in his hands, looking at the map. “Here and here,” he indicated two locations nearby, “are Roekaar camps.We mostly avoid them but they regularly have been hassling us.We’re a bit overdue for one of their visits actually.”

Noticing for the first time that the shadows were very long due to the late afternoon sunlight, Scott realized they’d be staying out in the jungle again overnight.“We can head out first thing in the morning and make the research station tomorrow. That should give everyone time to pack as much as they can carry.Do you need assistance?”

Avitus shook his head. “No.We’ll take only what we can carry. Most of the stuff we’ve accumulated is scrap but we do have some things we need to take with us.”

“In the morning then,” Jaal agreed. 

***

Jaal had stuck close to Scott the rest of the day which made it difficult for him to have any further discussion privately with Avitus. Avitus, when he noticed Jaal’s stubborn refusal to allow him to speak privately with Scott, gave Jaal a toothy flared smile and merely left them to make themselves comfortable for the night. Scott had volunteered to work with the sentries but Avitus had demurred their help stating that they had a system well established and it would be a bother to get them up to speed. Cora and Scott had exchanged a look that said she was on the same page as Scott and they had an unspoken agreement that one of their team would stay up at all times in case something changed. Avitus’ comment about being overdue for a Roekaar raid made Scott not want to tempt fate.

So they’d settled under one of the lean-tos and gotten some sleep as there was a brief rain shower at twilight that made everything in camp quiet down. There had been minimal preparation to complete and Avitus had told them to rest as they’d traveled further the day before. Scott’s own watch overnight was quiet and undisturbed. It was perhaps a half hour until sunrise when SAM awakened him, letting him know that something had changed.

_What is it SAM?_

_I’m getting something from Avitus—I think that it’s possible the Roekaar are around the camp._

_Alert Cora and the others._ Scott silently picked up his M3 from where he’d placed it under the blankets he’d been using as a pillow. It had been too hotand humid from the rain to use the blankets other than as a cushion. He casually moved to roll from his side onto his stomach and pushed himself up to a crouch, looking about the camp which was completely silent. No movement was detected but the sentries were far enough out that they weren’t visible from camp itself. The dim lights that were left on all night had a halo around them from moisture in the air.He could only hear the dripping of the light mist.There were no sounds of animals that he’d come to expect of this planet. Something was up.

Moving in the deeper shadows of the overhang, he watched for movement. A whistling bird sound that he’d never heard before shattered the silence.A similar, longer call came from across the clearing that was then picked up by a third and a fourth caller. Scott gripped his M3 tighter and reached over to wake Jaal.Cora, Liam and Drack were all awake and had their guns in hand.

Drack, grumbling lowly, spoke in a barely audible tone that carried to Scott’s ears. “That’s a Turian raid call.”

Scott, who could see somewhat well in the moonlit clearing, saw some restless movements among the turians who were bedded down as well as the occasional open eye. Yeah, they were all waiting for something. Avitus had said that the Roekaar were overdue.

Movement could be seen on the edge of camp and two Angaran in Roekaar armor slipped into view, Scott was barely able to make them out against the foliage in the dim light. They split up and began to circle the camp, two more following them and then another for a total of five. Scott pulled his visor on but it did cause a low red light glow around his face as it adjusted to low light. There were five other markers on the visor that he couldn’t see that were identified as Roekaar.He’d have to ask SAM how the hell he gave this data later.

_SAM, tell Cora to try and detain a few of them.I want to see if we can send a message to their leader telling them that we could be friends if they would stop targeting us._

Scott gave SAM a moment to relay the message and she gave him a slow nod when he looked at her.He then used hand signals to direct the rest of his team.Cora and he would take the two Roekaar closest to them. Holding up all five fingers, Scott counted down until he held up only one finger.Seeing that the Roekaar were almost in position evenly spread out, Scott closed his hand into a fist and his team sprang into action.

Drack let out a roar and charged across the clearing towards the far side, Liam right behind him laying down covering fire. Cora and he sprang up and threw matching biotic containment fields that pinned the angaran caught in them to float helplessly. Scott then took aim at two Angarans who crashed through the tree line to attack and heard Cora’s sword power up with an electric thrum. He could hear Vetra covering their two contained Angaran and shouting something in a turian language that Scott didn’t bother to listen tothe translation as it seemed to relay that he wanted the two kept alive.

The turians joined the fray and the markers on Scott’s visor that responded to Roekaar quickly were dealt with. Avitus stood next to Jaal and calmly put down one of the Roekaar who had charged Jaal with a scream of some insult that Scott hadn’t caught. It was over in They had to be minutes and there were just the two Roekaar in the containment fields left alive, floating in a blue cloud of light above the center of the clearing.

Standing underneath the floating Roekaar, Scott looked up at them. They snarled and twisted in the fields, unable to gain purchase as the biotic field kept them floating helplessly. Both Roekaar wore helmets that hid their face from view but Scott’s translator picked up the steady stream of insults that were aimed at him as well as at Jaal.They did not seem to understand any of the other languages that were being spoken in the camp as they mistook a question Liam asked for a reply to their insults. Both of them sounded young to him, their insults just more graphically violent than schoolyard bullies. “Jaal? You want to translate things for them so I make sure they understand me?”

Jaal, who’d been hanging back and hadn’t approached the containment fields reluctantly stepped up. “What do you want to say to them?”

Using his biotics, Scott pulled both of them down to the ground and pushed on them until they crouched due to the force pushing on him and were looking at him.He waited until their angry speech quieted which took several minutes, Avitus joining him on his other side from Jaal. Cora was taking her cues from him and had a look of concentration on her face as she maintained the field, strain around her eyes from keeping the field running this long. Vetra, Liam and Drack kept watch on the tree line for any additional movement but there were many looks from the turians who were watching Scott carefully.

“Jaal, please translate exactly what I say,” Scott requested and got a nod from Jaal. “My name is Scott Ryder.I am a member of the Andromeda Initiative from the Milky Way Galaxy, specifically my role is I am the human Pathfinder.My team is from multiple species that have coexisted in the Milky Way together and formed a society there that takes many different peoples and viewpoints to live together peacefully with common goals.” 

He waited for Jaal to catch up to him before continuing. “We have come as peaceful explorers to Andromeda and mean the Angara no harm.We have come to find new homes among you and to be friends—we are not conquerors.We are not Kett and decry their practices of taking you from your homes and families. We seek friendship from the Angara.”

He paused again to let Jaal catch up which took a few moments. “I have met Evfra de Tershaav and he gave me the task that brought me to Havarl to rescue scientists trapped in a Remnant stasis field. I wish to be friends with the Resistance and I will help them as long as I am able. I consider the Angaran Resistance to be my friends.”

Scott paused for effect and for Jaal to catch up.Jaal was looking at him with a very curious look, probably wondering what else Scott was going to say. “I understand the Roekaar object to the presence of non-Angarans in Heleus, that you attack those who are not like you and I understand why you do this.We have had similar issues back in the Milky Way that we have had to work on to overcome in the past but have moved on as a society to try to live together as best we can.But while I understand you, I will not let you hurt my people or my friends—including the Angaran Resistance. We have a common enemy in the Kett—they have hurt my people.I would not make an enemy of the Roekaar.”

It took almost two minutes for Jaal to catch up, having to pause and look at Scott somewhat incredulously at the last part. “Please relay my words to your leaders.We will be leaving this place this morning and you may take your dead with you.We do not seek to make enemies of the Roekaar but I will protect my people and my friends.Do you understand these words as relayed to you by Jaal Ama Darav?”

The body language of the two captured Roekaar showed that they were listening to Jaal as he spoke. When Jaal finished, they didn’t reply for a moment before the one on the left hurled another insult at Scott, implying that his parentage was in doubt. Amused, Scott didn’t verbally reply but did restrict their movement a bit more with the field. Cora was tiring rapidly and he’d taken over more of the field maintenance.

Jaal, shifting uneasily next to Scott, barked, “Do you understand what he is telling you?”

“We understand vehshaanan that you are skkut,” the one of the left snarled and renewed his struggles against the field.“The Roekaar know that you are an intruder. You do not belong here.”

The Roekaar on the right was more subdued and seemed to be staring at Scott before telling his fellow captive to shut up. “We will relay your message vehshaanan.”

SAM informed Scott of the rough equivalent translation for what they were calling him—person who is pleased with his own shit—and tried not to laugh and somehow kept a mild frown on his face despite the continuing drain of maintaining the field. He relaxed it slightly so it would be less of an energy drain. “Avitus, I think we should get ready to move out ASAP.”

“Agreed,” Avitus said from his left, an impressed look on his face as he stared at Scott. “I don’t think anyone is going to get any more sleep anyways.”

***

2818 CE November 28th

Kadaran Badlands, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective, part-time relationship counselor

Status: Feeling unexpectedly homesick

It had been two weeks since Julia’s funeral and Reyes felt like he was spinning his wheels and going nowhere fast but he’d made some connections that weren’t immediately paying out but would in the future.He’d made three runs to Elaaden and, other than a brief moment when they’d watched another vessel on a similar trajectory, it had been non-exciting. He’d also started spending more of his free time in Tartarus but he’d needed a break from working his way into being a regular at the bar. Kian was a great resource but Reyes just needed a break from the constant thrum of the electronic music beat that was barely audible in his back room. His first interaction with the marketplace and paying his “taxes” to the Outcasts had gone without incident other than he made the required show of grumbling about how much they took.

Tartarus was a good place to make connections and he’d made inroads with the regulars as it was a common place for smugglers to hang around.Kralla’s Song—the more upscale bar that was by the marketplace—was where you went if you weren’t a smuggler as it was more dedicated to alcoholism and forgetting your troubles. Umi, the bartender, had quickly learned to get payment first out of Reyes before serving him.She was much too suspicious by nature but it amused Reyes so he continued to play games with her regarding his bar tab.She also would work as an information broker but she was non discriminating and as long as you paid you got your information. Reyes could appreciate the simplicity of the arrangement but knew that he’d have to be careful as she’d just as easily tell anyone else what she told him as long as they had the credits to pony up.

Tartarus, on the other hand, was perfect for a thieves den.Tartarus’ heavy music made it easier to have conversations that weren’t overheard and much of the business that kept Kadara Port running actually took place there. Kian ran an information side business and had been happy to have an arrangement with Reyes that all information came to him first before getting distributed.Reyes now had a working gentleman’s agreement with Kian and his employees and they seemed, at least for now, to be happy to have him as their primary client rather than the Outcasts. 

He’d also managed to garner an invitation to the next monthly party aka networking event being held by the Outcasts purely because he’d brought in a shipment of trade goods and paid his taxes.The invitations were considered rewards for doing business without fuss and the Outcast member who’d given it to him had handed it over without him asking for it.It hadn’t been until he’d asked why he was invited that he’d gotten the explanation that he ‘qualified’ for an invitation to be known to the Outcasts as he brought in supplies.

It seemed the Outcasts weren’t very discerning when they issued these invitations.This made Reyes wonder what exactly these parties were for. But as long as he was invited he’d have to make an appearance. It could be a useful information and networking setting. Keema indicated she was also invited.

He’d also seen Sloane Kelly from a distance twice now while in port, purposefully not drawing her attention both times. She had been in a foul mood the first time from the assassination attempt. The gossip in the markets had indicated that this was the third such attempt by the Initiative to get rid of her and the second in the last month.Reyes could easily identify Initiative supplies that made their way into the market from Outcast associated traders.They had to be raiding Initiative ships to be getting those.

He’d sent a message to Vladimir and had this confirmed.Vladimir indicated that Tann was livid, having open conversations with Kesh, Addison and Kandros in the middle of the bridge about the situation and what their response would be to the outright thievery. Vladimir had even overheard the last assassination attempt being ordered by Tann to Kandros.Kandros had been less than excited about sending his people out on the mission but had still done it.

The bodies of the human and turian that had been sent to carry out the last assassination were nailed to the entrance to the docks.Reyes had discretely sent Kandros information from an account that could not be tied to him to confirm that the assassins were dead. Kandros’ reply had been succinct, slightly rude while implying that Reyes was ‘pirate scum’, and not encouraged Reyes to send him further information.He’d decided that he’d just go through Vladimir and if necessary Kesh in the future. They at least were professional enough to not tell him to go fuck himself when he told them stuff they didn’t want to hear.Kandros didn’t appear to be a contact that he could develop at the moment but he’d keep an open mind.

Reyes had also made it a habit of wandering aimlessly around the slums at night, getting a feel for the rhythms of the inhabitants while shadowed by either Vestus or Kenax who had adopted the role of unofficial body guards but who he called his ‘business partners’.The prostitutes now recognized him and greeted him. He had the feeling that the redhead, Ruby, as well as the one male he’d had conversations with had kept their interactions to themselves but let the others know that Reyes was safe by greeting him. He’d had a discrete offer from Colton aka Topaz on more than one occasion but he’d firmly informed the man that he respected people too much to pay for it.This hadn’t discouraged the man at all until Reyes told him that he’d just had a lover murdered and was still not over it which had made the man back off but with an offer that when he was ready Colton was more than willing to help him ‘get back on the horse’. Colton was still friendly and readily gave information when asked, accepting payment for the information rather than a sex act that it appeared they were walking off into an alcove to do.

But he’d needed a break from being a smuggler and information gatherer so he’d informed Kenax and Vestus they were taking a day off to check in on the farm before heading to Elaaden for their regular run. Setting down his shuttle under the camouflage field, Kenax went through the shutdown procedures with him in a synchronized, well practiced way. Vestus was already out the airlock and wandering toward the cave opening before they’d finished. There were a few Angarans out and about outside the caves, working on projects but Maiko greeted him at the entrance.

“Back home I see,” she said as she gave him a warm hug.She looked better than she had two weeks ago.She still had dark circles under her eyes but they were no longer bloodshot and her color was better and she’d taken the time to pull her hair back in a pair of braids that circled her head like a crown. He’d seen Julia do her hair that way multiple times in the past and supposed it made her remember her sister in a more positive way.

Returning the hug, Reyes squeezed her briefly to let her know he’d missed her. “Back for the moment. How are our plants doing?”

“Getting bigger every day.It’s amazing what a little bit of light and some seed can do.” Maiko reluctantly released him from the hug, threading her arm through his as she pulled him towards the hydroponics set up. “I got work from our friend that he’s going to send us some fish to our next rendezvous so I’ve got a team working on converting the far cavern for an aquaponics set up. We’re going to need more wind generators though before we can power it.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Reyes told her as his eyes took in the changes a week had made. He’d been getting daily status reports from her and Alzik. 

Alzik had taken Alona under his wing and she’d been working alongside him as she’d had some training in the biological sciences.Per Alzik’s reports, Alona was young and had been separated from her own mother during the chaotic arrival in Andromeda. Tann had refused her request to have her Dalatrass awakened so she’d chosen exile and been ill prepared for it, falling victim to the Outcasts by not being able to pay their protection fees. Alzik was protective of the young salarian and the attachment was mutual. Reading between the lines, Reyes assumed that Alona was now part of his extended found family by association.

Maiko had been intermittently interactive with the humans they’d rescued. The one male had not awoken as of the last report and it was likely he would pass away any day now as their limited medical capabilities were beyond doing much beyond keeping him comfortable. Theo, however, would be someone Reyes needed to evaluate on this trip. The female whose name they’d found out was Raquel, still hadn’t spoken a single word and was doing slightly better but still too weak to leave the medical area of the caves.

Entering the hydroponics farm through the protective barrier to keep out any pests that might find it, Reyes was struck by the scent of growing things that immediately made him take a deep breath and hold it, savoring the scent. Homesickness sliced through him like a knife for Earth. He’d not felt it so keenly since arriving in Andromeda but the smell of growing things... he did miss home.Everything on Kadara smelled vaguely of sulfur or just not quite right because it wasn’t where he grew up.He was becoming more accustomed to it but it still wasn’t home and wouldn’t be for a while.

He’d paused just inside the door to breathe in the smell and Maiko was smiling at him with an amused look when he opened his eyes. “Brings back memories doesn’t it?” She said with a grin.

“It does.It really, really does,” he replied with a similar smile that was more gentle. “I hadn’t thought I was going to be homesick but this just takes me back.”

“I thought you must have grown up around some sort of farm based on your knowledge.I know you grew up on Earth...” Maiko said carefully, aware that Reyes didn’t always want to share much about his upbringing, only snippets here and there that weren’t pictures of the whole.

Smiling, Reyes walked closer to the hanging rows of plants that now had sprouted leaves and shoots, their small signs of growth spanning the spectrum of green with yellow and white mixed in that you could see despite the magenta grow lights.There were even a few purplish red leaves of the salads they were growing down the row that glowed under the specific lights being used for them. He resisted the urge to touch the small spouts as he hadn’t washed his hands. “I did.My Tío was the administrator or I suppose you could call it forehand for one of the great families’ estates. I spent part of my year with him on the family’s estates working the plantings and harvests when I couldn’t get away to surf. I used to hate that part of the year since it was such hard work and long days but the whole estate worked together to get the harvests in on time.I miss it now.”

Maiko had followed him and didn’t say anything for a moment. “I was always a hard sciences person—engineering, chemistry, physics were my thing in school and I went into engineering off planet as soon as I could. I had a hard time adjusting to my first colony as it was a desert type planet. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest of North America and I missed the rain and the scent of the trees.”

“I can imagine it. My Tío used to take me each fall to watch the wind come in off the ocean and chase the summer away—we’d go up into Torres del Paine—just the two of us in the Patagonian highlands. I miss those mountains and listening to the wind roar as it twisted through the grasslands like a sea and the mountains... they echoed the autumn thunderstorms that liked to gather around the peaks.”

“Kadara isn’t completely unlike that....” Maiko offered.

Shaking his head, Reyes agreed. “It is and it isn’t. We didn’t have so much sulfur where I came from.”

“True.Oh by the way, I forgot to tell you that we found a good deposit of phosphorus and nitrates for fertilizer so I fixed that problem I was worried about.” Maiko continued on, pulling him as she exited the hydroponics area and headed towards Keema’s office and the engineering workroom.

***

Once he’d checked in on Alzik and Alona, Reyes had been pulled aside by Keema and given a thorough once over like his abuela would have done. Amused, Reyes let her do it as he knew Keema did not have any children of her own but saw him as adopted family. Satisfied that Reyes hadn’t done any damage to himself in the last week since she’d visited him in Tartarus, she pulled him into “their” office (emphasis hers) and poured him a drink from her own stash she’d brought from Aya. Reyes had taken a delicate sniff before his eyes began watering from the strength of the Angaran version of whiskey and sipped carefully while Keema shared the current gossip, ahem, status reports.

There wasn’t a whole lot that he didn’t already know but it was nice to shoot the breeze with her and get her take on the intel he’d heard.They had mostly the same impressions but when it came to angaran matters he trusted her subtle interpretations of the news better than his own.Maiko hadn’t told him this but her boyfriend was doing well and was out of medbay but on limited duties. Keema had clucked at his eagerness to get back to work but otherwise informed Reyes that she expected he wouldn’t have any long term issues from his encounter with the Outcasts.

Which left the big elephant in the room to talk about. Keema gently segued into the topic, asking him how he found Maiko.

“She seems better, more focused than when I last saw her,” he said softly, taking another sip of his drink.

“She is much better but still not sleeping.She also keeps asking me about any information we have on the Oblivion trade. Poor Theo—she’s been pumping him for any information she can get on the manufacturing that he can provide.She’s been especially keen on getting where he was previously held from him,” Keema added, giving Reyes a significant look that he wasn’t sure how to interpret.

Staring at his still mostly full glass, Reyes thought about what Keema wasn’t saying. Maiko still wasn’t back to her usual self then. “So she’s still focused on tearing it down then.”

“She is.Raquel is lucky that she just doesn’t talk so Maiko’s been leaving her alone and working on Theo.”Keema swirled her own cup absently as she adjusted to be more comfortable in her chair that she’d tipped back on it’s hind legs, her foot tapping against the bench she was wedged against. The screen behind Keema showed a map of the Kadaran Badlands and the process Keema’s teams were making in identifying structures and movements of supplies, troops, bandits and Outcasts. There were a lot of markings.

“Is Tovrel helping at all?” Reyes finally asked, knowing that Keema wanted him to interfere but not sure how to.

“He’s trying but every time he tries to spend time with her she’s searching out poor Theo. I think he’s feeling like he’s losing her.”

Reyes frowned and took another drink Being drunk might help him think about how to solve Maiko’s relationship issues but it also might make it even harder to think logically. “He’s not taking it well?”

“In a word? No.But he also knows she might need space to deal with her loss.I’ve had him in here a few nights asking for relationship advice.Be glad I haven’t sent him to you yet.”Keema arched an eyebrow in amusement at Reyes, aware that his most recent relationship had been only just starting and he’d not been the most astute boyfriend ever but that might have been because he needed to try harder next time... if he ever did a relationship again that is.

“Hmm... “ Reyes offered instead of a proper reply which got him an eyeroll in response. “You want me to give him relationship advice?I’m hardly the proper person to go to for this.You would be much more appropriate.”

“You’re the only other person I know who was in a relationship between a human and an angaran.I think he’d at least appreciate any insight you might offer.”Keema was amused but had the force of strongly worded suggestion behind it, if not the suggestion of an order which she didn’t like to give him.

Sighing, Reyes took another drink and tried to focus on the burn as the alcohol passed down his throat. He really didn’t think he’d be that helpful to Tovrel—he’d had only two relationships that could even really ever be called that and one had ended in disastrous heartbreak for him and her marrying someone else, the other had been short and ended in murder. He was hardly a good example to follow. There were reasons he stuck to no strings attached sex for most of his naval career and never with someone he was good friends with. “If he seeks me out I’ll tell him as much as I can to help but not sure it’ll be useful.”

“Good. I’ll send him your way when he comes to talk to me later then.” 

Reyes downed the rest of his glass but deferred the refill Keema tried to give him.If he was going to talk relationships then it probably would only be useful advice if he was sober. “I’ll talk to him.Just don’t expect me to fix things when it gets even worse.”

***

After he was done being updated/interrogated by Keema he sought out Theo and Raquel.He found them together, calmly helping Alzik and Alona with some assembly work in the engineering labs. Alzik had been making more parts for a second water distillery plant and was using them for assistants as they put together the heating elements. Reyes had seen several Angarans outside digging the water pond that they’d then have to line to catch the cleaned water that they also would have to enclose to make sure no mist or rain got added in. Theo and Raquel looked much better than the last time he’d seen them both. Theo’ s face would always bear the triangle scars on his cheeks and Raquel had pulled her hair curly black hair forward so it hid the burn marks on her cheeks that stood out pale and devoid of pigment against her dark olive skin. She also wore long sleeved work clothes and heavy gloves to protect her fragile skin.Theo, on the other hand, was assembling the most delicate part of the heating element with ease, twisting the fastenings to set them then finishing the work with a small screwdriver, his small hands delicate like a musicians but with fingernails that were split from abuse and his face showing his deep concentration on his work, dark mahogany hair overly long and falling over his face in need of a haircut. Alona was taking parts out of the fabricator and lining them up in the order in which the team would need them and Alzik stood over them looking like a proud papa bear.

Seeing Reyes enter the workspace, Alzik greeted him, calling him by his real name instead of by his code name. He supposed that given they’d been there two weeks now there was no point in keeping them all in the dark. “Reyes!You’re back.I heard Maiko already showed you the progress in hydroponics?”

“She did.Keema also updated me.How are you doing?”Reyes asked, making small talk while watching the newcomers. Theo was watching him out of the corner of his eye as he continued to work, thin shoulders hunched protectively.Raquel hadn’t looked up from her work and was studiously avoiding looking at Reyes. Alona smiled at him as she went around Alzik to continue her work. “I also checked in with the boss,” Reyes added to remind Alzik that he didn’t want it well known exactly who he was to non-Collective members.

Catching himself, Alzik nodded in acknowledgement. “Ah.We are doing very well, gettin a lot accomplished.I suppose you have new orders then?”

“We head out in the morning for Elaaden. What’re you guys up to?Need another set of hands?” He offered, trying to put the newbies at ease.

“Always,” Alzik told him. “I have an extra set of tools over here.You can work on the housing for the heater so Theo can put it in when he’s done with his part.”

Reyes took the tools from Alzik and sat on the bench next to Theo.Theo didn’t say anything as Reyes worked but slid his completed part over to him with a side-eye as Reyes assembled the parts around it.Reyes kept up chatter with Alzik which seemed to smooth things over so the others could work despite the new person being added to the mix.

“Thanks,” Reyes told Theo as he accepted a part from him which had the man freeze, hand pulling back from where he’d laid the next part for Reyes.He met Reyes gaze, his eyes were hazel before dropping his gaze and pulling his hand back.“It’s alright,” Reyes coaxed, aware Raquel and Alona were watching him closely while Alzik kept back to see how things went.

“You’re welcome,” was the short reply but Theo was trembling slightly before he straightened his back and went back to work.“Thank you for rescuing us,” he mumbled as he pulled another section of the machine to work on closer.

“It was really nothing.No one should have been kept like that,” Reyes said carefully. “We all signed up with the same paperwork. None of us are better than the others. The Outcasts just need to be reminded of that.”

Theo stopped working and looked at Reyes like he was a dangerous, poisonous animal.“You really think that?” He finally asked when it became obvious that Reyes wasn’t going to prod him along.

“I do.They shouldn’t have done that to you.We all do better when we work together—wasn’t that in the contract?” Reyes asked the last part to Alzik who agreed with him.

Theo went back to his work with frequent glances towards Reyes who’d resumed his own work. Raquel was just flat out staring at him from behind the curtain of her hair. “So who was everyone before Andromeda? Or is that too impolite a question?”

Theo responded, surprising Reyes. “My full name is Theodore Allende. I’m originally from California. I signed up as an encryption specialist, used to do research for a university.”

Reyes arched an eyebrow at that. Encryption specialist? He needed to hook Theo up with Vladimir and they’d have iron clad security for communications. Assuming of course that Theo wanted to stay with the Collective. “Encryption specialist?How did you end up on Kadara?”

Theo gave a tight smile that showed he didn’t find the question that humorous but answered Reyes question. “I was asked to try and repair the communications relay due to my background after the Nexus hit the Scourge and damaged it. The woman who was the expert died in the collision. I didn’t want to get put back in the freezer until they needed me again so I joined the exiles.My skill set isn’t very valuable here on Kadara though since we’re not worried about long distance communication or need things beyond basic encryption.”Theo set his tools down and asked his own question. “How did you end up here?You didn’t come with the rest of us. You’re very friendly with the Angarans.”

Reyes chuckled. Theo obviously wanted information and he could give him enough information to make the man settle down a bit. “Reyes Vidal, I’m a smuggler now but I used to just be a pilot. I also didn’t agree with Tann’s pronouncement so here I am.We met the Angarans on the way to Kadara so we were a little late compared to most of you in arriving.”

“And this Collective?How did you come to join them?” Theo pried.Raquel and Alona were also intently listening and watching Reyes.

“My friends became members so I joined.I don’t have family here in Andromeda so they are my new family.Alzik is one of them. Maiko another.”

“But what does the Collective want? What do they do?” Theo pressed.

Reyes set his own tools down to look directly at Theo and answer him truthfully. “The Collective is a group of likeminded individuals who came to Andromeda to make a home.They do not believe that Sloane Kelly and the Outcasts are a long term solution to this problem and are—in fact—part of the problems at the moment. I agree with those sentiments so I agreed to work for them in addition to my smuggling route.I am also good friends with the Angarans which are supportive of the Collective’s goals.As for what the rest of the Collective does... they do what they can to make Andromeda their home and they have come to Kadara.”

Theo fidgeted under Reyes’ direct stare.“And what will they do to make Kadara home?”

Reyes shrugged. “I imagine what is necessary. But, I do not think that they would rule like a pirate queen.Or make slaves of our fellow people.”

Theo didn’t look completely convinced but Raquel was frowning at the workbench between her hands. Raquel spoke so quietly that Reyes almost didn’t hear her. “Will they protect those who need protecting?Even if they cannot fight?”

Reyes directly addressed her, making her understand that he was deadly serious about this response. “I would not ask someone to fight if they were unable. I would ask them to let me know if I can help them, that they assist me as they are able. That is my understanding of the Collective. We have no interest in harming others just because we can and we wish to create a society of equals.Which means there will be differences amongst us but we can agree on common goals.We are not the pirates that the Initiative calls us.”So he might still be smarting a bit from being called ‘pirate scum’ but he’d deal with that later. 

“If we did not want to stay... you would let us go?” Theo asked.

“I would.I’m sure that none of us wish to keep you here against your will but we will make sure that you do not know where we are.We have obligations to our fellow members to keep them safe which I’m sure you understand.”Reyes would, in fact, happily drop them off outside of the port but he felt that they’d just end up back in chains if he did that. But it would be their choice, he’d just make sure they didn’t know their way back here first.

“I want to stay,” Alona said, her voice still barely above a whisper and broken but her determination was clear. “I have made friends here.You should stay,” she said to Theo and Raquel.

Raquel nodded. “As long as I am not made to fight. I am a cook.... I would be happy to help in the gardens with Maiko and cook for everyone.”

Theo didn’t say anything but went back to his work.Reyes finished his part and was cleaning up his area when Theo finally did say something. “I would like to stay for now.... see what this Collective does.If it really is like what you say, then I will join if they will have me.”

“I’m sure we’d be glad to have you if you want to join us but you do not HAVE to,” Reyes emphasized, trying to make Theo feel comfortable enough to make a decision. “We have common goals and would be happy to have you but only if you want to.”

Theo studied Reyes before replying. “You are very different from the Outcasts.I think for now, that is all I need to know.”

“Okay then,” Reyes shrugged. “I have others to check in with before I leave in the morning. Alzik?”

Alzik nodded in farewell as Reyes left. “I will catch you once we are done here.I haven’t seen your two shadows yet either.”

Laughing, Reyes left. He wondered where Kenax and Vestus had gotten themselves off to too.They probably were enjoying some alone time without worrying that Reyes had gotten himself into trouble.

***

Reyes hadn’t gone far before he was found by Tovrel.He almost groaned but that would have been rude—he wasn’t one for all this talking despite evidence to the contrary.Especially about relationships. The Angaran looked better than when he’d last seen him but he still was not back to his full strength, one arm still bound in a sling to his chest and the cuts on his face were well on their way to healed but were not gone.

Looking like he’d rather be anywhere but there, Tovrel spoke in a mumble but Reyes could still understand him. “Keema told me you were back and that I should ask you my questions.”

Sighing, Reyes wondered where they could talk in private and not be interrupted. “Outside?I’m going to be stuck in a ship for a long time tomorrow so I could use the fresh air.”

“Lead the way,” Tovrel indicated Reyes should walk in front of him.

Exiting the cave system, Reyes walked towards the trees where Julia’s grave was then thought better of it given what Tovrel was likely to ask him and started climbing up the steep path that went up the rock face at an angle to where the turrets and communication array were hidden. He could hear Tovrel making the climb behind him with much less effort than him despite being unable to use one of his arms. Reaching the flat depression that still had room for a small sniper’s nest if needed, Reyes dusted off the crates and took a seat, gesturing for Tovrel to take the other available crate as a seat.”Ask your questions,” he said as Tovrel sat.

Tovrel looked miserable to Reyes but he spoke calmly. “Maiko... do you think she blames me for what happened to her sister?”

Fuck. How to answer this one?“No... I don’t think she does.Has she said she does?”

Tovrel looked out over the valley, his gaze sad. “She has not. But she has pulled away from me.She no longer seeks me out throughout the day. She goes to the man named Theo and asks him questions about the Oblivion trade, who is he, how he came to be an Outcast slave. She does not share herself with me and only returns to my side to sleep because her things are there.”

“Share herself with you?” Reyes asked for clarification. Because damnit... Maiko needed to take a look around herself or she’d end up without a boyfriend who she’d been madly enamored with before Julia’s death.

“Eat meals at my side, ask me how my day has gone, take tasks that would require my help, take her leisure time with me.We used to go on walks each day together on Aya but that has stopped.”Tovrel was obviously miserable, his eyes dark as he gave examples of how Maiko was pulling away from him. “She does not sleep well in my arms and we no longer share physical love as she is so tired when she does come to our bed.”

Reyes searched for words to explain human grieving and how it worked. Tovrel and the angarans were obviously emotional beings but they shared differently as Reyes had experienced after Tefa died. Their shared touch was a type of communication that Maiko and he could not duplicate. “She is grieving for her sister... and that will take some time. It is not unusual for a human to pull back, to not sleep well, have a decreased interest in sex after someone they love dies. Maiko has... she has been fixated on getting back at those who hurt Julia and I’ve been concerned about it as a way of coping with what happened. I think that is why she has been searching out Theo and the others that we rescued.”

“So what should I do then?” the anguish in Tovrel’s voice made Reyes feel like an asshole for not doing more for the situation.

“Be supportive of her, be there for her when she does reach out.Keep asking her what she needs.”That sounded like a self help book. Surely he could think of something more useful.“You can also ask her if she blames you.Maiko is a strong enough person to answer you truthfully... and then you’ll know for sure what she does think.” Reyes almost cringed at that last bit of advice but he’d learned that sometimes you had to ask the really awkward things to move forward. He remembered that much from his first relationship. His mother’s favorite shows also almost always gave this sort of advice... if one could take relationship guidance from old television shows.

Tovrel nodded. “If you think it would help I am willing to do so. I....” he broke off, looking sadder than any Angaran Reyes had ever seen. The slumped shoulders and lack of sparkle in his eyes told Reyes that Maiko had pushed away Tovrel and that needed to stop. “I ache for her to let me back in. I am so cold without her beside me.”

This was absolutely heartbreakingly sad and he didn’t know how to fix it. Reyes knew that Maiko had seen herself settling down with Tovrel for the long run... if only they didn’t get lost in the wake of Julia’s death.He’d thought things would settle down but this wasn’t getting fixed without some intervention.Reyes briefly thought about talking to Maiko but knew that he should let Tovrel try first... and if things went pear shaped then he’d try his own luck at pulling her out of the hole she’d dug in her grief. “Try what I suggested... if you are having more trouble I will see what I can do for you as her friend. She still loves you. I know that she said that to you and I don’t think that changed.I think Maiko just needs time and to know you are still there for her.” 

Thinking of all the books he’d stockpiled, Reyes remembered there’d been some information on grief management and loss... he could give Tovrel that as well so he’d have a reference of what could happen with human psyches when they were stressed this way. “I have some information from the Milky Way and how humans react to loss of family. I can also share that with you.”

“It would be appreciated,” Tovrel said. “I will do anything if it helps her.”

They sat there in the cold for several more minutes, neither having anything else to add. Reyes finally excused himself to go and retrieve the information from the data banks on his ship, telling Tovrel he’d send it directly to him.

***

Reyes had just gotten back in his ship when he received a priority notification from the VI that handled his communications. Pulling up the message on his omnitool, he read it and signaled Vestus and Kenax that he needed them right now. They had someone to go help. Hopefully they weren’t too late.

 

———————————————————————-

To: Reyes Vidal

From: Ruby Red

Attachment: nav point 183/32N 210/48W

You told me once that if I needed help that you’d give it. No questions asked. I’m at the nav point i attached because I took a client I couldn’t say no to.This message is set to automatically send unless I’m able to stop it as a safety measure.Topaz says you can be trusted.

If you get this, please help me.You might be the only one willing to help that I’ve met in this galaxy.

————————————————————————-

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! We’re at over 400 pages typed in total for this fic. This is officially the longest thing I’ve ever written. We’re going to start getting some time skips in Reyes’ sections to bring him and Scott up to being concurrent so pay attention to the time stamps. 
> 
> Hope to have the next chapter out in a week or so (maybe the weekend depending on how my week goes). 
> 
> Recommended reading: I just finished 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and I totally recommend it but it’s a challenging read. I went on a Spanish literature kick since I’ve been doing so much research for Reyes’ background. My other vacation read was Dark Matter by Blake Crouch which is why we’re getting Recurrence as a separate fic. 
> 
> Thanks for reading. Kudos are awesome, comments loved!


	31. Chapter Twenty-nine

Chapter Twenty Nine

2819 CE April 26th

Somewhere out in the jungle, Havarl (aka Habitat 3), Faroang, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: On to the next task

The hike back to the research station was much less relaxed than the previous day’s hike to greet the Turians. In fact, it reminded Scott strongly of his recruit training and ROTC days. He’d held onto the containment field for as long as he could until they were maybe ten minutes ahead of the Roekaar when his ability to hold the field had failed due to range and energy levels. Hopefully the two Roekaar he’d left alive wouldn’t chase after him and alert any remaining hostiles of where they were going. Avitus had hung around close to Scott at the rear of the line which also meant he was almost stumbling over Jaal at times which was making Scott’s job a bit more difficult than it needed to be but he didn’t have the energy to yell at Jaal. Maintaining the containment field had taken a lot out of Cora and him so they were both flagging a bit more than usual. Liam and Vetra were towards the front of the line and the turians spread out between them.

Scott just kept focusing on putting over foot in front of the other at the slow jogging pace they were keeping, the rhythm of his feet comforting in the normalcy of a forced thirty kilometer or so hike wouldn’t have been that unusual for him not so long ago.He’d spent a lot of time doing hikes like this with less sleep and food. He could do this as long as he wasn’t responsible for steering the column or watching for hostiles. At least it wasn’t raining to make the ground that was soft under his boots a muddy mess. He could feel SAM monitoring everything but wasn’t really personally paying attention.He figured SAM would let him know if need be. Thank god he wasn’t hauling more than about fifty kilos in the pack he’d grabbed to help out. He’d also gotten a protein bar and inhaled it as he jogged. He hadn’t even noticed the taste he’d been so hungry.

Cora, on the other hand, obviously hadn’t had marine training but was doing her best to keep up but she looked tired, the use of her biotics having a significant visible effect on her.Both of them would need a break at some point but he hoped they wouldn’t end up having anybody carried. Cora had also eaten part of a protein bar but looked sick before finishing it so she’d stashed it in a pocket of the rucksack she’d grabbed.

Just concentrate on your feet.That’s all he needed to think about and let others watch for incoming. Left foot. Right foot. Left. Right. Left. He ignored how the pack bumped against his lower back as he had to jump slightly over a stone on the game trail they were following but held on tighter to his rifle as it almost fell out of it’s mag lock from the movement of the pack. Jaal stumbled slightly and he reached out a hand to stop the angaran from falling and got a startled and sheepish look in return but Scott just kept focusing on moving.

This was one time he actually was looking forward to telling Tann the good news that he’d found survivors. He might even not be totally annoyed when Tann didn’t tell him good job.

***

They’d had to stop several times for water breaks but they made it back to the research station just after midday. The trip that had taken them most of the day yesterday had been made in just over half the time. Scott’s feet hurt and his back wasn’t happy from hauling supplies but he’d live. SAM indicated he should visit Lexi but Scott felt that was overkill for some blisters and sore muscles and just dabbed some medigel on his feet after a brief inspection. Cora had given up her pack to Avitus after he threatened to just throw her over his shoulders.Cora, who’d been determined to make it under her own two feet had balked but finally given up so she could keep up with everyone, having put too much energy into the containment field. Jaal hadn’t said much but he seemed impressed and had even made some brief small talk with Avitus when Scott had been less talkative (also known as being reduced to grunting in replies to questions regarding anything). Hopefully when Jaal reported their activities to Evfra it would be with a positive spin on it.

Upon reaching the research station, Jaal had departed to go and contact Evfra which finally left Scott alone with Avitus. Avitus, rather than have a personal discussion, wanted to contact the Nexus immediately which Scott agreed with.So now he was in the QEC waiting for Tann to connect. Avitus was pacing impatiently on the other side of the conference table, eyes constantly flicking to the waiting to connect on the vidscreen before looking around the room. Avitus had seemed duly impressed with the Tempest but otherwise didn’t comment. Both of them jumped slightly when the connection finally went through and Tann appeared, hands crossed behind his back as he greeted Scott.

“Pathfinder. I received your communication regarding the Turians. In the future, I would appreciate such notifications as verbal reports rather than email communiques.”Tann’s face had his usual look of mild disdain as he addressed Scott.

Scott brushed it off. “I apologize but I was working on a tight timetable.I’d like to introduce you to Avitus Rix.” Scott gestured as Avitus joined him on his side of the conference table.

Tann looked at Avitus but his facial expression, as evidenced by the vidscreen didn’t change. “Rix.It is good to know that the Turian Ark has made it to Heleus.Where is Macen Barro, your Pathfinder?”

Avitus’ mandibles flared and he made a clicking noise in the back of his throat.Scott thought he looked annoyed but that was just a guess since the only turian he’d spent more than a brief amount of time with was Vetra and she’d never made a face like this. “Unknown.My people that I’ve managed to retrieve from their cryopods do not include Macen.We are very thankful to Pathfinder Ryder for the assistance he has provided and finding us.”

“The Pathfinder is still missing?”Tann clarified.

“Yes,” Scott answered.“We found cryopods that had been ejected and landed on Habitat 3 but we did not find Macen Barro. Avitus has been rescuing those that he could and identifying losses.However, there has been no sighting of Ark Natanus itself.”

Tann appeared to digest this news before replying and changing the topic slightly.“So is Habitat 3 an acceptable planet for deployment of a colony?”

Scott waited briefly to see if Avitus had anything to say but then replied when the Turian just waited for him to speak. “The previous report I sent remains accurate regarding environmental difficulties associated with this planet.There is evidence of Remnant structures which suggest the presence of a vault but the genetic variance is out of control among the local flora and fauna.”

Avitus, who had been brought up to speed as much as possible with Jaal listening in, added his assessment of Havarl. “This planet, unless there is a way to temper the speed at which mutations are appearing would not be a recommended colony site. The Angarans who live here have been pulling back and leaving for some time due to the voracious appetite of the jungle as it’s been swallowing their old cities.”

Tann then pointedly looked at Scott. “So it seems that you must find the vault and activate it as soon as possible.”

Scott, straightened his posture slightly before replying. “My Remanent specialist has been working on locating the vault and any remaining monoliths.”

Tann tapped one long finger against his face as he crossed his arms. “This must be your first priority. While your work on Eos has given us a toehold we have much more to accomplish before we are out of the danger zone. Rix,” Tann paused to specifically stare at the Turian, “What is your assessment of the local indigenous species?”

Scott tamped down on his irritation that he wasn’t being asked about the Angara. His report had specified that he was working on forging a good working relationship and had Jaal accompanying him. Avitus didn’t look any happier than he had earlier. “The locals are divided into two groups—those that are hostile and those that are not.The Resistance—as they are called—seems to be open to being our ally.However, my people have had repeat encounters with a group of them called the Roekaar that are xenophobic and hostile. We have had deaths related to encounters with them.”

Tann’s gaze briefly landed on Scott before turning back again to Avitus. “Do you believe that the non-hostile ones are capable of becoming allies?”

Avitus didn’t look at Scott but it was obvious that he was curious why Tann was asking him and not Scott. “My impression so far of those that live in the research station and the Resistance warrior who accompanies Pathfinder Ryder is that they are reasonable. We need allies and if they are willing to work with us then we should return the sentiment.”

Tann made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded weird but Scott assumed was the equivalent of a hum. “I see. Pathfinder,” and Tann’s attention was back on Scott, “in addition to your priority of activating Habitat 3’s vault I would like to add diplomatic duties of continuing to work on forming an alliance with these Angara. Did the representative that has been traveling with you indicate that we would be given permission to maintain a diplomatic representative on their primary world?”

Yeah... Scott hadn’t exactly shared all of the navigational data on how to reach Aya out of respect for Evfra’s distrust and to hopefully garner some credit with Jaal.Tann had obviously noticed that. “I haven’t followed up with the leader of the Resistance—Evfra—yet about that.I am hoping with having rescued their scientists as an act of good faith will allow us to open diplomatic relations.Jaal—the observer—is currently reporting in to his superior. I’m hoping that it will be positive news from him.”

“You will press for this.I have already assigned our diplomat and they are awaiting permission to proceed from this Evfra.You will also encourage them to allow our settlement on Habitat 3 once you have activated the vault.”Tann’s version of a glare wasn’t that scary but it still annoyed Scott mentally.

“I understand. My priorities are vault activation for colony deployment and establishment of diplomacy,” Scott said neutrally. Why couldn’t he just report to Kesh?At least she had a sense of humor. Even Addison would be preferred at this point.

Tann then dismissed Avitus so he could see to his people with a promise to send transports to Habitat 3 shortly. Avitus left the comm which left Scott to go over each detail of his previous report point by point with Tann.Tann had commentary on each action he’d taken and, as he’d expected, wasn’t happy with anything Scott had done.Each action had a suggestion of improvement followed by suggestions for follow up and further training in the future.There was also discussion of how liberally Scott was using resources that made him physically bite his tongue so he wouldn’t say something he shouldn’t.Scott took most of it gracefully but his inner professional was slightly bruised by the end of the discussion. Speaking with Tann wasn’t as bad as reporting to his father but in other ways was more so.He just had to focus on his mom’s advice: it’s usually not about you or what you did, but a way for them to exert control over the situation in which all semblance of control is an illusion. The calming exercises his mom had taught him as a moody teenager were coming in handy now.

Tann kept Scott for almost two hours before running out of criticisms and instructions.His last sign off to Scott was, “I expect future reports to be positive and timely,” to which Scott numbly agreed. He really, really didn’t like verbal reports anymore. Sighing once the vidscreen went dark, Scott found himself scrubbing his hands through his hair, scratching at the dried sweat that made him feel gritty and tired. He was badly in need of a shave, haircut and shower but he had things he needed to finish before find some rack time.

Twisting to try and stretch his back that had stiffened while standing at attention while talking to Tann, Scott heard footsteps on the stairs to the communications center.Turning to face whoever was coming up, he saw Jaal hesitantly step up. “Jaal,” he greeted neutrally, curious as to why he was coming to find Scott.

Jaal, having seen that the communications equipment was all dark, seemed to get more confident as he approached. “You are done with your report to your superiors?”

Scott just barely stopped himself from grimacing at the mention of Tann as his superior gave Jaal an encouraging smile that wasn’t very encouraging. Jaal must have finished using the research center’s communication equipment to speak with Evfra a while ago according to SAM as he’d been waiting in the mess for Scott to finish. “Yes I just finished.Did you speak with Evfra?”

“I did.He is impressed by your rescue of the scientists and your... what do you call it... your discourse with the Roekaar.He said to tell you that your ideas are good but do not expect to change the hearts of the Roekaar.”Jaal gave Scott a conspiratorial smile. “I myself was surprised that you attempted to communicate with them.”

Scott sighed and leaned back into the conference table as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Humans have a longstanding history of trying to have improved interactions and outcomes with indigenous peoples—which we haven’t done well with when you go back to ancient history but I’d like to think we’ve done better in more recent times.We didn’t do so well when we first met the Turians—we had a war in fact over it, and if you ask a Turian, most of them will confess that they shot first. The First Contact War is seen as a mistake by the military that I used to be a part of and most of our politicians are in favor of coexistence, not conquering.”

“So you see the Roekaar as what?” Jaal asked, his eyes crinkling and nose wrinkling in curiosity.

“You are all Angarans.I think I would prefer to be at peace with all of you rather than single out some of you to be at war with,” Scott said simply, trying to clarify. He realized his thoughts and summarization of prior history of Milky Way effects on colonization from attending war college would likely not go over well with Jaal or he wouldn’t understand the subtleties involved without a long explanation that Scott didn’t feel like he was prepared to give.

“I see.You do not wish to sow further discord between the Roekaar and the Resistance?” Jaal looked thoughtful but not angry at the thought of peace between his people.

“No. I’d rather get along with all of you.We can agree to disagree but I don’t see any point in taking things from you. There’s more than enough space in Heleus for all of us.”That sounded better than his first try at explaining.

“I see,” Jaal stated, crossing his own arms over his chest. “Evfra did tell me that he still does not have any update for us on the location of the Moshae.”

Scott’s mouth twisted in a frown. Well, he’d been hoping for time to find the vault and it seemed he had it. However, that still didn’t advance his goal of getting on Evfra’s good side. “Ah. Well... did he have any further instructions for us in the meantime?”

“No.He said I am to continue observing you. He was intrigued by your response to finding more of your people.”Jaal seemed slightly embarrassed that he was a continued observer.

“That’s good?” Scott offered with a shrug.

“It is.He said that he did not expect your Initiative to be so supportive given the behavior we have seen in some of the exiles from your Initiative.” That was interesting... Evfra had contact with some of the exiles and was verifying it, possibly by accident, through Jaal.

“I have a very clear mission as a job,” Scott said with conviction. “My goal is to find the Initiative a home in Heleus and to make it thrive. I could hardly do that without making friends and exploring.”

Jaal made a noise that was halfway between a purr and a hum in the back of his throat that seemed to be a neutral agreement.Scott looked at the time on his omnitool—it was getting late and he still needed to check in with Peebee about the location of the vault and if she’d found any evidence for more monoliths. “If you don’t have anything more to discuss, I still have things to do before getting some rest.”

Jaal nodded and stepped out of the way for Scott to pass. “I understand.I will see you at breakfast.”

“Sure.Nice and early.We’ll likely be headed out again if Peebee has anything for us.”

***

Wandering the ship, Scott took directions from SAM to one of the emergency escape pods that Peebee had commandeered as her quarters. Stepping up to the airlock door that led to the pod, Scott poked his head through and saw that Peebee had a fine set of tools and was poking around in the guts of the remains of one of the flyer Remanant robots, crouched on the floor with the robot mostly on top of her lap with both her feet sticking out at angles as she worked, her right foot still bandaged from the injury she’d taken. She had a look of determination on her face, brows lowered, tongue stuck out to one side as she applied leverage with her right hand and was twisting something within the robot that he couldn’t see. Clearing his throat to announce himself, Peebee didn’t look up and was swearing under her breath as her hand slipped and she had to reposition, arm brushing across her face that had some dark oil-like substance smeared over her right forehead. Knocking on the side of the doorway got her attention and Peebee’s head snapped up, her eyes startled.

“Scott!”Peebee said as she pulled her hands out of the robot and it crashed to the side of her as she stood. “I’ve been waiting forever for you to get done talking to the Nexus!”

Slightly alarmed at the noise the robot made as it connected with the floor of the escape pod, Scott winced.“I apologize for the wait...”

Peebee waved her hands to dismiss the apology before he could finish it.“So I was talking to the Angaran scientists about locating the vault.”

Deciding to play along, Scott encouraged her. “And?”

“While they don’t know the location of the vault or the third monolith that I’m sure is out there, they did have a few suggestions for what we should do next.”Peebee’s eyes were animated and she spoke with enthusiasm.

“What were their suggestions?” Scott could just imagine how Peebee had persistently questioned the scientists. He was pretty sure they’d have told her whatever they could so they could get back to their peaceful existence given how excited she was.

“So they have this place called Mithrava where a bunch of sages—elders of the angaran community—live. If anyone has information on where the missing monolith and vault would be it’d probably be them since we can’t ask the Moshae since she’s missing.”

“I take it you were unable to use the two monoliths we know about to locate the missing third?”Scott was curious if she’d made any headway with the data they’d collected. “Anything else from the data?”

“No.The data is seriously weird.Did you realize that when you look at the scans of the geography of Havarl that we’re basically walking around a huge town made out of skyscrapers that create the canyons?They’re so old and they’ve been abandoned for so long that the jungle has reclaimed them to make it feel like we’re in a canyon!”

Scott listened to her and used his omnitool to create a hologram of the map of the surrounding area that the FOBs had scanned in greater detail as they’d descended from orbit. Looking at the 3D map, he could see what she was imply. “I see.... it does look like a giant city. Does this mean that the canyon walls are hollow?Can we get into them?”

Peebee, who’d stood to look at the map with Scott, shook her head. “I don’t know.The accelerated genetic variation from the vault not working has made the planet age much faster than it normally would.I was talking with Cora that our usual methods of age dating may not work here. However,” Peebee pointed to section of the map that was less detailed as it was further from where the FOBs had landed.“This is where Mithrava is. From what I can gather from the scans we have as well as what the scientists tell me, I think that this is a central tower that’s been reclaimed by the jungle.If so, this sounds like something very similar to where you found the vault on Habitat 7.”

Scott stared at the map, fighting the instinct to shift his weight under the scrutiny Peebee was giving him.She was serious looking but seemed to have realized that Habitat 7 was a potentially very sensitive subject for him. “So you think the vault is there?” He finally asked.

“I don’t know.But I do think that if anyone was going to remember where a monolith and a vault was, it might be remembered by the elders that live at the top of that summit. I can tell you that our scans say that Mithrava is made out of the same mineral that the other Remnant structures are made out of.”

“Did Kiiran have anything to add?” Scott found himself crossing his arms to give him something to do with his hands as Peebee continued to study him as she thought about her reply carefully.

“She suggested that we speak with First Sage Esmus. He lives on Mithrava and would be the best source of historical knowledge.”

Scott stared at the map that was still displayed. It would be a several day journey if they went on foot and the jungle was thick.The odds of getting waylaid and off course were not small. “So we can ask to borrow one of the skimmers to take us to Mithrava?”The skimmers were Angaran vessels that the research teams used for moving heavy equipment and were just capable of clearing the trees.Using a skimmer would cut down drastically on travel time if they could convince Kiiran to let them use one.Scott was really regretting the fact that there wasn’t room for a Kodak and the the nomad in the hold.

Peebee shook her head.“We can get only so close to it.Part of the weirdness of the readings is that whatever mineral the Remnant buildings are made out of is ferromagnetic, at least slightly. It effects all our navigational equipment at very small levels for our field stuff but much higher for anything more sensitive.Mithrava, whatever it used to be, has a much stronger field. It’s probably why the Angara consider it a holy place with their electro sensitivity. Kiiran says they can only take the skimmers this far before they start malfunctioning due to the increased field.”Peebee pointed to a spot that was still easily most of a day’s walk from the base of Mithrava.

However, it was closer than the research station and Scott could see the benefit of taking the skimmer partway if someone was willing to take them.They probably couldn’t leave a skimmer undefended given the Roekaar presence on Havarl. “I’ll ask Kiiran in the morning if we can get a ride as close to Mithrava as possible.Is there anything else you found that I should know about?”

Peebee was thoughtful for a moment. “I’ve been combing the data we got from the last vault activation and from how SAM and you interact with the consoles. So far, I’m really not making much headway and I need more data than one single vault. Having a second set of data to compare will let me identify what’s common and what’s individual to each planet”

“We’ll see if we can get you that data then,” Scott said, gently touching her elbow in support. “There was one thing I was going to tel you though...”

Peebee arched an eyebrow in curiosity,“What was that?”

“I want you to start wearing armor when you deploy with us.The shots you took to your leg might have been stopped by armor or at least not as bad.”

Peebee was amused and she laughed. “You mean that my badass purple leather coat and matching pants won’t stop bullets?They’re now artistically full of holes too!”

Relaxing since Peebee hadn’t been offended by the suggestion, Scott laughed slightly.“While I do think you’re pretty fashionable, I do think that you could wear something that might be slightly more protective.”

“I’ll see if I can fit in the stuff that Lexi offered. She already has been after me to wear armor when I go out with you guys.She thinks that I don’t take appropriate precautions.”Peebee at least seemed tolerant of Lexis’ suggestion.

“I’d feel better if you would,” Scott confessed.

Sighing, Peebee nodded. “Alright. I’ll wear Lexi’s spare set as long as it fits. She said she wouldn’t medically clear me anyways unless I wore it and I suppose I see her point.”Peebee paused and then poked her index finger sharply into Scott’s sternum. “But don’t you tell her that.If she asks, you ordered me to.”

holding both hands up in surrender, Scott agreed. “If you say so.”

“I do say so.If she starts thinking she’s right about this I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Scott couldn’t help the burst of laughter at Peebee’s statement.She was very right about Lexi’s response. The good doctor was appropriately worried and Scott wouldn’t upset the delicate balance the two asari were maintaining as long as it worked to his advantage.

***

The next morning dawned bright and early.Having gotten some sleep and cleaned up, Scott joined Cora for their now ritual morning coffee which was interrupted like usual by Liam stumbling in while he grumbled about morning people. Peebee had raided Lexi’s closet and obtained her armor as well as Lexi’s medical blessing to go explore with Scott. Jaal, still timid in his observations for breakfast, watched them all dance around each other in the mess. Jaal had been introduced to coffee by Liam and now appreciated his daily cup to start the day. Vetra and Drack had both briefly made appearances in the mess but left after obtaining rations to get some of their other work for the day done before the expected departure for Mithrava.

Avitus and the rest of the Turians were camping out in the research station as there wasn’t enough space on the Tempest for them all and Avitus had insisted that he remain with his people. Scott toyed with the idea of hunting the turian down and asking his opinion about Mithrava but figured that Avitus probably knew just as little as him. He had his orders from Tann to locate the vault and this was the most promising lead he had at the moment.

Rousing his team, Scott told them to meet up with him in the research station in an hour as he put his now clean armor and weapons on.He’d sent a meeting request to Kiiran last night and she’d agreed to meet with him this morning about using the skimmers. Walking into the research station, it was quiet this early in the morning but there were still several scientists working.He nodded in greeting to Tovar who greeted him warmly. They’d made at least one favorable impression.

Kiiran, who was at her usual station, also greeted him warmly. “I cannot thank you enough for what you did for Tovar and his team,” she said to him as she gave him her full attention.

Blushing slightly, Scott demurred. “I was happy to help.I’m just glad that nobody was injured worse.”

“You’re too modest,” Kiiran said with a smile. “I understand you want to go to Mithrava.May I ask why?”

Scott proceeded to explain about the vaults on Eos as well as Habitat 7.Giving the specific examples of how both planets were out of their usual homeostasis and had become hostile environments.Kiiran quickly saw how this applied similarly to Havarl. “You think that Havarl has a vault like the ones you found on these other planets?”

“I do,” he assured her.“In fact, there was evidence in the last one where a map showed that Havarl did have one.We just don’t know where it is.”He was earnest with her, trying to persuade.

Kiiran leaned back into her workstation, a contemplative but sad look on her face.“Havarl has changed so much even in the last few years. The jungle has taken more each year so that I hardly recognize the land of my youth. The decline... has been saddening to my people. So many of us have left as we are no longer able to be comfortable in our home world.”

“So you agree that if I can find this vault it would be a good thing?”

A sad smile was on her lips.“I do.So many things have not gone right for my people.To give them back their home world.... would be a great gift you could give us.”

“It’s not for certain,” Scott hedged, “but if the vault does exist on Havarl we need to find it first before we can reset it. Peebee tells me that there are those on Mithrava who might be able to point us in the right direction.”

Kiiran was nodding in agreement. “She is right.Sage Esmus would be the logical person to start with as he has the most extensive memory of this world.He does not leave the summit of Mithrava so you will have to go to him.He is one that believes the journey to Mithrava proves one’s worthiness and is a spiritual journey to remember your past lives so that you may live a better one.”

“Past lives?” Scott asked, puzzled by this reference.

“Surely you have traditions that believe in a previous life experience?” Kiiran asked him.

Caught off guard, Scott floundered for a moment before replying. “My family was not religious so I don’t have a personal frame of reference... but yes. There are those from my home world that did believe in reincarnation.”

Kiiran looked pleased at this. “So you at least theoretically understand the concept of rebirth.There are those of us that have very clear memories of our past lives—poets, warriors, mothers and fathers—there have been many who have lived significant lives in the past that are brought into the now to help us all.I believe Evfra is one of these.”

“So you believe Evfra is someone who was reborn to lead the Resistance?”Scott tried to clarify.He really wasn’t a spiritual person but he could appreciate cultural differences.

“Yes.Another would be Akksul—the leader of the Roekaar.The Roekaar themselves are named after one of our fiercest warrior groups that protected us in the past,” at this mention of the Roekaar Kiiran gave him a significant weighty look. “While I can understand their desire to protect us, I do believe they are too overzealous in identifying all non-angarans as a danger.”

“So Akksul... he believes he is a reborn warrior who is protecting you?”This was interesting to know.

“So it is said.Akksul was a student of the Moshae alongside Jaal. From what I know he was the better, more gifted student but his heart became bitter and he turned away from offering friendship.It gladdensme to see that Jaal has not followed his fellow student and is extending friendship to you.”Kiiran was kind as she relayed this information.So Jaal had been good friends with Akksul?Or had they just been fellow students?He now had many more questions about his friendly observer.

“I see,” Scott said, not sure what else to say.“But you say Akksul is a reborn person?”

“That is what the rumors say—and that is why he named his faction the Roekaar after our warriors of legend.Or perhaps he is just good at propaganda if one is cynical.”Kiiran sighed as she changed the topic back to the original question.“Either way, I feel that you are right to seek out Mithrava. I will personally take you to the drop off point but I will not be able to stay there and wait.My research cannot be left for too long.”

Realizing that he wasn’t likely to get much more information at the moment, Scott thanked her.“That would be much appreciated. I can’t thank you enough for your help.”

“Not at all Pathfinder.It is you who helped me first.”

***

2818 CE November 28th

Kadaran Badlands, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective

Status: Recruiting by accident 

The coordinates that Ruby had given him led to a small compound of four buildings built into a natural ledge formation in the side of one of the canyons. He’d set the ship down on the ridge on the other side and they’d deployed from there, each with a sniper rifle in hand so they could use the scopes to get a better look at what they were getting into. They’d also pulled Sishi and Saffa with them for a full team.Vestus and Kenax had listened to Reyes message and immediately packed up, no questions asked. Sishi and Saffa had been close by and when they heard someone was asking for help had grabbed their own rifles and joined in.

In the moonlight, the buildings blazed with light from the windows that were uncovered. They could hear a party ongoing. There were two transport-type ships outside in the yard that were unguarded. In their initial casing of the compound, Kenax and Reyes took a ship a piece and took out vital parts of the engine. Those ships wouldn’t be moving any time soon without repairs or the pieces that they’d made off with. Stashing the pieces he’d removed in the scrub brush, Reyes rejoined Vestus who had a sniper rifle trained on the windows and was observing the main building where most of the activity seemed to be.

They had very limited data from Keema regarding this compound other than it didn’t seem to be associated with the Outcasts.

Which meant it probably was considered just an outlaw encampment.

Having regrouped on the ridge, they exchanged intel far enough away to not be overheard.

“There’s no watch set or anything. Was able to get up close to the building,” Vestus spoke. Reyes had been unnerved by the way Vestus had sidled up to the buildings in the shadows to listen in to the party in progress.He’d remained there for almost an hour slinking from shadow to shadow in the moonlight while Reyes watched nervously, worried that they’d be discovered at any moment.They were most likely outnumbered and the party was fairly loud.

“What did you learn?The ship I took apart hasn’t been maintained very well,” Reyes added as an after thought.

“They’re not Outcasts.There is someone in there complaining loudly about the taxes they collect and well... I’m not going to repeat what they said about Sloane as it’s not relevant.I’d guess they’re independent bandits.”Vestus said the last part with a scary looking smile before sketching out in the dirt the complex and pointing to where he’d found supplies that had been stacked haphazardly around the buildings. These bandits weren’t very organized and had a laziness to them that spoke of carelessness.

Ignoring Vestus’ look, Reyes asked another question. “Did you hear anything about Ruby?”

Vestus’ smile faded and he shook his head in the negative.“I think I’d recognize her voice and I didn’t hear it.I could hear that they’re not exactly being gentle with the entertainment.”

Reyes arched an eyebrow in a silent question, indicating Vestus needed to be more specific. Kenax, who’d been silent so far, growled at his mate. “They’re having a party like the one that killed Julia.”

“What kind of party?” Saffa asked, her throaty female voice showing that she already had guessed due to the disapproval dripping from the translation in Reyes’ ear.

“They’re taking turns with a couple of prostitutes.They’re not being gentle from what I overheard.”Vestus’ didn’t mince words this time. “There’s a lot of booze and Oblivion floating around that room.”

“So what do we do?” Sishi asked, gripping his rifle tight but willing to follow the other’s lead.

Reyes licked his lips. They were outnumbered but those inside were inebriated and high. They also had an element of surprise but would they make it into wherever Ruby and the other prostitutes were before something happened to them?Vestus and Kenax were both looking at him, waiting for him to tell them what to do.He was beginning to hate that they’d nominated him as their leader. He’d take suggestions at any time now. “Did you hear that they were harming Ruby or the others?” He asked Vestus, trying to decide what the right course of action would be.

Vestus shook his head. “There was a pair having a conversation about their preferences,” and he said ‘preferences’ with a sneer, “which did not sound like normal human relations. However, I got the impression that neither of those fuckers had gotten their turn yet.”

Reyes was scowling now.Should he act now or wait until the party wound down?The message he’d received worried him. He’d told Ruby if she ever needed help that she should message him... and he wanted to keep his promises even if it wasn’t to someone that he knew well.Ruby’s situation in the slums... he knew that nobody else would be coming to help. He was it.But was it better to wait?He didn’t want any of his people getting hurt either.

Kenax shifted restlessly but looked to Reyes for an order. “What’ll it be? Now or later?”

Reyes closed his eyes and said a prayer to a god he didn’t believe in.“Now. How many did you count were in the building?”

“About ten or so in the main part.My thermal scope showed that there’s three back rooms that had at least two people in each of them.Looked like that’s where the prostitutes would be,” Vestus answered calmly, his grip on his weapon tightening was the only evidence that he was as anxious as Reyes. Kenax looked pleased at Reyes making decisions. Reyes hoped that he was making the right call.

“Do you have any other tricks we can use?” Reyes asked Vestus, eyeing the slots on his armor.

Giving his rifle to Kenax, Vestus pulled two parts of his armor apart to show the small stun grenades that Reyes had forgotten about that he’d hid in a compartment in his armor. “I have three of these. They should cover most of the main room but it’ll just cause a distraction.”

Thinking, Reyes could almost see the outline of a basic plan given that he’d noticed bottles of chemicals on the side of another building—many of which had the symbol for flammable liquids on the side.They could make Molotov cocktails. “It’ll create a lot of confusion and they won’t know what’s going on given the amount of alcohol and oblivion in that room.”

Kenax pointed to the main doors that had been propped open to let in the night air as it was warm in the building. “Two of us need to kick these in.”

Reyes nodded in agreement.“That leaves the two side doors and this window,” he pointed to the wall opposite the door and approximately fifteen meters from the door. “I’ll take the window as I’m the smallest. Kenax and Vestus will take the front door which leaves you two to take the sides.”

“Just like old times,” Kenax said in a sing song voice to his mate with a bloodthirsty smile.Reyes tried to return it when Kenax refocused on him but wan’t that successful. He was giving the most dangerous entrance to his friends.

“Are we giving them the opportunity to surrender?” Vestus asked.

Studying the drawn out diagram on the ground, Reyes debated.He didn’t want to just kill everyone but from what Vestus had overheard... it seemed that Kadara had brought out the most basic and worst instincts in some people.If they gave an opportunity for surrender... they’d loose the element of surprise. But sometimes it mattered how you did something.“We’ll give the the opportunity to surrender. Make as much noise as you can when you throw in the grenades.”

“And if they don’t surrender?” Kenax asked, eyes gleaming in anticipation.

“Then we do what we need to.Our goal is to get Ruby and any other prostitutes out—that’s who my promise is to. I’d rather do it without killing everyone else in the building.”Hopefully this wouldn’t end in tears.

Vestus nodded. “We need to get word out about the Collective some way..”

Sishi, looking nervous, laughed. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“So do I...” Reyes said as he pulled on his helmet.So did he.

***

Kicking in the front door and throwing the grenades in went completely smoothly.The rest of it... went about as well as it could have. There was mass confusion when the grenades went off, temporarily blinding those that had been partying in the main room and stunning them from the noise in the enclosed space. Speaking into the com system that he’d hacked so his voice came from everywhere at once, Reyes used a voice scrambler to identify himself as a member of the Collective and to instruct those inside to throw their weapons out the door and to lay down on the ground if they didn’t want to be killed where they stood.

The response was not how he’d hoped but it seemed the outlaws weren’t as well armed as they might have been.After kicking the doors in, Vestus and Kenax had taken cover to either side of the doorway. A volley of return fire whizzed past them through the open door but it seemed that the walls of the prefabricated building were thick enough that no shots hit them.

Repeating the instructions to surrender, Reyes waited a few moments before throwing two of the molotov’s into the ground surrounding the building making a line of fire on his side.The sound of breaking glass told him that the rest of his team had followed suite.Anyone attempting to leave the building would be funneled out the front door and away unless they wanted to jump through the fire. Orange glow bathed the entire compound as the flames lit.

The first runners ran through the front door, screaming and firing their guns. Vestus and Kenax made short work of them in the confusion. Breaking the window, Reyes entered the main room with a roll, ducking behind a couch as it was vacated by a screaming outlaw. There were several outlaws that had surrendered but most of them were resisting. The couch he was crouched behind jolted as several shots imbedded in the frame and Reyes could hear the cry as a stray bullet hit one of those on the floor.

Waiting for whoever was shooting at him to pause to reload, Reyes popped out over the arm and put two shots from his ushior into the salarian who’d been firing at him, one of which hit center mass and there was a fountain of blood as the bullet hit the unarmored chest.He’d forgotten how much of a punch ushior’s packed but he’d have to thank Evfra for them later as he ducked back behind the couch. A human male whimpered on the floor and Reyes could see him put his hands over his head as more shots were exchanged. “Stay down,” Reyes ordered with a growl and the man shook in fear.

Sishi and Saffa had both their doors open and were taking out anyone who tried to rush them. Kenax had entered the room and was systematically putting down anyone who shot at him, Vestus manning the door. Reloading, Reyes put a few shots into a human male who tried to knife Kenax in the back, his head snapping back as Reyes’s bullets hit before slumping to the floor in a growing puddle, a spray of blood on the wall behind where he’d been.

The chaos continued until there was no more shots being exchanged. There were three humans and a salarian who’d chosen to surrender. The rest of the outlaws were either dead or dying. Kenax strode from body to body, frisking them and removing all weapons that he found. Vestus stood at the door and watched his mate move, protective. Reyes had left his cover and made his way to the rooms at the back, listening carefully and removing one of the blades from his boot. Sishi and Saffa joined him and they opened the first two doors, finding chained prostitutes on mattresses in both rooms that cringed from them in fear but didn’t make any noise.One prostitute had strangled her customer with the chain that bound her, the outlaw laying motionless on the mattress that she couldn’t escape without strangling herself. She looked scared but didn’t flinch when Reyes asked for the key, just shrugging that she didn’t know where it was.She looked in worse shape than the prostitutes Reyes knew from the slums and he didn’t recognize her from his nightly strolls.He quietly told her that they’d be back to get her out of the collar but needed to secure the other rooms.She nodded in understanding. The other room had a pair of human males who were chained together.They just put their hands in the air in surrender. None of the prostitutes were Ruby. 

Which left the third room, the door on the left, which had no noise.

Indicating for Sishi and Saffa to get on the other side of the door, Reyes gripped the doorknob and twisted, pushing the door in from the side.

As the door swung open, a burst of gunfire erupted through it. Kenax, who was most of the way across the room, dove to the side to make sure he was out of the way with an exclamation.

“You fuckers!” Was the hoarse male human scream from inside the room.“I’ll fucking kill you! Sons of bitches!I’ll fucking kill you!”

The foul language continued. Reyes indicated for the Angarans to wait a moment, staying silent. Finally, several minutes later, there was noise from inside the room. A loud clatter of metal on metal, like a chain, accompanied a female sounding cry as well as the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Ruby appeared in the doorway, completely nude. her body was covered in bruises, bodily fluids, and had several cuts that were bleeding. A thick metal collar surrounded her neck and her bright hair was tangled. She trembled as she took several steps forward, propelled by a disheveled appearing man who was using her body as a shield, the chain that attached to Ruby’s collar wrapped around his left forearm as he pushed her and an M3 predator held against her forehead by his other. The man wore only a pair of wrinkled pants, feet bare. Reyes recognized him instantly as the man who he’d made pay up when he first met Ruby.

Making noise by scuffing his feet, the man missed that Sishi and Saffa were on the other side of the door as he put Ruby between himself and Reyes, his gun hand pressing the barrel into her temple, making her head wrench to the side in a way that was obviously painful. Ruby, having seen Reyes in his armor, didn’t recognize him but she panted to catch her breath as the collar pulled, her hands clutching at it to try and get enough space to breathe and her feet fumbled as she tried to stay standing.

Putting his hands up, Reyes did not release either his knife or his pistol. “Let her go,” he said simply.

“Fuck no!” Was the immediate denial. The man’s eyes were wild as he tried to spin, seeing movement out of the corner of his eye since Reyes had given Sishi a nod over the man’s shoulder.Sishi brought the butt of his rifle down on the man’s head while Saffa grappled for the gun, tackling the man who went down, Ruby beneath him.

Ruby cried out in pain as the struggle continued, Sishi using his gun as a club and striking the man twice more. A shot went off from the pistol, followed by a second, both of which embedded in the wall towards Reyes. Kicking the hand that still held the gun, the man released the gun and Reyes kicked it to Kenax who picked it up with a quick catch.The man continued to squirm under Saffa until she gripped his wrist and sent a painful shock into the man, overloading his nerve control of his muscles making him go limp.

“That’s a neat trick....” Reyes murmured to himself before helping Saffa up and pulling the man off Ruby. Sishi pulled the man’s hands to his feet and started tying them together tightly as the ropes bit into the man’s flesh. The man was shallowly breathing—barely.

Ruby, who’d maybe gotten a slight dose of the shock, rolled into a ball but didn’t say anything, her head tucked tightly as she refused to meet anyone’s gaze. Her skin was translucent in the harsh light, her bone structure prominent and Reyes could count each vertebrae and rib. Vestus, who’d helped Kenax clear the remainder of the room while they’d been busy, appeared with a blanket that he carefully draped around her.

Hands clutching at the blanket, Ruby slowly stood, pulling the blanket tight around her to preserve her modesty. Her leg muscles visibly quaked but she managed to pull herself up to standing before looking towards her rescuers. Giving her space, Reyes indicated for Vestus to take her outside. “Let’s find the keys for those chains and get the others out of here,” he ordered the angarans.

They made quick work of the outlaws.Those that had surrendered they stripped of everything except their boots, pants and shirts before putting them in one of the back rooms, wedging the door closed with strict instructions they were not to open them before sunset. The captives had agreed with false docility.Kenax had put the same symbol that Maiko had used on their last raid on the walls using the blood of the dead. It was macabre but it made it’s point.The other prostitutes were freed of their chains and taken to sit with Ruby.

Soon, the dead were left where they were.Reyes, feeling a bit over dramatic from being tired and keyed up from the gunfight, stood outside the room where they’d put the survivors. “You made the right choice to put yourself at the mercy of the Collective.The Collective will not stand for petty thievery. Do not find yourself on the wrong side of us again.”

Vestus had summoned transport ships from their home base and a squad of Angarans were silently stripping the compound of everything useful. Nothing would go to waste. Kenax had briefly told someone how to get the ships airborne again and Reyes could see that even the ships would be reclaimed for the Collective and Resistance. Saffa had managed to find some clothing somewhere and had dressed those that they’d liberated.

Ruby, having seen Reyes step out of the building, followed him with her eyes but did not approach. All four prostitutes looked shell shocked and Reyes knew he needed to give them their options.

No time like the present. Stepping up, Reyes kept his helmet on like the rest of his team was, anonymity was important depending on what the prostitutes chose. “The Collective wishes you no harm.”There was no response to this but he could see that he had their attention. “If you wish transport back to Kadara Port we are more than willing to see you there.”

“What’s our other options?” Was the whispered question that came from Ruby, she hadn’t taken her eyes off Reyes.

Reyes tilted his head. “It depends on what you’re wanting.”

“I don’t like owing favors.... and you came. I know who you are,” Ruby was calm, her voice even despite it’s whisper.

“You don’t owe us anything.From what we can tell they were stockpiling supplies by raiding others. While the Outcasts don’t believe in civility and rule of law, the Collective does.”

“You’ll excuse us if we don’t believe you,” was the short reply from the other female. “I’d like a ride back to Port.”

Reyes gave her a nod, making sure he knew her face if he saw her again. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is,” was the firm response. 

“And you two?” Reyes asked the men who’d been silent. Both were watching him almost as intently as Ruby.

“We don’t like owning favors,” said the one on the left after the other elbowed him. Both of them were hunched over, their body language screaming that they expected bad things to continue to happen to them today.

“And no favor is owed. If you want a ride we’ll give you one.”Reyes tried not to be exasperated but he felt like he was talking in circles.

“We’ll take that ride,” the one on the left finally spoke.

“Okay.What do you want?” Reyes addressed Ruby, curious what she would say.

“I owe you more than one now.I’m staying,” she said firmly.

“If that’s what you want,” Reyes indicated for Kenax to step up which he did. “Please drop them off outside the port.”Kenax gave a nod and Sishi and Saffa both went with him, the three prostitutes following them as they went over to the reclaimed ship.Kenax would drop them off outside port before daybreak with enough credits to pay to get in and then take a circuitous route back to base.

Watching as the others left, Ruby waited until they were out of earshot. “I didn’t think you’d actually really come.”

“I made a promise,” Reyes simply said, turning off the voice modulator that disguised his voice since she knew who he was—no point in denying it now.It was true.He generally stuck to his promises. Or at least tried to.

“Yeah... one that most people never would have kept,” Ruby’s tone was harsh but her gaze was still evaluating him. “This Collective.... is it for real?”

“It is,” he assured her.“But you really don’t owe us anything. If anyone asks, just tell them that the Collective is real and we’ll consider it even.”

“I think my debt is bigger than that.”She crossed her arms over her chest and Reyes could see that she was gripping her arms tightly, her knuckles white in the twilight.

“And I still say you don’t owe us anything. The supplies we’re taking are more than enough if you want to consider that payment.”

Ruby cocked her head, her face showing that she was thinking. “How does one go about joining the Collective?”

Sighing, Reyes tried to think of a way to dissuade her but then realized that would be counterproductive. “If you’re really interested we are recruiting.”

Ruby looked around at the fires that were slowly going out from where they’d used the molotovs. “You’ve never taken any of us up on a freebie when you’re in port.Topaz thinks that we can trust you and if the rest of the Collective is like you.... I could do a lot worse.I can’t go back to Port.The man you took down isn’t an Outcast but he sells them a lot of merchandise and he has friends.”

Behind his helmet, Reyes felt his mouth twist in sympathy before he replied. “That doesn’t mean you have to join us.”

“No it doesn’t.... but I think that you might be the alternative I’ve been praying for.”She had a decisive look as she continued, “When all of us left the Nexus we didn’t have any idea what we were doing other than we couldn’t stay. The Outcasts aren’t what a lot of us wanted and we’ve not had an alternative until now.... until you.”

“That doesn’t mean you should go joining the first group that isn’t run by Sloane Kelly,” he protested half heartedly.

“You haven’t had to help me out either time you have—and this time was especially risky.I think I like the fact that your organization helps when asked.”Ruby was more confident as she continued to talk.

Reyes found himself shrugging, not really knowing how to reply to her. “I suppose we can take you back to base to get you cleaned up.But this doesn’t mean that you have to join us—just please don’t give away our secrets.”

“I won’t,” was the emphasized promise.Ruby straightened up, trying to look normal.“You know... I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.My real name is Crux. Ashley Crux but I’ve always gone by my last name before I landed in the Kadara slums.”

“It’s nice to meet you Crux,” Reyes told her, emphasizing her preferred name.“I’m Reyes Vidal but to the Collective I’m known as Anubis.”

Crux stared at him hard. “Wow. You’re Nakamoto’s Egyptian death god?”

Reyes indicated for her to start walking towards the transport that had landed. She was shivering in the cold and they needed to get her back to base. “You saw us that night. You can’t be really surprised by that.”

Crux shook her head, walking by his side. “I am and I’m not. I heard all the rumors but I stayed out of it.I didn’t want to be involved.”

“You still have time to back out....” Reyes offered.

“No.I’m in now.I can see that this is what I should have been doing all along.” She was resolute and calmly hauled herself into the transport airlock. “I’ve been wasting my time just existing.It’s time I got back on track.”

“Out of curiosity, what did you did you do back in the Milky Way?” Reyes asked her, puzzled by her change of attitude.

“I worked in corporate security, specializing in threat assessment,” she tossed over her shoulder as she found a jump seat and started belting herself in. “I used to work with some of the big corporations on Ilium but it was destroying my soul from how they used to bend their ethics as long as it was legal. I signed up for Andromeda after hearing a recruitment pitch by Jien Garson.I never thought I would end up doing what I’ve done for survival. But.... I’m done surviving.I came here to live.”Crux gave him a hard look at the last sentence, her eyes glittering. “I think that you’re the right people to work with.”

Lingering in the air lock, Reyes took off his helmet now that there was no danger. “I... I hope you’re right about that.”

“I know I’m right.This is the first time I’ve made a decision in a while that didn’t make me want to be sick.”

“Well... glad to hear that.Get settled. We’ll be underway soon.”

***

Reyes dropped off Crux and all the supplies, introducing Crux to Maiko with an apologetic smile. Maiko had rolled her eyes and taken Crux under her wing immediately, Tovrel following behind Maiko as she showed Crux around. Keema had given him a hard stare followed by a small smile as she heard what had happened. Kenax arrived almost an hour before dawn, bitching about the throttle on the ship they’d captured and how it liked to stick when you accelerated. He’d left the prostitutes within sight of the gates to the slums before hightailing it into the canyons around the Port and making his way back to base.

Reyes used the excuse that he was heading out to escape to the bunk room and his bedroll, eschewing any further discussion about his decisions. He slept poorly but woke up less than four hours later to Vestus and Kenax stirring in their bed, the timed alarm he’d set on his omnitool alerting them that they needed to get up so they’d be on time to make their trip to Elaaden.

Briefly debating seeing how Crux was settling in, he decided that Maiko could figure it out and went to warm up the ship.He had stuff to do, he’d have to assume the others could function without direct guidance. He needed a break from making all the decisions and was well aware that making a run to Elaaden was just a way to defer it for a little bit.

But he’d take the breathing room.

It wasn’t easy making decisions that affected people’s lives and he still wasn’t convinced that he should be doing it.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE April 26th_

_I feel like I keep getting two steps forward, one step back. On the one hand, I’ve managed to find evidence of the Turian ark and brought us back into contact with the second in command (SIC) of the Turian Pathfinder Team.On the other hand, Tann treats me like I’m less trustworthy than... well I don’t know but I know I didn’t do anything to have him treat me like he has been, like I’m an errant child who can’t complete his tasks.He belittles me and makes me feel like I haven’t done my job right. I made progress and I’m not getting the pat on the head I (probably) deserve—I should just remember what Mom used to tell me and move on but it’s hard some days. I always hated the resilience training bullshit that I had to attend but I’m seeing why it’s important now._

_I hoped that I’d left all these complicated feelings back in the Milky Way but it seems that it’s still the same. Same shit, different day, different galaxy._

_So Avitus... from my limited interaction with him he seems just as awesome as I thought he would be. Unfortunately, Jaal seems to be concerned that we may plot the downfall of the Angaran without him to supervise so my time with Avitus has been limited. I hope I get the chance to pick his brain before he ships out to the Nexus.I get his priorities—which are his fellow Turians that he has collected—but I wish I could justify asking him to join my team. Then again, Cora would probably hate me forever, kill me, and hide my body so it’d never be discovered if I made him co-SIC._

_Our next mission will be to travel to Mithrava, a temple or place where the elders of Havarl live. I’m hoping after discussing with Peebee that we’ll find a direction to go in for the missing monolith.None of our surface scans or the maps I’ve gotten from Jaal reference such a place. Our scans are a mess because of the jungle and, as Peebee pointed out, the electrical interference from the buried Remnant structures.I’m pretty sure the area of Havarl we’re in was once a Remnant city but it’s hard to tell since the jungle has swallowed everything around here whole. Kiiran described to me the decline that Havarl has seen and it sounds heartbreaking to see your home disappear like that._

_I’ve been compiling notes with SAM’s help about the Angaran. Their personal beliefs seem to run the gamut but the reincarnation theories that Kiiran brought up are interesting. The fact that Jaal used to be close to the leader of the Roekaar—Akksul—makes me question how exactly they ended up where they are.At lest Jaal seems to not have the hostility of the Roekaar. But he didn’t disclose that he was the Moshae’s student.... I have a lot more to learn about the Angara._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos adored, comments loved!
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	32. Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

 

2818 CE December 1st.

Kadaran Badlands, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective

Status:Coming up with expansion plans

Coming back from Elaaden, Reyes landed at the base just after midnight. Kenax and Vestus had been good company the last few days and it’d been refreshing to not have any big decisions to make.They’d taken their time and a different route than usual home.They planned to offload about a third of their cargo and then take the rest to the port to trade in the morning. Stepping off the Exodus, he was greeted by Alzik and his shadow—Alona.. “Alzik, Alona,” Reyes greeted them with a smile.

Alzik fell into step with Reyes as he walked into the first cavern. “I see that your trip was successful?”

“It was.I think we’re making headway.My contact says if we keep making these trips like this that Morda will personally want to talk with me about the Collective and an ongoing formal trade agreement.”Reyes was pleased with how the handoff had gone.They’d even managed to trade for some medical supplies that the krogan did not use. He had made sure in his notes that they should stockpile those until they were needed. At some point they were bound to have something happen that would require them and he wanted his people to have the supplies they needed then.

“I have something—a project—that I wanted to run by you since it you’ll need to authorize the resources for it,” Alzik began, gesturing with his hand for Reyes to head towards the workshop. The caverns even at this late hour were still busy and they passed several angarans as well as Theo and Raquel on their way to the workshop. “I would like to attempt to try and domesticate adhi.”

Reyes tripped over nothing. “Domesticate adhi?” he checked to see if he had heard right.At least it was adhi and not eiroch.

“Correct.I’ve been analyzing the local fauna and I think it could be done.They could be kept then as either guard dogs or as a less violent source of protein,” Alzik calmly explained as they entered the workshop.All the desks except Alzik’s had their lights dimmed and the large screen they’d scavenged from one of the camps was displaying schematics for the weather and data satellite network Reyes had asked Maiko about formulating.

Thinking that the last thing he really wanted was a pet adhi, Reyes didn’t just tell Alzik to do what he wanted.“How much resource allocation are we talking about?What kind of timeline?I know your work was in genetics...”

Alzik quickly outlined the first stage of his research and planned implementation. It was an audacious plan but Reyes could see the benefit of at least a less hostile animal protein source. The Resistance fighters that still reported to Keema and not to him had a set of hunters that went out each day and brought back adhi that they’d been processing into jerky meat. Reyes was heartily sick of plain jerky but they’d begun to add spices to it as the first spice plants that Maiko was growing reached maturity. There was also now a full scale spice drying and processing station in one of the caves—Keema and Reyes both loved the project as it meant no more bland food. The resources that Alzik was asking for, however, needed a lot of space and they’d quickly been filling this cave system with as much farming space as possible.

Thinking, Reyes asked a few questions that Alzik had obviously already thought of which were answered quickly. If Alzik was correct... they could be farming domesticated adhi in as little as three years... assuming Alzik was right.

“The problem is going to be enough space for you to run your breeding program,” Reyes finally said.

“I know.I have asked Keema if she had any other sites that would be potentially big enough and yet protected from the weather.”Alzik blinked and started tapping on his workstation to change the display from the satellites to a map of Kadara that Keema’s team had been adding all known resources and movements of people to. There were more places where people were attempting to make a living but there were quite a few old abandoned Angaran homes that had already been scavenged of all their useful properties. Alzik then zoomed in one in the Draullier cave system. “I have sorted through the most likely locations and I believe this one is the best suited.”

“Draullier?” Reyes asked.He’d read the scouting report and it said that the cave system was a maze of rooms that were tricky to get in and out of because of sulfuric geyserpools that flowed downhill from Sulfur Springs to the west. The angarans who’d checked the place out to verify the old maps had noted that there were evidence of attempts to take shelter in the caves but they’d been abandoned.Those caves would be a known deterrent if you could find a safe way through...

Alona spoke up for the first time, her voice soft but steady. “We spoke with the surveyors and Keema extensively. The geyser pools are a deterrent but once you get past them and higher up in the cave system there is a complex network of them that are big enough to put a base in.Keema indicted that there is part of an old base in there that was abandoned due to not enough Resistance resources after the kett invasion and it hasn’t been reclaimed yet to anyone’s knowledge.”

Leaning against the bench, Reyes watched as Alona brought up old schematics of the base that Keema had given her.It was small but would service as a beginning—big enough to get Alzik started.But he’d need help.... “Who have you thought about using for this project?” Reyes asked him.

Alzik tapped one finger against his mouth for a minute before answering.“I think that this needs to be a Collective specific base—one that is purely run by us since it is our project.I would like to take Crux with me as she has mentioned that she has contacts that she could recruit to the Collective. To begin with would only need a small work force—perhaps four to five people.Myself, Alona, Crux... and two recruits.”

Reyes nodded, crossing his arms across his chest as he thought, legs stretched out in front of him with ankles crossed as he put most of the weight off them. “It would be a second cell—isolated from our primary one here.It would make any recruitment we do safer if they did not know the location of the starter farms and Resistance base.”

“Over time, as you recruit, we could add to the cell.This will give us time to construct holding pens for the adhi, storage space, more quarters for our people to live in.”Alzik was persuasive—Reyes would give him that.

Deciding, Reyes nodded. “You have my permission to proceed.I need to check in with Crux and Maiko anyways given their reports.”

Alzik gave, for him, a wide smile, eyes lighting up with excitement. “Thank you Anubis,” he said formally.

Reyes waved to dismiss the formality. “No thanks needed. I just need you to be successful,” Reyes told him as Alona gave him an unexpected hug. This was the type of thing that he could easily make decisions on.

***

Three weeks later, he was about ready to tear his hair out. Alzik had taken his permission and run with it.They now had the bare bones of a base in Draullier... which unless you knew the way—the exact way—to get to it you wouldn’t be finding it any time soon and possibly would be dead from tripping into one of the sulfuric acid pools. Crux, true to her word, had recruited five new Collective members who were now based out of Draullier. Between Crux’s and Alzik’s reports things should have been fine.Recruitment was going very well and he’d had three other teams with different skill tasks set up—intel, diversion of supplies, and general support of the Collective’s mission.The newer recruits all knew of him by face as Anubis.... they generally didn’t know he was the boss’ boss though and the head of the Collective as a safety measure.

All of this was good. Great even. Except, however, Maiko wasn’t doing well with the holidays coming up next week. Reyes had almost forgotten them until Crux had sent him a helpful little reminder that maybe Maiko would need a good friend to talk about how upset she was.

The damage report that Tovrel had filed had been extensive from the last experimental failure.

This could not be a trend.They didn’t have the resources for Maiko to take out her depression and rage on their projects.

Reyes had cleared his schedule for the next twelve hours.He was scheduled to depart for a rendezvous with Vladimir so he’d be back in time for the New Year’s party that the Outcasts were throwing.He’d missed the last party due to bad timing and being due at Elaaden during it.He needed to make an appearance because it was expected and he needed to start gathering intel on that group—who was loyal, who was persuadable, and who was playing the game for their own self interest. It was going to be a pit of vipers and he really wasn’t looking forward to it even though Keema had informed him she’d be there as well as the Angaran representative. She found the parties delightful—she enjoyed a good backstabbing as long as she wasn’t involved.

So he had twelve hours to have holiday time with Maiko and try and get her out of her funk—or at least tell her that she had expectations to meet as part of his team. He didn’t know what he’d do with her if she blew up at him and told him to go fuck his expectations. He really didn’t want to do something that would put her outside the inner circle but she was close to putting herself there with her recklessness.

Walking into the hydroponics lab, he couldn’t stop himself from the deep breath he always took—the reassuring smell of growing green plants. Vladimir had promised him a starter pack of tilapia for the hydroponics setup in the next cavern with this trade they had worked out. He could hear Maiko working in the prep area, reworking one of the plant beds that hung from the ceiling rack. She had the rack in pieces and was working to get a part that had been bent by accident into a semi-straight line so it could be rehung. She smiled briefly at him when she noticed his entrance but otherwise didn’t speak.Tovrel had told him to find her here. Tovrel was working on the parts for the weather satellites that were supposed to be done a week ago if it wasn’t for Maiko’s insistence in joining another raid on an Oblivion factory.That raid had resulted in a lot of Outcast deaths as well as a few non-combatants.

Wandering over, Reyes picked up part of the rack and started disassembling it as it needed to be cleaned before it could be put back together, taking a seat on one of the workbench’s stools. “How’s it going?” He asked neutrally.

Maiko glanced at him with a small wince, not bothering to hide that she knew why he’d come to talk to her. “So how much trouble am I in?”

Reyes undid one of the bolts holding the attachment end together. “Depends.Do you know what you did wrong?”

Maiko froze momentarily and then carefully put what she was working on down before turning to face Reyes, her feet tucked neatly into the rungs of the stool she was sitting on. “That would depend on which thing you came here to talk to me about.”

She wasn’t making eye contact and her face looked like she was bracing to be told off, body posture rigid but showing she was afraid of what he was going to say, not cowering but submissive. Reyes sighed and put his own work down, turning to face her as well and took her hands.“What’s going on Maiko?I think you know that things haven’t been going well.”

She snorted in dismissal. “That’s putting it mildly. I can’t seem to do anything right the last month or so.”

“Hey,” Reyes said, hand gently gripping her chin to make her look at him.Her eyes were scared and she was blinking rapidly so she wouldn’t cry on him. “Hey—none of that.I just want to see what’s going on with you and how can I help?”

Maiko blinked rapidly but a few tears did escape and she sniffled. “I just miss her so much... and I’m so angry at times.”

Reyes found himself hugging Maiko as she cried, hand curling through her hair as she buried her head in his shoulder.This had not been in the plan but she obviously needed this.He held her for almost fifteen minutes before she had cried herself out and pulled back, trying to compose herself.The damp spot on his shirt told him he wasn’t imagining this. As she managed to put herself back together, Reyes went to the water cooler they’d placed here for those working and got a cup full of water which he handed to her before taking back his seat on the work stool. Maiko clutched the cup in both hands, staring into the water as if it held all then answers she was looking for.

“Maiko....” he started but she interrupted him.

“I know I need to stop acting so erratically. I thought I was getting better and then that raid a week and a half ago... it set it all off again.”She paused to take a drink of the water, noisily swallowing before continuing.“I probably shouldn’t have gone on the raid.”

“No you shouldn’t have.Do you know why?” Reyes carefully questioned her, trying not to push her too fast or too far.

“It brought it all back—that night when you found her.I just.... I lost it and we could have gotten a couple of people out of that factory but I couldn’t forgive them once I saw the drugs...” her voice tailed off, eyes distant as if she were seeing it all over again.

“Maiko,” Reyes called her name to get her to focus back on him. “Maiko are you having flashbacks?”

She shook her head making her hair swing around her face. “No.... not like PTSD flashbacks. I just get so angry when I think of the drugs.Julia was always the wild child when we were growing up—I had to be the more responsible sister.I had to get her out of several situations that weren’t good. It’s partly why we ended up here in Andromeda in the first place.” 

“Did Julia have a drug problem before?” Reyes asked quietly, probing tentatively. He wasn’t sure he really wanted to change the picture he had of her in his memory. It was becoming more idealized every day as the edges of her blurred and smoothed, half forgotten in the every day cycle of life.

“She didn’t have a drug problem... she had an impulse control problem.She wanted everyone to have a good time and be her friend so she’d do things without thinking through the consequences. She had terrible self-esteem, felt like nobody would ever want her despite being the prettier of the two of us and being a lot of fun.She had shitty taste in men—no offense.”Maiko looked slightly horrified at the last bit and her gaze flew to Reyes face, her expression telling him that she hadn’t included him in that assessment.Maybe she should some days he idly thought.

“None taken,” Reyes assured her, gesturing for her to continue as he listened.

“She’d had a few scares—men who were too rough, had a stalker actually back on Earth. She promised me that she was going to be more careful when I agreed to come to Andromeda. “ Maiko’s gaze was getting that far away look again but he didn’t interrupt her, sensing she needed to say these things.“She was so excited about a new opportunity and galaxy—thought she could outrun her old problems, hit reset and start over.I was naive—thought maybe she was right until the Nexus arrived in Heleus and ran into the Scourge.”

“And all the problems that came with that,” Reyes prompted when she paused.

“Yeah... all those problems.You know... I had made her come with me to the labs that night hoping she’d stay out of trouble if she was with me.And then we met you and Alzik and Vestus and Kenax....” she smiled as she said their names, it was a small fond thing. “Leaving with all of you was the right thing to do.i still think that. Going back into cryo—it would just have put all our problems on ice but wouldn’t have solved them, maybe never if they don’t end up waking everyone up.”

“Julia was part of our family Maiko and we all miss her... but we have to live too.She’d want that from us,” Reyes said with a sigh, uncertain of how to bring up Maiko’s pushing Tovrel away.

“I know.... and it’s so hard. I used to tell her everything—all the gossip.I knew when she first started getting interested in you and I told her that you weren’t for her. And when you weren’t an option... she’s always had a ‘boyfriend’ in the past.She got lonely even with me being here.” Maiko wiped her eyes and gave a loud sniffle. “I’ve been a horrible girlfriend to Tovrel and I was starting to build a friendship with Crux but I... I don’t want to replace her and Tovrel has been so supportive... he just takes it... when I’m angry and he doesn’t yell back at me. I....” her voice had dropped to just above a whisper, “I feel like he should be angry at me for pushing him away but he’s just sad.... and I feel horrible for what I’m doing to him.”

“Have you tried talking to him?” Reyes asked, giving her hand an encouraging squeeze.

“He tried a couple of times... but I shut him down pretty quickly.He hasn’t tried in a while since the last time.”Maiko’s eyes were watering again but she wasn’t fully crying.

“So no. You haven’t talked to him. He only really knew Julia through you—he wasn’t there for the whole journey but he’s still here Maiko. You can still talk to him.”Reyes tried to think of a way to impart to her that Tovrel still loved her—it was obvious in the way the angaran had told him where to find Maiko, was still making sure she got something to eat and was physically comfortable when she’d let him. “He still loves you.He asked me what to do to help you—I guess my advice wasn’t very useful.”

Maiko stared at him.“He asked you what to do?”

“Yes he did,” Reyes said, shoulders hunching defensively at her tone. “I know I’m not the best at relationship advice but I’m the only other human who’s been in a.. ugh... a relationship with an Angaran.”

Maiko let out a harsh laugh that didn’t stop as it had a slight hysterical edge to it that continued for almost a minute before it softened into what he thought of as her normal laugh which didn’t make him feel any better. Quieting finally, she squeezed his hand back. “Reyes—you may secretly like those telenovelas that you smuggled from the Milky Way but you’re not the one I’d go to for relationship advice—you struggle to even admit you were in one.”

Reyes gave her a pointed look and she giggled. “Evidently I’m not much better so I should talk,” she said, her own shoulders slumping in exhaustion as she contradicted her own statement and asked his opinion. “What should I do Reyes?Tovrel deserves someone who isn’t so angry...”

“I think he deserves to make up his own mind about who he wants,” he told her. “Maybe you could try letting him in a bit... and maybe be less destructive with the electronics.”

Maiko winced at that. “Yeah.... I need to take myself away from work when I’m angry until I can be objective again.I really screwed up with that satellite.”

“Yes you did.Don’t make me take you off projects. If you can’t do it—tell me and others. I can reassign you or give you a break,” Maiko began muttering about certain leaders and their own ability to take breaks but he ignored it as he continued, “and I don’t want you involved in any of the raids until you can be objective about things. We need resources and people—if we just kill and blow up things we get neither. That’s not what the Collective is about.”

“Yes Boss,” Maiko muttered, a grumpy look on her face that melted into a more scheming look. “So.... what’s your schedule like today?”

Wary, Reyes tried to figure out what she was up to but came up blank. “I have several hours free until I leave for the rendezvous.”

“I have some Christmas films that I brought from Earth... you’re the only one in the family who will get them like I do. It was a tradition of mine and Julia’s to watch a few around the holidays, and since you’ll be gone....” She implied that he was the only one that could enjoy them with her—which he doubted. He was sure Tovrel would enjoy anything that required spending time with Maiko.

“How about we invite the family and Tovrel if they’re free and we’ll take the evening to watch a few before I ship out.”

“Deal.”

***

It had been nice watching the incredibly cheesy and commercialized American holiday movies. Maiko had been cuddling with Tovrel and explaining her family’s holiday traditions when he, Kenax and Vestus had slipped out of quarters to go warm up their ship. Leaving Kadara was surprisingly hard as he felt like he’d miss things while he was gone but he knew that it was important to have a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir.

They’d chosen Eos as their planned meeting place as Vladimir had been assigned some sort of task that required him to be there. Vetra would be taking a second ship so they’d be able to pack everything away that Reyes was bringing. The trip to Eos itself was unexciting bu Reyes found himself watching some of his telenovela collection due to Maiko’s comments about his love life. He really didn’t think he was incapable of the type or relationships Maiko had with Tovrel or his Tío had had with his vida.... and Tefa had been an exception in his life since he’d joined the Alliance as a young adult. Kenax, seeing that Reyes was brooding and watching his shows, aggressively cuddled him whenever they were in a spot where neither of them had to be actively monitoring the controls. Vestus just rolled his eyes at them both and then joined Reyes watching the shows, giving a running commentary about the overacting and general absurdity of the plot lines.This is how Reyes spent Christmas Eve and most of Christmas Day.

Maiko had pushed a Christmas present into his hands before he’d left and insisted he couldn’t open it until the day. It was fresh grown strawberries from the farm.... and they’d been absolutely delicious. Vestus and Kenax had made rude comments about leaving him alone with his berries due to his enjoyment of them. He told them to go fuck in the back and leave him alone.

He might be developing personal boundary issues.

But the strawberries had been the best thing he’d eaten in what felt like years. He was so sick of adhi jerky and protein bars

When he wasn’t watching his shows or piloting, he spent most of his time reading reports and giving orders as the head of the Collective. He authorized a Christmas Eve raid on the largest Oblivion factory they’d identified which was going to severely cripple the Outcast’s production ability as it made most of the base chemicals to grow the bacteria that produced the unrefined Oblivion. There’d been almost thirty people liberated from the slave workforce theOutcasts had been using—enough had joined the collective that Reyes had also had to authorize the formation of a new cell and two new bases that were glorified safe houses. Crux had also been recruiting from her old friends in port and Reyes was getting steady intel from Colton who was now the head of that cell.

Entering atmosphere, Reyes guided the ship towards Promise—the first attempt at colonization gone wrong. The radiation shields had been left behind to protect the buildings assuming that another attempt would be made at the site and Vladimir had suggested meeting there so they could do the handoff without having to wear heavy armor and then decontaminate the supplies after. It was after nightfall and the blue of the radiation shields acted as a guide for him to pilot between the cliffs and set down next to the main building.Vladimir was already there as he’d turned on the shield generators.

Greeting them, Reyes hailed Vladimir. “I see you’re still alive,” he joked.

“I wonder some days if this is not all a bad dream,” Vladimir returned as he embraced Reyes, squeezing him in a hug that let Reyes feel how slender the man was. While he’d been eating okay, it was obvious that strict rationing wasn’t improving on the Nexus.

“Did you have any trouble getting away?” Reyes asked as the Turians greeted Vetra with their trill and embrace. His friends really were adorable when they saw their woman. Nothing like the hardened soldiers he knew they could be when they chose so.

“Nothing to be concerned about,” Vladimir deflected.“How goes it on Kadara?”

“We’re steadily increasing our strength. The farms are producing quite a bit and, well, we’ve brought as much adhi jerky as I could convince Keema to give us. I’ve also brought peas that can be processed into protein powder as well as greens that have been freeze dried but the best part is the strawberries.”Reyes was bragging slightly at the end but the way Vladimir’s eyes lit up at the mention of strawberries told him he wasn’t the only aficionado that had missed fresh fruit.

Opening the cargo door, Reyes began to pull crates out with Vladimir’s help.Vladimir’s ship was close by and they briskly started unloading and transferring with the Turians pitching in after their greeting was finished. Reyes kept up a running update of the status of Kadara and their production—trusting Vladimir not to relay it to anyone untrustworthy. Vladimir was appropriately impressed and asked a few questions about how he could help, what kind of supplies would Reyes have the best use of. From Reyes’ point of view, the best part of this exchange was the algae packs, tilapia and the fruit tree seeds. Alzik, Maiko and Reyes had a long discussion before asking for the seeds as they weren’t sure they’d be able to create the necessary space for growing the seedlings but with the expansion into Draullier they now had the space available and Crux had been ecstatic to be in charge of an orchard, already making the necessary adjustments in several caves to have separate groves of apple, citrus, peach, almond and all sorts of berry bushes—all of which would require maintenance and careful care in a hostile soil environment. There were also seeds for tomatoes, melons of various varieties, cucumbers, bananas, sugar cane, as well as coffee and cacao.This was considered an advanced colony pack supply and Vladimir had been very careful to take it out of storage as Addison closely watched those supplies for theft. There were also soil microbe packs for them to start container gardening so they could do potatoes and other root vegetables that did better in soil as well as a genetic repository and artificial womb that could be used to generate animals when they were able to support them—which would probably still be months if not a year or two off. Reyes was looking forward to chickens so they could have eggs which he’d put in as a priority for the farms. 

In return, Vladimir was getting as much dense nutrients as Reyes could provide—almost a ton weight of adhi jerky, half their pea and soybean crop that wasn’t going to reseeding (it had just begun to mature days before Reyes left), a small selection of fresh greens, strawberries, and a portion of dried spices that were small but would be a start. Vladimir informed Reyes that the hydroponics section was mostly repaired but they could only grow a small selection of protein making plants due to the energy requirements. Without any of the arks, the station was power poor, so they did with the bare minimum and were taking vitamin supplements. By giving Reyes the starter kits, Reyes could produce more food for them.He couldn’t do much about their energy shortage.

“So about the raids....” Reyes began, trying to figure out how to ask about the political situation in a polite way.

“You mean the exiles raiding our meager research and discovery teams that Tann has been sending out?” Vladimir asked, his tone amused and his face neutral as he continued to load his ship.

“Yes that.I know that Sloane Kelly has been ordering them and that there’s also been some independent contractors outside of the Outcasts hunting your ships.” Reyes held Vladimir’s gaze as he clarified, handing the man a crate to stack.

“Tann’s furious. He’s ordered another assassination attempt but Kandros is refusing to order his people on another suicide mission.Right before I left, Tann put out a call for volunteers from the remaining work force. He’ll probably get someone who’s angry enough to volunteer.”Vladimir didn’t look happy at the last part.

“So they’ll try again?”Reyes asked

“They’ll try again and fail. Tann’s not much of an assassination planner and he doesn’t like to give them the resources to succeed,” Vladimir was grumbling now, his eyebrows lowered in annoyance as he gestured to the supply exchange. “He’s just throwing away resources and refusing to even try and talk with any of the exiles—it’s why he isn’t aware of this.”

“Any possibility of a regime change?” Reyes asked idly, grunting as he hefted a heavier crate up.

“Not at the moment. The people who remain... they’re all terrified and hoarding whatever they can get. We’re down to a bare bones skeleton crew.Whenever it seems like someone might be raising their voice in protest, Tann gets that person either tossed back into a cryopod or they get dropped off here on Eos without supplies.”Vladimir didn’t look at Reyes with the last comment.

“He’s killing them?” Reyes asked, stopping what he was doing in surprise.

“Effectively yes. I want to set up a drop point that you can pick people up if they’re willing to work for you—either as a member of the Collective or just to take them to Kadara or Elaaden,” Vladimir’s voice had a pleading to it and Reyes could see the wastefulness of what Tann was doing.

“How many people has he done this to?” Reyes asked quietly, resuming loading.

“Too many. Probably north of sixty or so now.” Vladimir’s voice was despondent. “I hoped I could find the last three that they marooned here but Vetra found their bodies.All three of them dead from exposure in two days.Their bodies were being picked over by kaerkyn.”

“We’ll have to set up a system.Do you know the pilots who’ve been dropping them off?”Tann was being unreasonable. This wasn’t a way to govern at all.

“Yeah—Vetra’s been asked to get involved as one of the last groups included the pilot who’d been doing it.”Well, that put an even more important spin on it then. Vetra could get news to them and they could do a pick up—they’d just need to make sure that whoever was being left knew how to get picked up safely.

“We need a spot that’s protected from radiation, kett and the local wildlife that they can wait for a few days in.We can have a supply cash there and a protective force field and generator. You or Vetra will need to send me a notice when they’re dumping someone.”

“There’s not enough people left that there should be much of a need... but if there is we need to have a process to get them to somewhere where they have a choice,” Vladimir had a determined look on his face as he finished loading.“What you’re giving me here.... it helps so much Reyes. There’s not much hope on the Nexus.”

“You are a friend Vladimir and I am happy to help you,” Reyes stressed the last word, finishing his own last crate.

“I appreciate it,” Vladimir said with a sigh. “You can’t even begin to understand how much. Some day I will repay you.”

“Worry about that someday—not today.Enjoy your strawberries—they’re yours.” Reyes told him as they bid each other farewell. it would not be a good idea to tarry long in Kett territory.

“I will. Til we meet again Reyes.” Vladimir waved in goodbye as Vetra, Kenax and Vestus did another trill/hug.

“Be careful out there,” Reyes said as the door to the ship closed.

***

Returning to Kadara, Reyes dropped off all supplies at the farm feeling like Santa Claus when Maiko squealed over the things Vladimir had gotten for them. Theo, who’d shown a lot of interest in the farming operations, had silently cried when he saw what was included, thanking Reyes again and again. Raquel had just squeezed his shoulder in thanks as she helped Theo and Maiko move everything to the farming areas where it would be safely stored until they could start using it. Maiko had already prepped the aquaponics set up when they were leaving and she would be adding the fish to their new home tonight. They would need some time to create the environment needed to plant in but they’d have a steady supply of fresh fish!Thank god for something that wasn’t adhi meat.

In all the excitement of giving Maiko and everyone the supplies, Reyes had very little time to clean up and get ready for the party he was supposed to be attending. Kadara did seem to be in the midst of a mild winter where they were and there was a light dusting of snow when he got back in his ship with Vestus and Kenax to go to the port. He’d barely managed to shave and his clothes were slightly on the worn side but were the best he could do if he was going for a smuggler who was just stating out. Keema had said they’d meet her at the party and had gone ahead.

“So is this a party or a den of vice and villainy we’re going to?” Vestus asked as they landed at port. 

They had a small supply of crates that they were going to trade tomorrow after the party—mostly foodstuffs that Reyes had earmarked for Kian. Reyes made sure they were declared on the form he sent automatically to the docking manager. “Both?” He replied to Vestus.

“You don’t sound sure of that,” Kenax jibbed.

“You just have to stand around and look like hired muscle while keeping your ears open.I have to,” he groaned, “network—schmooze people.”

“Vestus clapped him on a shoulder. “That’s why you’re the boss of this operation. We’re just here to look pretty.”

“Ha fucking ha,” Reyes grumbled as he unbelted himself.

They had a party to attend—hopefully it would go well.

***

2819 CE April 27th

En route to Mithrava, Havarl (aka Habitat 3), Faroang, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Climbing the mountain to find enlightenment at the summit

Good to her word, Kiiran had a skimmer loaded and ready to go in short order. Stepping onto the vessel, Scott saw that Torvar was helping her with some supplies. “Torvar?” Scott asked, putting his pack under the seats.

“Pathfinder.I must say thank you again for what you did for me. Kiiran tells me you are looking for the third monolith.”

“I am,” Scott agreed feeling curious about Torvar’s knowledge as the Angaran looked interested at his confirmation.

“Ah. So you understand the monoliths,” Torvar continued as he finished tying down a crate. “Without a third monolith to transmit the vault’s signal it has led to imbalances in our environment.”

Wait... what?How much did the Angarans understand about the vaults.This was more than what Jaal had volunteered. “So your vault must be working at least partially given that the environment isn’t as hostile as Habitat 7 or Eos.”

Torvar sighed as he straightened up from his crouched position. “Our environment is out of balance and is failing slowly, but it is no doubt failing—my research supports this. The mutations are unsustainable. Our vault has been lost to us here.”

Nodding in understanding, Scott wondered if Peebee had spoken with Torvar yet—he seemed someone she would like to discuss her theories with. “So if we find a third monolith we may be able to restore some of the balance... but it may take a vault reset so we’ll need to find that as well.”

Torvar agreed. “Yes.If you could do this it would change things for us greatly.”Torvar paused, fidgeting slightly before looking at Scott as the others climbed aboard the skimmer.“You are very different from the Kett. I see why Jaal likes you so much.”

Feeling awkward, Scott resisted the urge to fidget and thanked Torvar. “Thanks.We’re nothing like the kett. Hopefully we can get this planet’s vault functioning.”

Torvar did the equivalent of a hum and got back to his own work, leaving Scott to help get himself and his team situated on the large skimmer. The skimmer was an awkward moving platform that allowed for equipment to be loaded and moved slowly. It was unarmed so it would be a poor regular method of transport for him but it would at least cut down on their travel time to Mithrava so he wouldn’t complain. Cora, Peebee, Vetra, Liam and Drack were all onboard now and Kiiran began the sequence to start the engines that started with a growling roar, the deck vibrating violently as the skimmer began to raise into the air and obtained a height only a few meters above the forest canopy. Moving forward, the skimmer moved at a steady fifteen kilometers an hour directly towards the drop point. Scott had estimated without using the skimmer it might have taken them the better part of two and a half days to reach the base of Mithrava because of the indirect nature of the route and the two deep canyons they’d have to traverse.With the skimmer it’d take them about four hours. They each had packed enough food for over a week as they weren’t certain how they were going to get back—hopefully they’d be able to hail Kiiran and hitch a ride back.Peebee had told him she’d managed to patch the angaran communications into the FOBs so if he deployed them in a regular pattern he should be able to comm the research station if needed. The angarans didn’t have satellites orbiting Havarl and they’d only spotted a few on Aya—which Scott found odd but figured that the regression in technology they’d had after the arrival of the Kett probably explained this.

The ride to the drop zone was pleasant and, with the steady wind, the hot and humid weather was much more pleasant than it was when you were hiking through the jungle and having to hack your way through half the time.Kiiran and Torvar made conversation and Scott listened as Peebee made friends with him, sharing her findings and probing Torvar’s knowledge of the Remnant buildings and technology. Torvar actually opened up and was very enthusiastic when speaking with Peebee and Scott found himself smiling and chuckling as Peebee explained Milky Way customs to him. Liam was helping her and was being fairly entertaining by himself. Vetra and Drack merely watched with the occasional comment from the peanut gallery that would set Liam off on a pop culture rant that Scott found himself struggling to follow. He’d not had a lot of time for leisure activities in the last few years and, well, he’d spent a lot of time being overly studious and practicing skills as a child. He’d had to add several movies to his ‘to watch’ list as well as his ‘to avoid’ list.He was still having half remembered nightmares about velociraptors now that he’d had a real life experience with them.

Cora had been pacing up and down the length of the skimmer—she’d commented she’d felt really stiff after yesterday’s hike and finally settled on the bow to do some yoga stretches before finding a meditative pose and simply enjoying the view.He could relate but he had SAM running interference and well... there was the enhancements that he didn’t want to really think about.

It was almost midday when they reached a section of forest that had been cleared or skimmers to land and Kiiran expertly guided the ship down, landing with a quiet thump and the engines cycling down with a whine. “This is as far as I can get you,” she informed Scott.

“Thanks.This has been a huge help,” Scott said as he exchanged a handshake with her, the tingle of the electromagnetic field around her giving him the. impression that she liked him and wished him well on his task.

Unloading, Scott hoisted his pack and weapons as his team did the same.Jaal had also found himself a pack and supplies once Scott had informed him of their plan. “Mithrava is that way,” Jaal told Scott pointing to a tall mountain that reached up and up into the clouds, taller than any of the surrounding geography. The mountain was easily several kilometers distant but Scott could see a trail leading away from the clearing that headed in that direction that appeared regularly traveled. “I’ve never been here before but always wanted to see it,” Jaal added wistfully.

Waiting until everyone was geared up, Scott indicated to Jaal to lead the way. “Well, let’s go see this place then.”

***

Taking the path was an easy trip to the base of what became apparent the closer they got was a Remnant structure that had been aged by the condition of the planet. Trees and vegetation grew out at odd angles but you could still see the straight lines that spoke of a manufactured structure, albeit massive structure.The shadow of the building put them in an odd twilight once they got close and Scott found himself watching the forest for any movements suggestive of animal movements.They’d already taken out some spider-like creatures that came up to his waist when he moved to investigate a dead one.The spiders had been all sorts of colors but the predominate was bright red and neon green. Jaal had named them shemrys. There’d also been two packs of adhi that they’d mostly discouraged from trailing them. No signs of velociraptors—uh, rylkor—but Scott assumed that they were mostly nocturnal hunters and he’d only been slightly spooked since they’d reached the deep shadow of Mithrava. 

According to Jaal, the entrance should be somewhere around the base and they were now at the end of the trail which led to an alcove... that seemed to be a dead end. Scott cast about looking for anything that suggested a bell to ring or hidden doorway.The clearing they were in was bounded by a stream on one side with a waterfall of water coming off from higher up in a tumbling steady shower. Refilling their water bottles, Scott kneeled in the mud as he looked up and around. “SAM?You have anything?”

“I am getting something from your left, behind the waterfall,” SAM informed him on their private channel.

Staring at the waterfall, Scott stood and put his pack safely out of the water’s reach even though it was waterproof. Loading his scanner, he tried to scan the waterfall but the beam couldn’t penetrate the curtain of water enough to show what was behind it. Wading into the shallow pool that came to his knees, Scott reached out a hand and pushed his way through the water, his head doused and cooling him instantly as he reached and didn’t find a wall so kept walking until he was through the water.He was standing in a very shallow cave but it was dim. Shaking his head and sluicing water out of his hair, he activated the flashlight on his omnitool. The cave was maybe two meters deep and roomy enough that he could stand comfortably in it.A remnant console that was inactive sat in the center. Bingo.

Holding out his hand to interface, he startled when Jaal’s hand gripped his forearm and stopped him from starting to interface. “Are you sure that’s safe?No stasis fields to trip?” Jaal asked him.

Scott cocked his head and loaded his scanner, listening to SAM’s report of what he had found about the area.There was something odd about the roof of the larger alcove outside of the waterfall but it did not seem to be like the stasis field that had trapped the scientists. There was a tendril of inactive energy that flowed from the base of the tower to this console similar to others he’d interfaced with before.It was really as safe as he could make it. “SAM says it’s probably okay.”

“Probably?” Jaal’s voice was slightly high pitched in his disbelief. “How sure.”

“Pretty sure.If you’re worried, step outside the alcove outside the water and you should be out of range if you need to go for help,” Scott told Jaal, not really that worried. He trusted SAM’s judgement on this as he probably knew as much as Peebee or, maybe, Torvar. Nothing he’d done since arrival in Heleus had an absolute 100% guarantee unless you counted seeing things he’d never seen before. Jaal retreated slightly so he was under the waterfall but didn’t leave entirely, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched Scott with a judge-y look as the water tumbled over him.

Sighing, Scott turned back to the console and began the interface. As before, the more he worked with this technology and with SAM, the more his brain seemed to understand the twirling figures that he now realized were some sort of complex numeric and symbolic programing language. It was kind of beautiful, the symmetry and movements but he could see where the error was that made it inactive, an almost stopgap measure that was probably someone had turned the console off. Mentally nudging the stop gap loose, he watched as the code twirled and solidified before the energy flow increased from the console.He could hear a grating sound of something heavy moving slowly, sounded like some sort of door, and there was a difference in air pressure that caused a wave of wind that made the waterfall shudder.

Hearing Peebee’s cry of discovery, Scott let his arm drop to his side.“Something’s open now,” he told Jaal as he walked past him and through the waterfall. Jaal followed him.Peebee was scrambling over the pillars that had activated when you moved closer to them.The ceiling of the alcove/cave was now open and the same Remnant electrical markings showed an octagon opening. Standing below it on a pillar, Peebee danced around, beckoning

Scott.“It looks like a gravity well but it’s not working!”

Joining her after grabbing his pack, Scott looked up.They were joined by Cora and Liam using their jump jets. The rest of the team was at the base of the collum and could see what they were looking at. Multiple rings could be seen rising up into a darkened chamber, SAM informing Scott that it was about a hundred meters to the top of it. The rings themselves had small ledges and looked like the gravity wells he’d traveled through on Eos.However, unlike the other gravity well, when he flung a rock into it, the rock just fell back down under normal gravity. So.... no working gravity well. Made sense if there was another monolith out there that the Remnant technology wouldn’t all be working.Estimating the distance to the first ring, Scott crouched and gathered himself before flinging himself into the air, jump jets beginning to fire at the top of his arc and propelling him to the ledge which he managed to grab easily and pull himself up. The ledge was just wide enough for him to stand comfortably. “Looks like we’re going to have to climb up ourselves,” he told his team.He could hear Liam grumbling about heights and didn’t say anything other than to raise an eyebrow at him.Liam had no business talking about fear of heights after Habitat 7. 

“Get up here guys,” he ordered as he crouched and took aim across the rings to the next ledge, and then the next, steadily working his way up the inactive gravity well. He could hear his team’s jump jets firing and Vetra snagging Peebee out of midair as she missed a landing. The others did okay but there were a few moments where they had to cling to a ledge they almost missed. Jaal, without jump jets, was able to launch himself high enough to grab each ledge and pull himself up, his height helping.

Reaching the top, Scott pulled himself into a large antechamber with a hallway that led away from the well. He could see a piece of Remnant technology floating in midair that looked similar to the key he’d received on Eos at the end of the hallway that was chock full of vegetation that had invaded. With SAM’s overlay, he could see that this was powered on and was some sort of switch. Not waiting for his companions, he reached out and touched the cube which buzzed in his hand.Turning the key, Scott felt something click in the energy flow and he was surrounded by a gravity field that pulled him laterally through an opening and across to another ledge. A lateral gravity well.... or at least that was going to be what he called it in his report.

Deposited gently on the other ledge, Scott looked back and motioned for Cora who was glaring at him to come across. “It works like a gravity well,” he called to her.

She yelled back, “Just wait for the rest of us next time.”

Waving his acknowledgement, he ran his scanner around the ledge.The jungle was thick here but there was literally a skyscraper-like tower that rose from where he was standing that was Remnant made in the center of a larger depression of what appeared to be a surrounding building—this is what made the illusion of a mountain from where they’d landed with the skimmer. SAM was picking up some movement from robots higher up but there were none right here and they likely didn’t know that he was here—at least yet. “Which way do you think?” He asked Cora when she came to his side. “Left or right?”

Looking both ways, Cora shrugged. “Dealer’s choice.Looks like there’s more of your motion activated columns for us to climb but the vegetation is going to be thick until we’re a bit further up.”

“Yeah.How about left?” He asked her, seeing what looked like the familiar climbable columns off in that direction.

“It’s as good as any,” she agreed and they set off to the left side of the building together, using their jump jets to navigate, the others following them. They steadily climbed upward, finding several more lateral gravity wells as well as bridges with consoles that Scott had to activate as the gaps were too big to navigate with jump jet assistance. They did encounter Remnant robots and were fired upon but they quickly subdued them. Peebee stopped and examined each specimen they came across, scanning it and categorizing it, determining if there were any obvious differences from the ones she’d encountered before. Watching as Peebee pried open the body of a flyer-type, Scott noticed her stowing several parts that weren’t damaged in her pack but didn’t question her about it. She probably had a good reason.

The native fauna that they saw were all small except for the large mantas that Scott could see dancing in the distance, twirling and cavorting amongst the pinkish purple clouds as the sun began to set making the climb slightly more hair-raising as the visibility became poor due to the deepening shadows when they were opposite the sunset. The plants had thinned out and they only rarely were now coming across smaller plants that had managed to find purchase in the cracks of the building that were from the weather. They judiciously used their jump jets and Scott found with each jump he was getting more and more comfortable with them.He’d never had a set of armor with them before Andromeda but he’d been trained in their use briefly before setting off. Liam and Cora were much more accomplished with theirs and Peebee was grateful she had Lexi’s armor which included them.Drack was able to jump surprisingly high for a krogan and was able to get around with minimal help.Vetra and Jaal simply could jump higher than any of them even with their jump jets.

They were almost at the top when they came across an obvious doorway with a console outside it. With his scanner, Scott could see a direct connection between the console and the doorway.Taking out his canteen, he took a drink as his companions settled around the door for a break. They were all tired from the climb and keeping alert for robots. Looking out from how high up, the view was gorgeous. The sun had set moments before and the sky was a riot of colors from pink to purple and blue with some orange. A few clouds were scattered on the horizon and more of the mantas were now flying around.The two monoliths that were activated had a beam of energy coming from them but there was no third to connect to them. Several other structures could be seen from this high up and a couple of them were shaped similarly to the monoliths. From his perch, Scott could also see several towers that were about as tall as the one he stood on. Could the vault be one of them? 

“Pretty sunset,” Liam said as he joined him, drinking from his own canteen.

“Yeah. It really is,” Scott agreed as he put his canteen away and withdrew a protein bar which he took a bite out of. Lexi would be proud of him for making sure he was eating regularly.

“I imagined a lot of things about Andromeda but the reality really is breathtaking,” Liam said as Vetra joined them on the edge.

“Pretty,” Vetra agreed. “Are we going to make camp or keep going?We have to be close.”

“Just a quick break for supper then we keep going. Kiiran implied that there’s accommodations at the summit.”Finishing his protein bar, Scott chewed it noisily as the others took a break, conversation floating around him.Jaal was explaining to Drack that while he was from Havarl he had never come to Mithrava and that the part of the planet he was from was far away from here.Over all of it, he could hear the calls of the creatures of the jungle which had increased from earlier. Most eerie to Scott, he could identify the roars of the rylkor which made him shiver.He was glad that this place was too difficult to navigate for the raptors.

Deciding they’d had enough of a rest, Scott went to inspect the console which was a typical one.Placing his hand on it, he could see the dancing lock and reset it to open.With a flourish, the console activated and the doors across from him began to open slowly to reveal a large chamber. Peebee, ever curious was the first one through the doors and ignored the gravity well in the center to check each corner for hidden tech. Scott ambled into the room, giving Peebee time to explore as he listened to SAM’s analysis which basically boiled down to ‘it’s a big room with a gravity well in the center’.

Stepping up to the gravity well, he looked up and couldn’t see much in the darkness other than there was a tube that went up. Entering the gravity well, he felt the pressure as the force surrounded him even through his armor and began to propel him upwards at a steady clip. _Must be what flying feels like..._

_That is possible_ , Scott SAM replied over their private channel.

As he reached the summit of the gravity well, a horizontal doorway opened and he was propelled forwards and landed on the other side of the doorway, just outside of the gravity well.The night sky was above him, he had made it to Mithrava. His arrival was greeted by the noise of several Angaran’s approaching, exclaiming about an unexpected arrival. Scott moved forward to meet them as the rest of his team followed him through the gravity well.When Jaal made it through he stepped up beside Scott.

The first Angara to greet them was a pale purplish gray and had exotic looking white tattoos on his face a half circle on his forehead with lines running down across his eyes and cheeks like a trail of tears. He appeared startled to see Scott. “You bypassed our security? An Alien?! How is that possible?”

Not thinking, Scott replied with SAM translating into Angaran, “What? Like it’s hard?”

This took the angaran aback and he peered closely at Scott, trying to see how this smaller alien had made it up to Mithrava and was speaking his language with SAM’s assistance. “Even we have difficulty understanding Remnant technology.Only a few of us here can operate our own gates.”The angaran paused, looking at the rest of the group, his face taking on an unfriendly cast. “It doesn’t matter anyways.You must leave. Mithrava is not open to visitors and we do not entertain guests here.”

Indicating for Jaal to translate as using SAM this way gave him a headache, Scott tried to convince the Angaran to let them stay and hear them out. “Havarl is in decline. I spoke with the scientists at the research station and they sent me here to speak with you. If you can tell me the location of the lost monolith I may be able to reset Havarl’s vault and stop the decline.”

This gave the Angaran pause and their were murmurs from the gathered crowd, several more angarans joining to see what Scott had to say.Jaal tried to help and added his own plea. “With Ryder’s help we could heal Havarl. Our birthplace restored. Isn’t that worth something?”

Scott tried not to stare at Jaal for that added birthplace bit.He’d have to quiz him later on that. A cloud had moved over them and a light drizzle began.The lead angaran however did not seem swayed by their arguments. “Here on Mithrava we have accepted Havarl’s decline and eventual ruin.The monolith is lost to us, it’s memory has not been reclaimed.”

Scott tried again to appeal to the leader as well as the gathered crowd.“Just give up on your birthplace?Doesn’t it mean more to you?Don’t you want to save it?”

The angaran looked devastatingly sad at Scott’s appeal, his voice gentling as he explained his position. “A chasm separates want from can.What you ask no one can give. The memory that you seek is a thread that has slipped from our grasp.”

Scott was confused and tried to understand. “I’m not sure I follow...”

Jaal lightly put his hand on Scott’s wrist to draw his attention. “We believe in reincarnation—an unbroken thread.”

Nodding that he understood what reincarnation was, Scott was about to speak when the other angaran spoke again.“There is one who might be able to help you, however he does not currently have the memories that you seek.”

“How would I go about finding this person and restoring his former life’s memories?”

“Taavos, who is now a Roekaar, recently returned to Havarl on a mission. He carries Zorai’s soul. If you could find an object that belonged to Zorai and were to bring it to him.... he might be able to recall what you are asking.”The angaran sounded doubtful but did give Scott the information while looking at Jaal significantly.

“Jaal?” Scott asked.Jaal’s ties to Akksul were obviously going to become important here shortly.

“They are not going to like me helping you,” Jaal said with a frustrated noise and he did shuffle his feet in agitation.

“We have to try,” Scott implored. “It may be a dead end but we have to try.If it saves Havarl from ruin it’s worth it.”

The angaran who still hadn’t introduced himself seemed to realize that they were actually serious about attempting to restore this Taavos’ memory.“You will need one of Zorai’s heirlooms—but it is in a place that is home to many Remnant. No one who has entered there in recent times has returned.”

Scott shook his head. “If we need to we’ll get one of the heirlooms.Can you give me a map and a description of what I’m looking for?”

“You have great spirit, outlander. I will tell you where to go and what to look for but do not blame me for your deaths.”The Angaran gestured for someone to bring him a map.

Determinedly, Scott ignored the dire warning. So it’d be hard—what hadn’t been lately?“We’ll do what needs to be done.I haven’t gotten your name by the way.”

“I am First Sage Esmus,” the Angaran said with an amused look. it was obvious that he thought Scott wasn’t going to succeed. He’d prove him wrong.There was nothing that Scott hated more than being told he was going to fail at something. That was what his Dad had told him a lot growing up.

After the maps were brought out, Scott noted the position of the remnant abyss.Jaal pointed to a spot that was in a separate direction as being where the main Roekaar camp was. Jaal obviously had been getting intel from Evfra that he hadn’t been sharing which made Scott annoyed but figured was fair.He wasn’t sharing absolutely everything either and could understand a certain amount of pessimism when it came to a stranger’s motives.Once the locations had been disclosed and a description of Zorai’s crest so Scott could recognize objects belonging to the dead Angaran, they were politely but firmly escorted back to the gravity well and sent down it.

Reaching the chamber, the doorway was still open as Scott hadn’t closed it after them and the drizzle that had started up on Mithrava had become a downpour which would make descending in the poor light a nightmare. “We’ll make camp here tonight,” he announced.“In the morning we’re going to need to split up. Cora, you and Jaal will be going to the Roekaar camp to retrieve Taavos. Peebee and I will be going to the Remnant Abyss to retrieve an heirloom.”

“I’m going with you,” Vetra and Drack spoke together, indicating that they weren’t leaving Scott’s side which made sense. He’d likely need more firepower than Jaal would need to approach the Roekaar camp.

“Liam?” Scott asked the man for his preference.

Looking at both Cora and Scott, Liam shrugged. “I’ll go with Cora.Likely we’ll just have to be keeping a lookout while Jaal talks Taavos into coming with him.”

Cora, who had a pinched look, nodded in agreement. “Makes sense. We may have a time limit on this.”

“Then we head out in the morning.Get some sleep everyone. Usual sentry rotation.”

***

Scott took his usual sentry shift and nothing happened during it.Everyone was restless and the cool floor they had to sleep on wasn’t helping.Peebee had managed to wedge herself onto an inclined ledge and seemed the most comfortable of them all.Drack had dozed lightly and had rumbling snores that kept Scott alert. The rain let off a few hours before morning just at the end of Scott’s watch. When he awoke the morning, he joined Cora for a few yoga stretches and sun salutations where she stood on the ledge looking out over Havarl.

Standing tall in mountain pose, he took a deep breath.Cora hadn’t said anything as they went through the poses other than to call out each one. Mountain. Standing back bend, forward bend, warrior one and two. He wanted to talk to her privately before everyone else was up but she seemed determined to just focus on each pose. When they finally ended, Scott felt a lot better than he had for days.

“You need to talk about something,” Cora said as she relaxed, glancing over her shoulder at him.

“I do.Do you have any questions about what I’m asking you to do?”

“No.I get it.You want Jaal to convince this Taavos to play along and it’s going to really depend on Jaal’s ability to be persuasive.Otherwise we’ll be up to our necks in hostile Roekaar.”Cora looked calm, the pinched look from yesterday not reappearing.

“We’re still waiting for news from Evfra giving us the go ahead to rescue the Moshae... so we may be on a time table here to get the vault back up and running before our window closes.Also.... if it’s true that we’re walking into a robot death trap I don’t think the Pathfinder and his successor should both go in there.”Scott tried not to fidget as he called her his successor.

Cora rolled her eyes at him.“I trust you to get out of there alive and well.I don’t like you going in without me but I understand the reasons why you’re doing it.”

“I made a notation on your copy of the map—SAM has it for you.The abyss will take almost a full day for me to get to. Yours is closer to the research station so I’ve hailed Kiiran to give you a ride and she should be waiting for you at the drop point. I want to meet up at the second FOB in four days.That hopefully will be enough time.If you’re running late SAM can update me.”

“I’m more worried you’ll be late,” Cora grumbled as she pulled up the map on her omnitool, noting the markers that Scott had added to it and began studying the distances involved. “Just be careful.While I want to be Pathfinder, I don’t want it to be because you died. I’d rather earn the promotion.”

Scott found himself laughing, put at ease by her grumbling. “I’ll be careful as long as you are too.I don’t want another SIC.”

Cora reached over and gave him a playful punch in the arm like Liam usually did. “You wish you could find a better SIC than me.” Cora gave a playful flick of her hair as she gave him a pretentious fake look.

“Never,” he replied with a smile.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE April 27th_

_We’ve made some headway but not much to locate the third monolith. Esmus wasn’t very happy to see us and, in fact, we’re currently camping down in the gravity well rather than being welcomed to Mithrava as we weren’t invited to stay. I guess I can see their point—at least there was no violence involved and it was just a strong suggestion we leave as soon as possible. Anyways, I’ve made the decision to split my team for the next two tasks to try and save some time. Cora is going to escort Jaal to wherever the Roekaar have been held up and then Jaal is going to try and convince one of them—this Taavos—to help us out. Personally I think that’s going to be the harder task._

_Mine is to find this relic, an object that previously belonged to Zorai, which is most likely to be found in the place that the angaran call the Remnant Abyss. Sounds nice and welcoming doesn’t it? I’ve been told that all who go in there never return.It’s like a bad story with extra heavy foreshadowing the way the Angarans have made this out to be. Jaal didn’t have anything positive to say about the place either other than he’d heard of it and made it a priority to never go there. Well, hopefully if he’s successful and I’m successful, he wont._

_SAM has been giving me a lot of observations about Havarl and some of it has been fascinating... but it’s also kind of heartbreaking how this planet is no longer able to be a homeland for the Angara. The mutations that SAM has identified... they’re so unstable. Between SAM’s and Suvi’s data, they predict that ecosystem collapse is only a a few years away and with it the planet will truly uninhabitable._

_Here’s hoping that I can change that.I only need to find the monolith and the vault, neither of which are present in the living memory of the Angara._

_Wish me luck whoever’s reading this. I’m going to need it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not all of the plant/hydroponics stuff is accurate time-wise ::waves wand of magical science fiction to make it so::. However, all the plants listed can be grown either with hydroponics, aquaponics or in a container—although not all of them well or without a lot of difficulty according to my research. I think if I were in Andromeda I’d do a lot of things to have fresh strawberries after months of protein bars and adhi jerky. 
> 
> Comments adored, kudos loved. Thanks for reading.


	33. Chapter Thirty-one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for sex between Reyes/female. If you would like to skip it look for the asterisks (***) in his section and avoid the part immediately after the first line break.

Chapter Thirty One

 

2819 CE April 29th

Remnant Abyss, Havaral, Faroang, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Developing a hatred of all things velociraptor

It had been a hard slog though the jungle and Scott officially hated rylkor. Hated. Hated. HATED. The only thing he might hate more at the moment was challyrions.At least they hadn’t run into any eirochs. Camping out in the jungle last night had been mostly sleepless. They’d had a pack of rylkor stalking them all night and they’d had, count ‘em, three different episodes where they’d attempted to carry one of his people off.The last time they’d challenged the perimeter they’d set up, Scott had blasted the damned velociraptor wannabe so hard that part of it’s body had liquified when it hit the trees. Vetra and Drack had been suitably impressed. After the third round though, none of them had slept any for the remaining three hours until dawn.He’d sat bookended by Drack on his left and Vetra on his right with Peebee curled up in a niche above them and they’d stared out at the darkness of the jungle.

The reflective stares back at them had been unnerving in the firelight that they’d put torches around the semicircle they’d claimed against the wall of one of the canyons. After daylight, they’d started through the jungle, purposefully making enough noise to scare anything smaller away. There’d been some adhi and challyrions that had been brave enough to challenge them and they’d been put down with a vengeance.On the other hand, he’d learned that roast adhi meat was pretty bland without anything to season it with.Drack had enjoyed it though, said it was much better than “the protein shit” they’d been living on. Vetra hadn’t been able to partake as it was the wrong type of protein, chewing on some roots that she’d learned from the other Turians were dextro-protein appropriate. Peebee had just shrugged and eaten her own large portion, commenting about wishing they had some salt and pepper. 

At least it wasn’t butterscotch flavored.

They’d made it within sight of the place where the Remnant Abyss should be but Scott had called a halt long enough for everyone to eat a protein bar and fill up their water bottles. The abyss was across a swampy area that they’d have to ford to get to the cave where the entrance was hidden according to his map. He could see a pair of galorns on the far side away from them and he hoped they would leave him alone if he left them alone.Jaal had pointed one out previously and made the suggestion that Scott not provoke it, but if necessary Jaal suggested a shotgun to try and penetrate the thick body that was built like an alien rhinoceros.

The galorns were currently munching on some foliage and appeared unconcerned with the observers.

Watching as the large animals moved through the water, Scott had estimated that the water was probably just above waist deep for most of the swampy areas but there were obvious deeper places where the galorns had swam—especially closer to the middle. SAM’s scans had suggested a route to take which was displayed on his visor. Vetra had a similar map on hers and Drack and Peebee would follow in the middle with Scott leading and Vetra would grab Peebee and get her to safety if something happened to Scott and Drack.

Everyone assumed Drack would just keep powering through until he hit the opposite side.

Scott motioned for everyone to get ready and began carefully picking his way down the incline to the water, holding onto vines and branches when needed so he didn’t end up face first in the swamp. Reaching the bottom just above the water line, He shrugged his pack off where he’d already stowed his guns and lifted it above his head to balance as he entered the water with a muffled splash.His armor was water tight so he could move easily with it on but couldn’t easily feel his way for footing so he had to be cautious as he moved forward. Soon the water was up to the bottom of his rib cage and he kept going, following SAM’s route. Drack had entered the water behind him with a louder splash then a bare ripple as Peebee followed right behind him. Vetra was still out of the water when the loud call of the galorns made the water ripple.

One of the galorns had entered the water, and while it was staring at Scott, it did not approach him, sticking to the other side. Scott paused then continued to move forward when the animal didn’t charge directly at him, He continued to slowly proceed.

He was midway through and the water was up to his armpits when the galorns seemed to take more interest in him. One swam closer to him but didn’t come close enough to touch. The dark midnight blue of the galorn’s skin was interrupted by neon green phosphorescent glands that pulsed with light in the dimness of the swamp. It seemed curious about him rather than aggressive. Scott purposefully didn’t move towards it and kept on his way. He’d reached the deepest part that was almost over his shoulders when the animal approached him and nudged him along to help him across the deepest part. Trying not to startle, Scott settled for soothingly murmuring his thanks to the creature as his feet found purchase in the mud and he kept going, the water now rapidly becoming more shallow.

The galorn gave him a nudge to propel him along and then continued on it’s way, curiosity satisfied. Scott found himself just staring as the animal moved away.

“Keep going kid,” Drack said from behind him, chuckling as he made his way through the deeper water.

“Yeah...” was all Scott said as he kept moving, following SAM’s directions to avoid a deep spot.

Making the other side, Scott heaved himself out of the water, throwing his pack clear so he wouldn’t get it all wet. Looking down at himself, his armor was streaked from the muddy water. Gil was going to have a heart attack when he saw their gear. Scott mentally made a note to try and clean up a bit before making it back to the Tempest. Looking around now that they were at the entrance, Scott could see the same Remnant designed door with a console off to the side that was almost completely hidden by a thick curtain of vines that covered the entire wall. Using his omniblade, he cut away at the vines to free up the console so he could access it while the others joined him.

Seeing that everyone was waiting on him to open the door, Scott put his hand out and the console quickly unlocked, the dancing string of alien code easily cajoled into unlocking. As the keys on the console did the ripple wave that signaled command received, the entire wall of the cave began to slide apart. As the doorway opened, the air inside smelled stale but the familiar remnant light sources activated as Scott stepped through, slinging his pack back on but taking out his M3 so it was handy and locking it on his hip.

Peebee had her scanner out and was evaluating the first room they were in that appeared your usual gravity well center. The gravity well in the center activated as she stepped closer and ran her scanner over it. “Readings are typical,” she commented to Scott but continued to check each corner of the room for anything unusual.

Himself approaching the gravity well, Scott waited for her to indicate she was done before he activated the well.The familiar enveloping feel of the well pulled him to the center and the floor split below him and he was pulled down for quite a ways. Landing lightly on his feet, the well released it’s grip on him and he started walking forward to clear the well for the next person. The room he’d landed in seemed to be a platform within a larger cavern that had multiple buildings and platforms that he could see in the dim light. None of the other platforms were within jumping distance. There was a ramp down to a door which appeared to lead to another room. 

Walking the perimeter of the room, Scott didn’t see anything of note. There was evidence of prior robots as he could see the wreckage of several that appeared old, their cores burnt out from a firefight. That would match what he’d been told—that the Angaran warriors of old used to come here. As the rest of his team joined him, he waited for Peebee to make her own assessment before approaching the door. Verifying she didn’t need more time, he opened the door and continued down the darkened ramp.

As he descended, several of the lights activated at his presence. He could hear echoes of the noises that the Remnant robots made that told him they were still alive and present down here but none sounded close at the moment. He could feel air movement that told him that the chamber that everything was build it was huge. The next open area he came to was another polygon room. In the center was an island with a console on it, a small amount of ferrofluid surrounding it. There were four doorways including the one he’d come through—the other three had closed doors. Peebee made her usual rounds, marking some dead robots but otherwise not finding anything new and exciting.

“Go ahead and open the doors,” she told him absently as she scanned yet another dead robot, her fingers pulling out parts of it to salvage.

Vetra and Drack just stood around the island, waiting for something to happen. Both of them had their assault rifles in hand to react if any of the robots would suddenly be less dead.

Reaching out, Scott focused on the console as he listened to SAM.There was obviously a more intricate command here as there was more than one door.He had no clue which one was the way he needed so he was going to try and open all three of the closed ones. He could ‘see’ with SAM’s help that there were connections from the console to each doorway and he carefully nudged the code this way and that until the structure looked right and the doorways unlocked. As the doors unlocked, the one to the left was blocked by some sort of energy matrix. The other two were open.

“That was easy,” he remarked as he let his hand fall to his side.

That was when all hell broke loose. From the doorway straight ahead, there was a large mechanical clunking noise followed by the robotic language sound that he associated with assemblers. Three of the flying observer bots rose out of the darkness and entered the room. Vetra took the first one out easily and Drack lunged at another and pulled it to the ground where he smashed it to pieces. The other flew straight at Peebee who hadn’t been expecting it. Scott turned to help her when he heard what sounded like a heavy machine gun cycling and a continuous stream of bullets shattered the ground around him, making him duck behind the console for protection. He could hear Peebee swearing as she ran for cover and taking potshots at the observer bot that was following her, sending shots here way.

Activating his cloak as the shooting focused on where Vetra had taken cover, Scott stood up to get a better look as SAM’s visor dots just showed a cluster of red enemies but wasn’t very helpful.There was a huge, massive robot that was unloading on the column Vetra was crouched behind. Taking a few shots to get it’s attention, the robot seemed to scan for him but couldn’t find him underneath the cloaking. He moved to a spot of cover opposite Vetra and began alternating shots with her as the thing advanced with heavy, deck shaking steps. He could hear Peebee deploy two turrets which helped with he observers and assemblers that just added to the misery.

Peeking out from cover, Scott could see the damned tank was only a couple of meters away from Vetra. He threw a throw at the thing and it smashed against the wall and tipped onto only two of it’s four feet. Drack unloaded his shotgun into the bottom that was exposed and the shots seemed to do real damage rather than just be deflected by the shielding. Seeing Drack’s success, Scott unloaded the entire clip of his M3 into the area that was sparking and the robot caught fire as it resettled back onto four legs. 

The robot was malfunctioning as it stopped firing.Taking his rifle out, Scott looked down the scope and targeted the sensors that SAM identified as the equivalent of the robot’s eyes and took all four of them out. Drack threw a grenade that landed just below the robot and it blew upwards into the less protected belly of the damned thing.

With a high pitched whine, the robot’s legs gave out and the floor shook with the impact as a crater formed underneath it. Scott barely had time to think ‘oh shit’ and duck behind a column when the thing exploded, showering robot parts everywhere.There were still assemblers and observers milling about and he almost took a direct hit from an observer before he managed a throw that hit it and spun it out of the air into a column where it hit with a sad robot shriek and then died as it broke into multiple pieces. He could hear Peebee’s turrets taking out several more flyers but the robotic speech of two assemblers could be heard. There was now a lot of smoke from the burning huge tank robot that made visibility poor.

Drack’s roar made him easy to pinpoint as he unloaded his shotgun into one of the assemblers.Scott still had three red markers on his visor and one winked out with the retort of Drack’s shotgun as it emptied. Another winked out as Peebee’s turrets took out a flyer and it crashed to the ground before exploding in a shower of robot parts. There was a lonely call of the assembler as it tried to communicate with it’s fellow robots and wasn’t answered.

Switching to his M3, Scott could see movement in the smoke and the red light of the eye of the assembler as it tried to identify where he and his team were. Taking aim, he squeezed the trigger twice. The first shot taking out the red eye of the robot and the second burying itself deep in the hole created to penetrate what Peebee called the brain box, killing the robot as it released one final cry before tipping over sideways with a metallic groan as the limbs collapsed.

No more red markers appeared on his visor but Scott didn’t immediately move from cover. “Everyone okay? Status?” He called out.

A chorus of “fine” and cursing responded to his query which made him laugh.

Vetra, who came up to him through the smoke was reloading her assault rifle. “I thought it was a human superstition that you’re never supposed to assume things are going well?Liam was telling me this while we were watching those space exploration movies.”

Scott couldn’t help laughing. “Yeah.At least I didn’t say ‘what else could go wrong,’ that would have been an even bigger mistake.”

“Humans and their weird superstitions,” Drack rumbled as he joined them, his shotgun slung over one arm casually.

Standing up, Scott went over to where the fire was dying down around the big robot. Nudging a piece with his boot, Peebee crept up to take a closer look herself.“What do you want to call this one?” He asked her, amused as she began scanning and putting out the fire so she could get more information.

Peebee made a distracted sound, muttering under her breath at the readings she was getting. “It’s built like a tank destroyer.... so destroyer?” She finally offered.

“Good as anything.You see one of these before?”

“No. But it would make sense why a lot of Angarans never left this place alive if they ran into this thing.” She said as she stood from her crouched position, holding a piece of mangled robot parts in her hand. “It’s built similarly to the assemblers but obviously more of a heavy hitter.”

“I’ll say,” Scott agreed with her. Vetra had gone ahead and was halfway through the doorway directly in front of the console. Not wanting her to be left without backup, he kept up with her and they entered the next room. Lights sprung up as Scott walked closer revealing a hallway. They had several more observers and assemblers that were easily taken care of.They also found remains of several angarans that, according to SAM, were over a century old give or take some. Examining the remains, he didn’t see the crest that belonged to Zorai so they kept moving on.

Moving deeper into the abyss, Scott would give it to the place, it felt tomb-like. They’d come across the remains of quite a few angarans. They ran into two more of the destroyers and Scott felt that they were making it up higher on his dislike list. They went down two more gravity wells and he still couldn’t figure out what this place exactly was.It wasn’t a vault. And it wasn’t a monolith. Peebee was frustrated as she also wasn’t making heads or tales out of the place.

They finally came to an area that had seen a battle that had been fairly impressive from what they could tell of the remains of it. Robot parts were scattered in with the remains of dead Angarans.There was, however, most importantly a memorial of sorts that had discarded equipment on it. Which included a broken gauntlet that had the crest of Zorai on it.

“Think it’ll work?” He asked Vetra, both of them examining the broken gauntlet.

“I think it’s the only thing in this mausoleum that we think belongs to this Zorai,” she responded, her mandibles flared in a doubtful look.

Peebee, who was picking through the memorial, spoke up. “It’ll have to work. None of the rest of this stuff has that crest on it.”

“Then we’ll try this and if it doesn’t work we’ll have to come back with Taavos in tow and make him touch everything.”Scott really hoped this was the right piece. It’d suck having to come back down here.

***

Leaving the abyss, they’d made their way back to the meeting point.Scott had realized they’d gotten behind on time and they were late to the meet up with Cora by almost half a day. They’d lost track of time in the abyss and they had to hurry to only be as late as they were.

Rounding the last bend in the game trail to where the second FOB had settled, Scott didn’t immediately see Cora, Liam or Jaal.Reaching the FOB, he was about ready to ask SAM where they were when Cora melted out of the foliage. “You’re late,” she said with amusement.“And you were afraid I’d be the slow poke.”

“Sorry,” Scott said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “You successful?”

Cora blew air out of her nose making her bangs flutter as her face screwed up in a grimace as she gestured back the way she’d come from. “Yes. He’s back there with Jaal and Liam sitting on him so he doesn’t go screaming back to get his buddies.”

“Any trouble?” Scott asked as he followed her off the trail and into the undergrowth.

“About what you’d expect. He’s not exactly the most willing helper but we got out of there without letting the natives know we were there.” She paused, sharing a significant look with Scott. “Jaal might have some difficulty if he goes back even without us.They’ll have guessed he’s helping us out even if Taavos doesn’t run back screaming it.”

Scott didn’t wince but he knew that Jaal had probably burned some bridges with what he’d asked him to do.Well, at the end of the day, that would be Jaal’s problem to deal with but they’d help him out if asked. He could hear up ahead someone snarling in Angaran that sounded like Jaal. The sight that greeted him was Jaal snarling in another Angaran male’s face, their noses only centimeters apart and, as Scott noted, obviously not liking each other. The unknown angaran was a darker purple than Jaal, his face marked by one of the intricate tattoos that Scott was beginning to suspect meant something specific. The other male who Scott assumed was Taavos, was bound by rope around his arms, hands and legs, leaning against one of the huge fungi as he wouldn’t be able to walk with hour he was bound. Whatever Jaal was saying, Taavos wasn’t having it and they were snarling gutturally, too low for Scott’s translator to pick up.

“Jaal,” he greeted.“I see you found Taavos.”

This broke up the angry staring contest, Jaal pulling aback to look at Scott while pushing Taavos back into the fungi. “Pathfinder.Were you successful in your search?”

“I believe so,” Scott said as he put his pack on the ground, opening it and pulling out the ancient, broken gauntlet.“This matched the description that the elders gave us.” He said as he handed it to Jaal.

Jaal carefully took the gauntlet from Scott, turning it in his hands to examine it, his fingers caressing the crest when he found it, his voice was reverent. “The mark of Zorai.You found it.”

Scott didn’t comment on how he was worried they hadn’t found the right thing and just nodded. “How do we go about triggering the memories?” He asked instead.

Taking the gauntlet, Jaal faced Taavos who was staring at the gauntlet like one would a poisonous snake that was poised to strike. “I have asked for your help Taavos. You are the only one who can help us restore Havarl’s vault—the elders have said as much. Will you help me restore it?”

Taavos glared at Scott before turning back to Jaal. “Are you sure you do this for us Angaran or do you do it to be their servant? To bow to the vesagara.... skuut.”Taavos dropped his gaze to the gauntlet Jaal held in his hands. “Do whatever you want,” he finally said turning his face away from Jaal and Scott, staring into the trees.

Jaal looked at Scott, hesitating. “We need to know,” Scott said, indicating for Jaal to proceed. Jaal then held out the gauntlet and touched it to Taavos’ bound hands. As the metal touched his skin, Taavos took a stuttered deep breath that froze at the deepest inhale before releasing, his eyes rolling back and his body going limp, collapsing against Jaal.

“Did it work?” Asked Peebee from behind Scott.

Vetra shushed her. “Give it time.It’ll take a while to pull back a spirit from the past.”

“Oh how would you know—“ Peebee was stopped from speaking by Drack putting his hand over her mouth. Vetra and she were having a staring match of their own now—Peebee continuing her disagreement by speaking with her eyebrows as Vetra flared her mandibles and tried not to burst into laughter at the Asari’ s antics. Cora was indicating that they both could shut up anytime now.

Scott didn’t take his eyes off Taavos as his eyes fluttered and he began breathing normally, his muscle tone returning as he awoke. As he awoke, his gaze focused on Scott before shifting to Jaal and saying something in Angaran that his translator couldn’t understand. Looking at Jaal, Jaal’s brow was lowered in concentration as he spoke back in the weird version of angaran before switching back to one that Scott’s translator understood. “Do you understand me?” Jaal was asking.

“I understand you Jaal,” Taavos said, his voice distant sounding as he eyes focused on a point beyond Jaal.“I did not think you were telling the truth but.... it... I see so much now....”

Scott gave Jaal a pointed look. “The monolith?”

Jaal repeated the question to Taavos as he hadn’t understood Scott. “The monolith?The last one.... it is hidden.”

“We guessed that. But where is it?” Scott asked.

Taavos looked to Jaal for a translation before replying. “It is... I cannot describe it but I can take you there.” Taavos now examined Scott, scrutinized him, seemingly not impressed by his smaller frame and apparent youth. “Can they truly reactivate the monoliths?An alien?”

“They can—he can,” Jaal said pointing at Scott. “He has already reset the vaults on two other planets.He can save Havarl.Save the birthplace of all of us.”

Taavos seemed skeptical but the hostility was gone. “Untie me. I will bring you there. Perhaps you can do what Zorai could not.”

***

It’d taken over a day and half to get through the jungle to the next canyon over which was much deeper than the others. Scott had deployed a third FOB to have comm support as they made their way deeper into the shadows. The route that Taavos had led them on took them deep into the canyon, fording small streams and ponds, climbing over rocks and dodging rylkor packs and the odd challyrion and one really, really grumpy eiroch that Drack had taken out with his shotgun almost single handedly. The last one had actually impressed Taavos but he mostly didn’t interact with them other than to lead them along half hidden trails deeper into the shadows.

They’d reached the end of the canyon and there was no light despite it being the middle of the day. The only light came from the walls of the canyon which were obviously made of Remnant structures—the same green light that Scott had seen in their buildings was evident here. They stood on a small rise looking down at a pool of water almost twenty meters wide that had a small shelf of land on the other side against the walls of the canyon. It was eerily silent. Taavos had paused here, waiting on all fo them to catch up to him.

“It is on the other side, the cave which you seek, where Zorai died failing where you seek to succeed,” he said to Scott.

Not seeing any cave, Scott tried to keep his tone neutral. “Cave? Where?”

Taavos listened to Jaal’s translation patiently then pointed to the far side which was barely visible in the dim reflected light. “It is there. You cannot open the door from here.”

Putting his hand on his hips, Scott looked down into the water that was cloudy with mud, no bottom visible. SAM relayed that the scans he was getting said that it would be deep enough that swimming would likely be required. Scott eyeballed the distance. It was really too far, probably, for him to jet across.He’d probably be short and still have to swim a bit which meant he probably should leave his pack here.

“We’ll need to leave the packs here,” he said, gesturing to a part of the ledge that was sheltered from the elements and would be easy to find again. “Half of us will go, half stay up here and keep watch.”

“I don’t know how to swim,” Liam interjected, interrupting Scott before he could continue.

“You can’t swim?” Scott found himself asking as he stowed his own pack.

“Doggie paddle maybe.... never really tried to find out,” Liam confessed, making no effort to remove his own pack but looking at the water with doubt.

“Then you’re staying up here.Who else?”

“I’ll stay with him,” Drack volunteered, not looking eager to go for a swim.

“I’m going with you,” Peebee said.That didn’t surprise Scott as there was Remnant tech somewhere over there. Peebee would do a lot to get to explore new tech.

Vetra and Cora both indicated they were goin as was Jaal. Not waiting, Scott took a running leap, his rifle attached to his back and his M3 on his hip. He hit the water only two meters shy of land, sinking up to his chest before his feet found purchase and he quickly got himself onto the narrow strip of land.As he stepped onto the sandy strip of land, the small mushroom-like vegetation began to glow with natural phosphorescence, giving a bluish white glow to the area like clouds on the ground. He was quickly joined by Taavos and Jaal. Vetra made it almost halfway but had to swim further than the rest of them. Cora and Peebee both made it further than Vetra but had to swim as well. Peebee was briefly enchanted with the mushroom clouds but quickly got to work with her scanner, looking for the entrance to the monolith that Taavos promised them. Taavos stared straight ahead as if he was seeing something else, Jaal keeping watch on him as Taavos approached the wall, stepping around the mushrooms without looking at them.

As he approached, a pedestal rose out of the ground, dirt falling away from it until it took the shape of a pedestal. Scott could hear Taavos murmuring to himself, repeating the same phrase over and over. The angaran’s pupils were dilated, the dark pupil almost filling the entire eye as he stared straight ahead. Taavos raised his left hand and placed it on the console and Scott watched as the dancing code slid into the correct pattern.Taavos didn’t take his hand back as the entire wall in front of them started to separate into a doorway, the heavy doors separating and allowing them to enter into a hidden cave.

Well, the Remnant version of a hidden cave.

Scott trailed along a step behind Taavos as the Angaran entered the recessed room. Columns rose out of the floor among the groupings of the same, small phosphorescent mushrooms that had been outside. A few lights activated as they wandered among the columns until they came to the remains of a female angaran who was surrounded by the remains of robots. SAM noted that the remains had been there for several hundred years by his estimate. Taavos stared at the remains and went no further.

“It is Zorai... me” he said. “This is where I failed in my last attempt. I could not activate all three monoliths and failed.”

“You activated enough to keep Havarl minimally viable long enough for us to come. You probably saved everyone who lived here since then,” Scott told the despondent Angaran.

The Angaran did not move but made a noise that was neither agreement nor disagreement when Jaal translated what Scott had said. Realizing that Taavos needed a moment, Scott continued on deeper into the cavern until he came to the familiar triangular layout with a console in the center. With his scanner, he could see that there were only two glyphs activated and another two were needed. Following the power flows, he quickly identified a third glyph but the fourth was more stubborn and he didn’t find it until Vetra helped him into a small seam that he climbed higher into the vault of the cave where another glyph was carved into the sidewall.

Having enough glyphs to try and interface with the console, Scott half climbed down, half fell, activating his jump jets which sputtered a bit after being submerged in muddy water so he didn’t impact the ground too hard. Jaal and Taavos had come to watch him interface with the console. “You may want to step back in case there are any Remnant about,” he warned them as he held out his hand to begin the interface.

The glyphs were visible to his mind’s eye and he easily solved the encryption puzzle with the additional glyphs he’d identified. As the code began to spin with the solved encryption, he could feel a hum under his feet as the monolith activated, the hum becoming audible as the columns pulsed briefly before the light settled into their background usual amount of light, the green cast to the remnant structures comforting in their sameness to the other monoliths he’d activated.

“It’s active,” he informed Jaal who told Taavos. “Now we just need to find the vault and Havarl should stabilize.”

Jaal looked at him half in wonder, half in disbelief. “I did not think we would accomplish this.”

“We’ve been specializing in the impossible since we came to Andromeda,” Scott told him.“Best be getting on with it.Never know when Evfra will send word about the Moshae.

Taavos looked curious at the mention of the Moshae and asked Jaal what Scott had said.Jaal made a face and then demurred, putting off explaining to Taavos who looked worriedly between them, asking again what Scott had said about the Moshae.

“Jaal—tell him,” Scott insisted.

Taavos was annoyed now and insisted on being told what Scott was saying.They really needed to get the man an omnitool translator. Jaal began to hesitantly explain why he’d been sent along with Scott to Havarl and that he was waiting for word from Evfra to help rescue the Moshae who was missing.Taavos swore at Jaal when he explained how long the Moshae had been missing, presumedly abducted by the Kett.

“You human.... you will find and rescue our Moshae?” He insisted, waiting to see what Scott would say as they stepped back outside, his hand reaching out to pull on Scott’s shoulder until they were facing each other directly.

“Yes.I am just awaiting notification from Evfra,” Scott said, indicating for the reluctant Jaal to translate his reply.“If it helps your people against the Kett, i will do it.My people are searching for a place to call home, looking for friends to make.We would be your friends and allies. We are not Kett.”

Taavos looked uncertain, his gaze pinging from Jaal to Scott and back again.“We will see if you speak truth in time.”

“I will do my best to keep my promises. All the help I can give I will,” Scott tried to make sure Taavos understood him despite the language barrier.

Taavos, who hadn’t released his shoulder, now did. “We will see Pathfinder. We will see.”

The quiet of the twilight was broken by Liam’s battle cry as he screamed about velociraptor attacks followed by Drack’s rumbling growl. Scott paused long enough to close his eyes, take a deep breath, and then sprint for the water hitting his jump jets as he used a throw to propel himself further to make it across the small lake without having to go for a swim first. He had squad mates to rescue from fucking velociraptors. All in a days work for a pathfinder.

***

2818 CE December 31st.

Kadaran Port, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective

Status: collecting gossip

When they arrived at the party, it was in full swing. The bouncers at the door in full Outcast regalia checked Reyes’ name against a list and allowed him to pass with both Kenax and Vestus in tow. Outcast headquarters was full of traders, smugglers, mercenaries and Outcast members. Sloane Kelly presided over it all from a throne that had been set up, Kaetus hovering over her like a personal bodyguard. Kelly’s face was set in an unpleasant sneer that only changed briefly when she laughed at something and occasionally just looked mean as she regarded whoever was speaking in front of her.Each person as they arrived at the party was obligated to present themselves to Kelly and she would in turn have a few words to say to each, mostly of the variety of ‘have a drink’ or ‘next time bring more plunder’ if the person she was speaking to was underperforming on their taxes.

Mostly, she just had a bored indifference and malice about her.Like she was just marking the time and didn’t really care about whoever was in front of her.Reyes calmly took his place in the line of people waiting to be greeted by the Outcast queen. The person in front of him was a Turian who looked Reyes up and down before introducing himself, hand held out to shake as he took in Reyes and his companions. “Mabus.Mabus Epinius. I run the salvage shop in the market. I’ve not met you before at one of these things.”

“Reyes Vidal and my associates Vestus Caldonis and Kenax Sullus.We have a regular trading route we run.I’m always interested in making new trading partners,” Reyes said as he took the turian’s hand. The turian was smaller than either Kenax or Vestus but his carapace indicated that he was older or at least he’d been in more scrapes as he had noticeable scarring and his colony mark was from Thracia. Despite his hard appearance, he was friendly and immediately struck up a conversation about opportunities and what he was in need of with Reyes.

Reyes spent most of his time in line speaking with Mabus and they only stopped when it was Mabus’ turn to speak with Sloane. Reyes watched how Mabus’ attitude which had been friendly cooled and he said the bare minimum to Kelly who inquired about how business was going. Kaetus then gave Kelly a brief rundown of the taxes that had been collected from Mabus with his own assessment of Mabus’ business dealings... which happily mostly matched what Mabus had said to her earlier. Kelly, looking bored, waved Mabus on with a ‘enjoy the party’ that was both disinterested as well as slightly annoyed.

Which made it Reyes’ turn.Reyes stepped up, straightening his posture so he didn’t look like he was subservient but also not to the point where he appeared aggressive. “Reyes Vidal.I am the captain of the Exodus and have been running a trading route between Kadara and Elaaden. These are my business associates, Kenax and Vestus.”Kelly’s gaze pinned him in place as she examined him, obviously recognizing that she hadn’t met Reyes before. Once she had satisfied herself about him her gaze switched to Kenax and Vestus but she was less interested in them. Kaetus, however, shifted his weight and stared at the two turians that stood on either side of Reyes.

“Vestus.I didn’t know you left the Nexus,” Kaetus broke the silence before Kelly asked any questions of them.

Vestus, cool as always, replied, “I didn’t particularly like the idea of going back on ice.Reyes offered me a slot on his ship so I took it.”

Kelly, realizing that Kaetus knew something about Vestus, straightened in her chair and leaned forward, elbows on her knees as she took a closer look at them. “You know them?” She asked Kaetus.

“I do.Vestus was security on the Nexus—recruited him personally. Kenax is his shadow,” Kaetus seemed to be puzzled why Vestus would have stuck with Reyes instead of joining the Outcasts.Reyes found it interesting that Kaetus felt he’d personally recruited Vestus when Reyes knew for a fact that it’d been a friend of a friend that had recruited his friends ‘officially’. Unofficially, they’d been looking for an in.Kaetus was overstating his relationship with Vestus to Kelly. Very interesting if that was Kaetus’ true opinion of how well he knew Vestus.

Sloane looked at Kaetus with an eyebrow raised. They seemed to have a silent conversation before she turned back to Reyes and relaxed again on her throne. “So what’s so special about you that you have a pair of Turian warriors as ‘associates’?”

Reyes gave his best self deprecating smile and appeared sheepish. “Kenax and I were assigned as copilots. We’re friends and we decided to stick together when the uprising occurred.Vestus came along when he heard Kenax and I were leaving.” 

Vestus, still unruffled, gave a nod to Kaetus. “As he said. Kenax likes him so we decided to stay together.”

“I’m sure you did,” Kelly said, her tone implying she didn’t believe a word of it. “What have you been trading with Elaaden?Have we been getting our fair cut?” The last part was directed to Kaetus.

“I’ve been trading water supplies for odds and ends.I’ve paid the percentages asked for by the dock workers,” Reyes said smoothly.

Kaetus, amused by Reyes, verified this on a data pad he’d pulled out. “The numbers are correct,” he murmured to Kelly.

She stared at them for almost a minute before a bored look again crossed her face and she waved them on. “I expect you to keep up with your docking fees. Enjoy the party.”

Knowing a dismissal when he saw one, Reyes thanked her for her hospitality and moved on. Vestus and Kenax trailing after him. Mabus had been lingering, waiting for Reyes so they could continue their conversation and he fell into step with Reyes as he went to the bar and ordered an angaran whiskey.

“You have a regular route with Elaaden,” Mabus stated.

“Was that a question?” Reyes asked as his drink was served by the woman behind the bar. He took a sip as he turned to lean into the bar, Mabus ordering his own drink.

“No.I’d heard that someone had a sweet regular route set up.I wasn’t sure who it was.”Mabus looked more serious than he had before but still friendly.

“I have a regular route... not sure if I’d consider it sweet. It keeps me and my friends fed,” Reyes deflected.

Mabus’ eyes flicked to Vestus and Kenax who hadn’t really left Reyes alone but had both ordered their own drinks with his. “I am sure you are more successful than half these ruffians.”

“Ruffians?” That got a raised eyebrow out of Reyes. “I see you have nothing but respect for our fellow Kadarians.”

Mabus snorted and took a drink. “Outlaws the lot of them. You’ll not find a bigger den of iniquity outside of Aria T’Loak’s Omega.”Mabus considered Reyes a moment before continuing. “Something tells me you’re different from the rest of them.”

Reyes chuckled and took another drink, draining most of his whiskey and enjoying the burn in his throat to distract and give him a moment. “I’m just a regular trader.”

“Smuggler.There’s no way you’re doing a regular route and giving up all the profits to her,” Mabus said with a flare of his mandibles in an amused grin. “Something tells me you’ll be an interesting friend to have.”

“Smuggler then,” Reyes agreed, motioning to the bartender for a refill. “I’m always looking for more business and friends.Especially if it’s lucrative for both parties.”

“I see you’re making friends,” Keema interrupted, joining them at the bar. “Mabus.I see you’ve met Reyes.”

Mabus’ grin got even wider and he laughed in delight, greeting Keema while subtly poking Reyes to see how he’d react. “Keema. You know this scoundrel?”

“He is a beloved friend,” Keema said, her tone implying that she was serious when she named Reyes as such, her hand sneaking around Reyes to link their arms and he turned his body into hers to imply a closer relationship and see what Mabus would get from it. “He has done several favors for me and I find myself rather fond of him.”

Mabus looked intrigued. “You are very, very interesting Reyes Vidal.”

The conversation devolved from there, Mabus and Keema driving it and exchanging gossip about figures around the port. Reyes learned that Mabus was mated to the turian female who had the repair stall in the slums and her name was Ruana but they were currently arguing and she refused to come up to the Port and preferred life in the slums—that is was more “authentic” than the main port.Mabus was trying to convince her to move back with him but it was an ongoing argument that Mabus was losing at the moment.

There was also now one less food vendor in port as the Outcasts had caught him skimming supplies and diverting them to the less fortunate. The man had joined the corpses pinned to the wall at the port entrance. Reyes made a mental note to see if they could get a soup kitchen set up in the slums as long as it wouldn’t cause anyone else to lose their livelihood. He’d have to talk to the Salarian with the food booth at the crossroads.

Gossip eventually turned to the oblivion trade and the difficulty the Outcasts were having. By this time, they’d migrated to a table in the corner that with Vestus and Kenax acting as barriers, allowed them to continue to chat without being overheard. “Whoever’s been targeting their manufacturing is doing us all a favor. Without the drugs there’s been less of us exiled to the badlands,” Mabus admitted.

“What is this about the oblivion trade?” Reyes asked, pretending to know nothing.

“Someone—this Collective—has been destroying manufacturing sites.It’s been stirring up a hornet’s nest among the Outcasts since their supply is running low. From my perspective it’s been nothing but good—less drug addicts means better business.”

“I see,” Reyes said neutrally, purposefully frowning to show he didn’t completely get it but was willing to buy Mabus’ argument. “This hasn’t made our Queen angry?She doesn’t strike me as someone you want to mess with.”

Mabus actually rolled his eyes at Reyes’ calling Sloane Kelly ‘our queen’. “Oh she’s been mad.Nakamoto’s been ridden hard to keep up with demand but he’s gotten a lot more squeamish since the Collective murdered his entire protection detail.”

“Murdered ?” Reyes said, leaning forward like he didn’t know the story, encouraging Mabus to elaborate on a juicy piece of gossip. Keema was amusedly snuggled into his side, smoking some of her dream weed that was making Reyes’ nostrils burn from the close source of the smoke. 

“It was the first anyone heard of this Collective.They entered the slums undetected and murdered his entire protection detail at one of their parties. Left him alive to carry a message.He’s been ranting and raving to anyone who’ll listen to him about their assassin—goes by Anubis.”

“Interesting,” Reyes drawled. “So do we know who runs this Collective? Where they came from?”

“No.Nobody knows where they came from or who runs them,” was the gravely voice of Kaetus as he joined them, pushing Kenax’s legs off of Vestus so he could make a seat. “Vestus... I would have thought you would want to work with me.I could use someone with your skills... and I suppose we could find some work for Kenax too.”

Vestus, nonplussed, shrugged before giving a lazy turian grin. “That sounds like a lot of work.I came to Andromeda to retire, find a nice little out of the way place to shack up with Kenax and maybe a female. Helping you run an organization sounds like a lot of work.”

Kaetus was not impressed, folding his arms across his chest as his crest flared. “And how is that working out for you?I see you’ve picked up a human.”

“How was I to know that my mate would prefer human males?” Vestus said with a chuckle, giving Reyes a look to let him know to play along. “What Kenax wants, Kenax gets.”

Reyes gave a put upon look back to Vestus. “I’m not going to be your sex pet,” he told the two with an eye roll and went along with what Vestus was implying. “I’m happy to enjoy your bed but I’m a free agent.”

Kenax, who was very amused by all of this, jostled Keema out of her comfortable position next to Reyes as he climbed over her to take her spot. “Awwww beautiful. Do you not find us satisfying? Because I can remember what you were saying last night....” Kenax trailed off suggestively as he muscled Reyes into between his legs, keeping him right where he wanted him and placing his hands around each of Reyes legs and gripping suggestively. Reyes had in fact told them to keep the sex noises down last night when he’d been the one piloting as it’d been distracting and reminded him he hadn’t gotten relief in a while.His friends had lost all sense of privacy on the last trip and he’d gotten an earful. They were all too comfortable with one another at this point from living in close proximity to one another. He knew way too much about their sex habits to claim ignorance or not be able to play along.

“Just because I enjoy it doesn’t mean you own me,” Reyes snipped back, allowing Kenax’s wandering hands to find his crotch where it squeezed him just enough to get a physical reaction that he played up as enjoying. Reyes ignored the soft “sorry” Kenax gave him in his ear as he continued to grope him for their audience, hand caressing Reyes’ half hard cock through his leather pants—at least he hadn’t put his hand underneath or Reyes would have to put a stop to this.He’d like to be able to look his friends in the eye again. Kaetus was watching closely and he adverted his gaze once he saw that Reyes was willing to be groped with an audience. Hm... Kaetus seems embarrassed by the overt sexuality... could be useful given the subtle glances the turian kept shooting towards his boss. Mabus just found the whole situation entertaining and seemed to be contemplating how flexible Reyes could be if he was open to other partners.

Kaetus cleared his throat noisily to interrupt Reyes and Kenax, drawing everyone’s attention back onto himself. “Well. If you change your mind, I can find you some regular work,” he said to Vestus, ignoring Kenax and Reyes.

Vestus, side eyeing his mate and Reyes with a sly grin, replied, “Don’t hold your breath on that but I’ll keep it in mind.”

Kaetus beat a hasty retreat after that. Reyes didn’t immediately move off Kenax’s lap but steered the conversation back to the mysterious Collective. He needed to know what was being said about himself.

***

The party had been going on for hours and it was now after midnight and everyone was well within their cups. There had been the obligatory celebration of the new year and drinks passed around. As the party progressed, Reyes had detached himself from the turians and Keema to mingle more, nudging his companions to go and see what they could learn. Reyes was currently chatting up some of the other smugglers who regularly found themselves in Kadara Port. They were a suspicious bunch but once they’d had a drink on him they’d loosened up nicely. He got the impression that they all would slit each other’s throat for a minimum of credits. It was a rough crowd.

Standing at the bar amongst them, Reyes had switched to soda water with a hint of vodka in it, and was much more sober than the rest of them. A redhead, whose name he’d promptly forgotten the moment it’d been given, was leaning heavily on him and her hands had been wandering. Already keyed up from Kenax’s gambit earlier, he was tempted to give her what she was looking for but he was worried she’d had too much to drink to do so with a clear mind and he’d removed her hands from his crotch more than once as well as from playing with his belt buckle.

Excusing himself to use the facilities, Reyes made his way into the men’s room. He stopped to chat several times with various people that recognized him as belonging to Vestus and Kenax. Using the urinal, he relieved his bladder which made him sigh as the pressure released. He’d needed that despite his body being slightly keyed up from all the aggressive handling he’d gotten over the course of the evening. Zipping up, he washed his handsand splashed some water on his face to become more alert.

Looking in the mirror, he had shaved before leaving for the party so his skin was still smooth but he looked tired around the eyes. Rubbing his face, he rinsed his hands again and stuck them under the dryer to get the excess water off. Leaving the mens’ room, he was verbally accosted by the redhead who’d been expressing interest.

“Feeling better?” Was the throaty call from where she leaned against the wall across from the toilets in the narrow hallway. She had casually arranged herself, arms crossed underneath her breasts and pushing them out towards him where he could see the color and texture of her undergarments through the wispy thin and low cut shirt. The leather pants she wore had a painted on quality to them and were tucked into chunky laced boots that looked like they could break his toes if she stomped on him. In the dim light of the hallway, she looked older than she was but he didn’t tell her that.

“I feel refreshed,” he offered, turning to go back to the party.

She stopped him with a leg that she threw up to the opposite wall, stopping him from passing as a hand tangled in his shirt, pulling the collar of his henley down so she could see the top of his chest with a leer. “Wanna fuck?” She asked with a sharp, toothy smile.

Reyes tried, halfheartedly, to get out of her grip. Taking his hands carefully, he threaded them in hers and made her release her hold on his shirt. She didn’t allow him to drop her hands though. “You’ve been drinking. I’ve been drinking.While I might otherwise be interested, I’m a believer in consent.”

She tossed her short red hair, making the bangs fall across her face as she leaned in.he could smell her perfume, which was floral, making him wonder where she’d gotten it. “I haven’t had a drink in hours and you’ve been cutting back.Neither of us is as drunk as you say. You haven’t been paying attention but your body was,” at this she dropped her hand to his crotch and turned him towards her, her leg wrapping around his waist as she dragged him with her into the wall. Stumbling, Reyes braced himself so he was putting all his weight on her but she did a full body rub against him that reminded his body that it’d been a while and he surprised himself with a groan as his cock firmed.

“Wanna fuck?I’m not asking for a ring—just a nice way to scratch an itch” She asked him again, her hands having made it to his belt again.

Closing his eyes, Reyes only got to three before she had his belt buckle undone.His body reacted to the stimulation reminding him yet again that there was no reason he had to say no and it had been a while. Opening his eyes, he nodded. “Fine...”

Reyes had barely gotten the word out before he was propelled further down the hallway to a section that had obviously been built with sex on the mind. It seemed Outcast parties were that kind of parties. Small alcoves were curtained off and the noise of sex came from many of them with closed curtains—and some that weren’t closed showed a variety of species both male and female getting off. The woman led him to one on the end and propelled him into it with a push to his chest.Landing on the small mattress, Reyes barely had his belt unbuckled before she was kneeling on top of him and pulling his face into her chest.

The perfumed scent was stronger there and Reyes got with the program, removing the woman’s shirt and unhooking her bra to get access. She’d merely pushed his belt open and pulled his pants down to mid thigh before standing and with a well practice move, pulled her pants off and toed off her boots to leave her naked. She was well built and muscular for a woman, her breasts small but firm with the ring piercings in both of them making the nipple taught and peaked.Multiple tattoos covered her, some large some small and delicate looking in the minimal light with a naval ring glinting as well from where her waist tapered to her slender boyish hips. She didn’t wait for Reyes to get more naked and pulled him back to her chest where he found his mouth sampling one pierced breast bud as his fingers delved between her legs. She let out a sigh of relief as she pulled at him, positioning him so she could play.

“Condom,” he gasped out. This was obviously not going to be a long drawn out affair.

“In my boot,” she said as she rode his hand, picking up one of her discarded boots and handing it to him. “Side pocket.”

Staring at her as she enjoyed herself on him, her other hand holding his fingers deep insider her where he flicked two fingers in and out of her wet heat, Reyes fumbled to unzip the side pocket on the boot which did in fact contain several condoms. Taking one, he pushed her back long enough to roll it down on his erection.

Again she was impatient and barely gave him time to finish putting the condom on before she positioned herself, one hand on his cock and sinking down with a groan of satisfaction. Reyes tried to slow things down but she was having none of it and began to grind her pelvis against his, clenching around him before beginning to ride him with enthusiasm, pulling his hands to her breasts where she encouraged him to squeeze and fondle with a twist to the rings. She was obviously only focusing on her own pleasure and any enjoyment he was getting was secondary. 

Throwing her head back, she let loose several groans of pleasure before contracting hard around him as she ground down. “Come on, fuck me!” She ordered him.

He acquiesced to her request, thrusting into her and she rode him with enthusiasm as she continued instructing him on what she wanted. The remainder of the encounter was just as rough as it had started. She orgasmed loudly, clamping down and he followed her lead, filing the condom. They were a sweaty mess and he was still almost fully clothed. She slumped forward, resting her weight on her hands that were bunched in his shirt as she came down, head hung forward so all he could see was her red hair and pale tattooed skin stretched thin over a body that was mostly muscle. Giving some thought, Reyes could tell she ate just enough and had the leanness that almost everyone had including himself but did have a few curves to her hip and chest.

She eventually straightened and threw her head back, clenching firmly around him as she moved. “Fuck. That was good.Anytime you’re in port and want to repeat you’ll have to look me up,” she said as she gave her own chest a fondle before hugging herself and stretching on top of him like a satisfied cat.

Reyes had dropped his hands from touching her as he wasn’t certain what to do now that she’d gotten what she wanted. She gave him a softer smile, less sharp as she clenched again before releasing him and climbing off to leave the condom on his softening erection. She wasted no time finding her pants and pulling them back on as well as her shirt but not her bra. He could clearly see the outline of her tits and the rings in them as well as the darkening of the surrounding areola through the shirt as it was so thin and it clung to her sweaty form. “Seriously, we should do this again,” she told him, activating her omnitool she sent her contact information to him. “Look me up next time you’re around.Might even have some work for you to go with the pleasure—if you’re really up for running the smuggling routes.”

Reyes had covered himself with his hand once she’d come off and he removed the condom and pulled his underwear and pants up and began fastening his belt, trying not to move too hastily but feeling exposed. There was a small waste bin and he disposed of the used condom and handed her the boot she asked for. She quickly had redressed, putting her bra under her arm as she spayed her hands across her chest to tug on the rings. He wasn’t interested in a second round and made sure that his body language said as much. “Thanks for the orgasm,” she told him as he walked away.

He actually felt slightly dirty for this but also relaxed in a way he hadn’t been since he’d left for Andromeda. “Thanks,” was all he said as he returned to the party.

***

They didn’t stay much longer at the party. Vestus had taken one look at him and started detaching himself from the conversation he was involved in with Kaetus. Kenax, his inner mother hen radar activated, hadn’t left Reyes alone for the hour it took them to make their escape.Keema was involved in a politics discussion with some other angarans that had come to the party and waved him off when he hesitated, wondering if he should wait for her. 

Just as they were about to leave, there was a loud ruckus from where Kelly had last been. Gunshots rung out and Kaetus could be heard ordering everyone to get down on the ground. In the confusion, Reyes found himself sandwiched between Vestus and Kenax as they watched the Outcasts put down a human male who screamed something about the Initiative before Kaetus knocked the man unconscious.

The party was now truly over and they’d been allowed to leave as Kaetus cleared them. Returning to the Exodus, Reyes sat in his chair and began the warm up cycle for the engines. He didn’t want to sleep in port tonight. Kenax joined him in the cockpit, assisting but not saying anything other than to look at him every few seconds with a worried look.

“What?” Reyes asked, his tone neutral, not taking his eyes away from the screen as he radioed the tower to ask permission for take off.

“You want to talk about it?You’re usually much more relaxed after sex.”Kenax was studying his own controls as they navigated the usual approach to leave.

“Not really. Felt pretty used.” He paused, then figured he might as well keep talking since Kenax had asked.“She got off. I got off. What is there to say?”

“No strings attached?” Kenax asked as the ship rose above the canyons to continue on a typical departure trajectory. They’d go all the way up to out of atmosphere before doing a few rotations and then heading for home.

“No strings attached. Just scratching an itch.”Reyes was annoyed with himself but for once wasn’t sure exactly why. He could have just said no.

“I thought that was how you preferred it,” Kenax said finally. “You said you don’t like attachments. Just transactional.”

“Usually that’s true,” Reyes allowed, sighing. “I just usually don’t go for someone who’s obviously looking for any body to scratch an itch. Made me feel like I was a used toy at the end.”

Kenax made a considering sound that wasn’t judgmental but worried a bit. “You haven’t with anyone since Tefa.... not that you haven’t had options.”

“No,” he confirmed. They were now above the planet and it looked beautiful through the view screen.He adjusted the course to orbit for a few rotations and put the engines on standby so they couldn’t be traced from the exhaust trail.

“Do you think it’s because you want it to be more than just scratching an itch?” Kenax asked quietly.

“I don’t know. Maybe. It might also just be because I’m usually a bit pickier but she asked and I didn’t say no.”He was frowning at the beautiful sight in front of him, not seeing it. He really had been unengaged with her—-didn’t even recall her name really. It wasn’t that he hadn’t gotten off or that it had been on the rougher side and quick. He appreciated variety in sex usually. He just.... he just usually was the chaser not the pursued. Maybe that was it? No... it really wasn’t. He was getting frustrated with himself.

Kenax sighed and Reyes was brought out of his musings by a gentle touch on his shoulder. “Maybe we should just find you a boyfriend or girlfriend that you can woo. No more random sex in the back hallway.”

“Yeah... maybe nothing like tonight again. At least not for a while,” he finally agreed after two rotations.

“There’s someone out there for you Reyes that really is who you’ve been waiting for,” Kenax said with confidence as they fired up the engines to head home, entering the trajectory for home base.

“I don’t know.... I think maybe Tefa was supposed to be it for me and you know how that ended. I’m probably going to spend the rest of my life having one night stands with people I met at the bar.”He tried to sound joking as he said the last bit but it fell flat between him and his best friend.

Kenax didn’t laugh but his hand reached out again to give another squeeze to tell Reyes without words that he was there for him. They were silent the rest of the way home and when they landed, Vestus took Reyes directly to the wash station and he washed away the sweat from the encounter as well as the floral perfume that had transferred to his clothes. When Kenax pulled his bedroll to between his and Vestus’ Reyes didn’t complain but just curled up amongst his friends needing to feel close to them and they seemed more than willing to let him.He just needed to block it all out and start the next day over from scratch.

***

Waking up the next morning er afternoon, he didn’t try to untangle himself from the octopus known as Kenax and started reading his email on his omnitool from where he had slept, Kenax’s arm around his waist like a vice and a leg threaded around his to pin him in place where he slept curled on top of Vestus. Vestus had cracked one eye to see what he was doing and promptly gone back to sleep, his own hold on Reyes relaxed. There were the usual port notices that he’d gotten yesterday upon docking and only briefly perused enough to notice that the fees had gone up slightly. He’d forgotten the food crates for Kian and they’d need to make sure those got to him in the next day or so. Keema could likely make the delivery if he was busy.

He also had multiple daily reports from various Collective teams.It seemed that Crux was happy to report she’d recruited two more exiles from the port who didn’t have anywhere else to go and were happy for steady work and a place to sleep at night. There was also an intel report from Colton about the failed assassination attempt last night/early this morning.

However, the most exciting thing in his inbox was an official notice from Nakmor clan. He had a request for a personal meeting with Nakmor Morda. It seemed he was moving up in the world. The meeting was set for a week from today when he was due for his usual trading run.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE May 2nd_

_Well I survived the scary Remnant Abyss—which I get why others didn’t make it out of there. Destroyers are literal pains in the ass and like to sneak up on you if you only take out one of their guns. Damned things are fast. Peebee likes them—says that for murder bots they’re pretty ingenious. Which she’s mostly right about that but doesn’t mean I have to like them._

_We were late to the meet-up, Cora will probably not let me live that down for a while but I think she was too happy to see us to really razz me about it. She succeeded in her part of the mission—evidently Jaal was able to just waltz into the Roekaar camp and talk to Taavos. Taavos then was nice enough to agree to talk privately with Jaal outside of camp... which is where Cora got the jump on him with a nice containment field. I don’t think we should leave Taavos alone with her as he still views her as a ‘sneaky skuut’. Cora thinks this is hilarious btw and told me that Taavos could ‘bring it’ and he’d learn just what an asari huntress trained biotic could really do._

_She’s scary when she reminds me of how much time she spent running around the Milky Way doing spec ops with the asari. They truly are bad ass. I’m pretty sure she could kick mine and my dad’s ass while looking magnificent._

_We’re on our way to the vault now.It’s not to far from Mithrava so Taavos said he wants to tag along with us. Remembering all his old memories of his past life as Zorai has made him at least somewhat willing to talk to me after I activated the last monolith. I don’t think he believes me when I say I can reset the vault and change Havarl’s decline._

_Well, I’ll just have to prove him wrong then._

_It’s what I do best—proving people wrong who say I can’t succeed. I’ve been doing it since I was born. Dad used to tell me that all the time and I think I’ve gone a lot further than he would have believed I could._

_One step after another.We can do this. That’s what my mom told me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neither Scott nor Reyes wanted to follow my plot outline for this chapter. Scott got back on schedule by the end and Reyes managed to get himself way behind where he’s supposed to be which got moved to the next chapter (sigh). I’m still especially not happy with where this chapter went for Reyes but he’s got a lot of soul searching ahead before he meets up with Scott. 
> 
> Thanks for reading. Comments adored, kudos loved.


	34. Chapter Thirty-two

Chapter Thirty-Two

2819 CE January 6th

Kadaran Port, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective

Status:Back to business

He was in a funk. That was the only explanation and he needed to shake this.He’d received a message from his brief hookup that she was looking for an additional team/ship for a job that was bigger than she could handle with her regular crew that would involve heading back to Eos in a week or so.The name of the hookup was Zia... and she was professional about the offer but it still was making Reyes feel out of sorts. Kenax had laughed at him and encouraged him to quote unquote “get back on the horse” so to speak regarding his sex life. Vestus had frowned at his mate and told him to leave Reyes alone. His best friends were arguing about his sex life so much that Vestus had actually made Kenax sleep on his own last night and wrapped himself around Reyes as a way to tell Kenax to back off. How was this his life again?He hadn’t signed up for this when he’d signed the Initiative contract that he’d voided when he left the Nexus.

In the meantime, they were prepping for their run to Elaaden. He had a meeting set up with Nakmor Morda that also was adding to his anxiety. There were two competing power centers on New Tuchanka and he’d openly admit he was more impressed with the Nakmor clan’s operation and representatives. Long term, he needed to have a reasonably good relationship with the power centers on other planets and he couldn’t screw this up. 

Kenax had been shadowing him all day, helping him load the Exodus while Vestus had gone off with one of the hunting teams.Even though they had different opinions on what Reyes should do, both of them were obviously worried about him. When Kenax hovered a bit too close however, he couldn’t help but let a little bit of his irritation through. “Kenax... I’m able to do this without help... I could use some space.”

Kenax put his water barrels into the stack and brushed his hands off from the sand of the floor of the cave before turning to face Reyes. “Are you?You’ve been jumping at shadows for days. I thought you’d feel better after the party but you’ve been worse.”

Reyes sighted, rubbing his face with both hands so he didn’t have to look at Kenax immediately. Kenax’s hopeful look was worse than a dog begging for table scraps. “I just need to move on. I’m working on it.”

Kenax hadn’t pulled out of Reyes personal space when Reyes finally dropped his hands to look at him. Kenax had flared his crest and his mandibles were puffed out as well, giving hima look that Reyes would hesitantly call cute but would never tell his friend that. “Is there anything I or Vestus can do?”

“No.... this is something I need to work through at my own pace. I just need space about it—like Vestus suggested.”

“So we’re not going to take this Zia up on her job? Could be a good way of making connections with the rest of the smugglers....”

He couldn’t help the weighted sigh that escaped him. “I know. It would be a good in.”The fact that it was a good in made him more inclined to accept the job and reply to Zia.What stopped him was how awkward he felt about the whole encounter. Zia had been up front—it had been just about getting off to her. To him... he’d felt conflicted from the moment he’d taken her up on it and he wouldn’t say he regretted it... he just didn’t know what to say about it but he usually didn’t feel this way after attaining release through a hook up.It wasn’t a feeling he really liked though.

“Business before pleasure?” Kenax asked, pulling back slightly so Reyes didn’t feel claustrophobic.He still had that pleading look on his face like he was trying to understand Reyes.

“Business before pleasure.I’ll message her back.We’ll need to have a rendezvous to offload the Exodus before meeting up with her.”Somehow he felt like Kenax was trying to push him towards this Zia.It wasn’t like he had to push hard.

“I’ll let Vestus know,” Kenax agreed, already tapping at his own omnitool.

Yeah... he’d been played. It was like Kenax was setting him up on a high risk date.It wasn’t like there wasn’t a good chance of someone being shot or killed on this job.

***

Two days later and they had landed on Elaaden. Kenax and Vestus seemed to have made their peace but Vestus kept giving Reyes worried looks that were making him feel twitchy. He’d managed to clear his mind of the agreed to rendezvous with the other smugglers and was trying to focus all his energy on this meeting with Morda. Tarbok greeted them enthusiastically as they landed just outside of New Tuchanka—a change from where they usually were cleared for. To be cleared to land so close to the krogan colony meant that they were a trusted contact.

“Vidal!” Was the cheerful grunt that Reyes heard as he stepped out of the airlock, Kenax and Vestus right behind him. Tarbok grasped Reyes’ right forearm and gently, for a krogan, head butted him through his helmet.New Tuchanka was too hot for Reyes to be helmetless outside of the colony.

“Tarbok,” Reyes returned the greeting, recovering quickly from the headbutt. “Good to see you.”

“Morda has been very interested in meeting you since you’ve been much more reliable than any other human we’ve dealt with,” Tarbok went on as he gestured for a few younger Krogan warriors to help with the unloading as Kenax was opening the cargo bay door.

Reyes nodded in acknowledgement but just listened as Tarbok continued on, describing what they had for trade today. Reyes was happy to hear more of the ore that Maiko had been running low on was being included but the medigel supply was a surprise. “Medigel?You got a way of manufacturing it out here? I thought krogan thought we all over-relied on it.”

Tarbok chuckled, the gravely noise sounding like an avalanche as gave a generous pat to Reyes back that made him stagger from the weight of it. “We are not as soft skinned as you but we find that the trade is useful.”

Recovering, Reyes nodded. “I’ll bet it is. However, I would more than welcome any trade in medigel.”

Grunting, Tarbok gave a sharp nod and another chuckle. “My sources say that you make sure things get distributed more fairly than if we used one of the other smugglers.Keema also vouches for you so there is that.”

“Keema is a good friend,” Reyes admitted, watching on his HUD as several more krogan joined Vestus and Kenax’s unloaders. “When is Morda expecting me?”

“I’ll take you to her now,” Tarbok said, gesturing for Reyes to follow him. Reyes followed Tarbok through the main entrance to New Tuchanka, waving off Vestus and Kenax before one of them could follow. The banners snapped in the breeze, showing the insignia of clan Nakmor over the entrance. The colony had been built into a sinkhole and they steadily descended and his HUD noted that the air became cooler to the point where he would be able to take off his helmet so he did when they paused to let others past on the narrow walkway. The air that hit his face was dry but surprisingly cool, a good breeze coming from below. Tarbok explained the different parts of the colony including their own greenhouse which grew plants better than on the surface due to the temperature difference even though they had to use grow lights instead of sunlight. The water that Reyes had been brining was mostly destined for the greenhouses as there was aggressive water recycling used by the krogans themselves and they needed less than a human, Salarian, Asari or Turian, their bodies adapted to desert environments with, what the military back home called, austere conditions.

Following the twisting path, they entered tunnels carved into the rock. There were guards posted at each turn that took long looks at Reyes, memorizing his features and greeting Tarbok by name. They eventually entered what appeared to be a throne room that was a large cavern with multiple layers to it.Several small groups waited to talk to a female krogan whose armor had a circlet of pointed bone spikes radiating around her head like a halo from ancient iconography paintings of saints that he remembered from his childhood being taken to church by his abuela. She stood above them all, reclining on a stone chair that reminded Reyes of a throne but one that was easily movable. She was listening to another krogan who spoke in such a way that it could not be heard other than by her due to the acoustics of the place.

Tarbok stood patiently, waiting behind two groups who had yet to talk to the female on the throne, indicating that Reyes should wait with him. Standing next to Tarbok, Reyes watched with interest as the groups ahead of him petitioned the krogan upon the throne. She listened to them and then pronounced her judgement—either pro or con the petitioner, either way they did not protest when she made her opinion known. When dismissed, the petitioners left without fuss.

When it was his turn, Reyes stepped up alongside Tarbok and waited to be introduced. Tarbok, gave a small nod of acknowledgement which seemed to amuse the female. “Overlord Morda, this is Reyes Vidal.He is the trader that has been supplying us with water from Kadara.”Tarbok gestured for Reyes to step even closer so he was bathed in light that streamed through a series of mirrors to give sunlight to the center of the room directly in front of the throne. Morda, for it could only be her on the throne, scrutinized him thoroughly with a bland look that he was sure was just a front. Her body language had tightened as he stepped forward, the only human in the throne room.

“Step forward so we may speak in private,” Morda said, her voice surprisingly deep for a female but Reyes supposed he didn’t have a lot of reference given his very minimal interaction with Kesh was his sole experience with the female variety of krogan.

Stilling the nervous shiver before it became obvious, Reyes stepped forward a few steps so he was still within the circle of reflected light but wasn’t too close to Morda.In the shadows he could see two bodyguards on either side of the throne, holding heavy rifles that would shred through his light armor if he made any sort of aggressive move. “I’m curious why the Angara speak so positively about you,” Morda began, her eyes glittering as she closely watched Reyes’ body language. “You seem to be from a different faction than Sloane Kelly’s Outcasts—pirates and bandits really.”

Reyes cleared his throat before replying in the dry air. “I’m a member of the Collective—we believe in working together to build a home in Heleus.”

“Collective.... implies that you work with multiple species. Tell me Reyes Vidal, would you allow krogans to be a part of your Collective?”

“If they are interested in living together and working together—then yes. Our only qualification to joining is that you’re interested in living together—not exploiting others for your own personal gain or harming others for sport.”His tone was a bit hard at the end, he didn’t want any comparison to how Kelly was running Kadara Port.

Morda laughed at him, for an unsettling length of time she sat and guffawed at him making Reyes shift his weight anxiously, which she noticed and abruptly stopped laughing. “This Collective of yours sounds ideal, however you are a human... in the Milky Way humans got a seat at the table whereas us krogan were fighting with others for table scraps and representation was just a dangled carrot always out of our reach. Our colony is successful—we will not help you without the appropriate payment.”

Reyes narrowed his eyes. “Are you implying that my services are not worth their payment?I seek fairness when it comes to trade. I can tell Keema Dohrgun to get someone else to run her water route if you feel I have been disrespectful.”

“I’m not implying anything human. I merely want to set expectations. Nobody is getting a free lunch from us again after the uprising. If you need something of ours you will pay for it.”Morda’s vocal tones were firm and she gestured sharply with a hand towards him as she continued. “However, if you would welcome our involvement in your Collective I will ask for volunteers to join you.”

His shoulders were stiff from how rigidly he was holding himself. “If they wish to join us that is fine. However, we do not want anyone ordered to join us. The Collective seeks to have a society that works—not discriminatory or because someone was ordered to join.”

“Yet someone runs it from the top? You? Someone else?” Morda asked, her tone amused.

“We do have a reporting structure, yes. However, the boss takes into account the reports they get from the captains—of which there are salarian, turian, angaran, and humans. We also have a few asari among our ranks as well. The only reason we do not have any krogan is that they have not asked.”He needed to stop clenching his jaw so tight, he was going to break a tooth if he wasn’t careful.Reyes was pretty sure Morda knew a lot more about him than he knew about her.

“And you would welcome them?I thought our race too warlike, too brutal, too coarse, too uneducated for the lofty aspirations your Collective seems to represent.”Her tone was inquisitive despite the aggressiveness of her question.

“Our recruitment policy is clear to me as a member. Anyone may join the Collective as long as they understand our goals—which I’ve made clear. I was told when I took this job that if there was interest from anyone—krogan or other—that I could tell them about the Collective and where to go if they wanted to join. There was never any specification about species in my instructions.”Tarbok made a noise of agreement—he’d always been happy to work with Reyes and they had a good working relationship.

“I see.Hopefully you are an accurate representative of your Collective,” Morda said, relaxing back into her throne, one finger tapping on her lower jaw. “Tarbok tells me that you have been fair to deal with and consistent. I would have a more formal agreement for water deliveries between New Tuchanka and the Collective you represent—in case something were to happen to you I want to make sure there is no interruption in service. I have many who depend on our supply lines.”

“I’m sure something can be worked out. Did you have any specifics in mind?” Reyes asked, relaxing slightly now that he personally wasn’t being discussed. He could do a trade negotiation—he’d been reading a lot about it recently and Vestus had been a good sounding board during their long trips.

“I do,” Morda said. With a gesture she had a data pad brought over to Reyes. The negotiation then truly began. Looking at the requests that Morda had for New Tuchanka, Reyes could see that they made sense for a colony of this size in this type of habitat. Morda was obviously prioritizing survival and defense over comfort which was understandable.

Two and a half hours later, they had the beginnings of a bare bones trade deal outlined.Acting as if he could not be the final word of approval—that his ‘boss’ would need to agree—Reyes said that he would return with the next shipment and meet again with Morda. Morda, in the meantime, would send word out to her fellow krogan about the Collective. There was not a large population of krogan on Kadara but Reyes was sure there would be an increase in the future. He would not say no to the right krogan joining but stressed that the Collective was interested in building a functional society—not perpetuating the lawlessness of Heleus forever.

Dismissing him, Morda sent him away with, “Good luck Reyes Vidal.I will be curious what your boss agrees to.You are an interesting representative of your Collective.”

“I’ll return in a week with an answer,” Reyes said neutrally.

***

Returning to the Exodus, both Vestus and Kenax were obviously relieved to see Reyes return unharmed even if it wasn’t obvious to someone who didn’t know them well. Tarbok wished them well as the ship was already loaded with the agreed upon trading items. Sitting in his pilot cradle, Reyes began starting the engines while Vestus hung out in the doorway between the pilots and the rest of the ship, hip cocked out and arms across his chest as he looked at Reyes expectantly through the reflection on the HUD. Kenax was also sneaking glances at Reyes but they were a well oiled machine as they completed their checks and the engines hummed to life before Reyes hailed the flight deck and received permission to take off.

Holding himself in place as they took off, Vestus did not go to his seat like he usually did in the back during take off and soon they had entered orbit, waiting for the correct trajectory to take them out of system and back to Kadara. Vestus finally lost his patience. “How did it go?”

Amused, Reyes couldn’t help smirking at his impatient friend. “It went well. Morda wants an actual trade treaty between us and New Tuchanka.”

“And by us.... you mean the Collective?” Vestus asked, excitement leaking into his voice as he straightened up in surprise at Reyes’ news.

“Yes.Evidently we’ve made a positive impression on her and she wants to get in early as a trading partner.”Reyes was pleased by the talks but he’d need to come back with some more allowances they’d need. He’d already negotiated what was probably a fair deal but he’d need to look a bit more hard nosed and less eager with the final agreement.

“This is good.... right?” Kenax asked as he input their planned route.

“Yes.It’s very good,” Reyes agreed.

“When we get back we’ll have to celebrate,” Vestus said with a grin.

“Sure,” Reyes said with a smile. This was a big victory for them.

***

Rendezvousing with one of Keema’s teams, they’d offloaded the Exodus and struck out for Eos. A week later, they were waiting in a small canyon on Eos for Zia and her associates to arrive. Reyes had been messaged the details of the mission—someone was using the abandoned colony Resilience as a base for black market goods. They were to meet up with the Initiative smuggler and obtain the goods. Zia had noted that part of the goods she’d negotiated for were going to require a second ship to move which is where Reyes and the Exodus came in.

It should be easy money. Just transport and get paid.

Reyes kept waiting for the second shoe to drop. Something was off but he couldn’t put a finger on it. Kenax had just told him to ignore the weird feeling he had about this—that it was just because of a less than stellar sexual encounter.

He was pretty sure that wasn’t it.

Probably.

But he didn’t have anything else to point at as the cause so he was stuck just going with the flow.

Watching the ship’s radar, it had two ships inbound. Powered down, the Exodus was behind the cluster of buildings and well shielded from the approach as he’d taken over the colony radar array. Luckily nobody had thought to salvage it already—he’d made a note that they should make sure to walk off with it but it made a useful rendezvous site assuming the Initiative would make another attempt at settling Promise. So it’d stay for now. Maybe he’d have Vladimir set it as the drop site for refugee pickup.

The ships on approach were coming from different vectors. One had come from a similar approach to the one he’d taken—coming from Govorkam. The other was coming from the direction Promise was in.When they’d flown over he’d noted some activity there but he’d purposefully kept out of radar range as he’d wanted to go undetected in case there was someone from the Initiative still on Eos. A ship similar in size to the Exodus put down in the center of Resilience—from it’s pain scheme it was obviously an exile ship as the original paint job had been redone to a monochromatic blue scheme and they’d seen his ship.

Noticing the hail on the comms, Reyes patched into the frequency. “This is the Exodus.” He said smoothly. Both Vestus and Kenax were suited up and armed if anyone tried to get too excited. Vestus was perched outside and well hidden, having argued he was the better shot which had made Kenax grumpily agree. Kenax was in the back watching the airlock.Reyes himself was wearing his light armor, his ushiors strapped to his hips and the knives in his boots, helmet propped up against the HUD by the engine controls. Theo had spent quite a bit of time on the code for the Exodus’ VI and it now had military grade stealth programs it was running. Vestus’ tactical shields had also gotten an upgrade that when asked, Theo nervously said he’d lifted the program from the Spectre program before leaving the Milky Way.Vestus had told Theo that if he hadn’t already had a mate in Kenax and a favorite human that Theo’d be in danger of getting carried away to be married.

Everyone had gotten a good laugh out of how bright red Theo had become at Vestus’ compliment.

But back to business at hand.

“Hello Exodus.I see you made it here early. Been enjoying the sunshine?” Came the throaty, accented response. Zia was here with her crew. Reyes still couldn’t place her accent—it wasn’t an Earth accent and not from any of the colonies he’d visited for the Alliance during his years of service. It bugged him to no end.

“It has it’s appeal,” Reyes responded with a chuckle, purposefully letting his own accent thicken in a way he knew worked for him and was disarming. “I have another ship on approach. Should be your contact.”

“We see them,” he could hear a murmur in the background as she gave orders to her crew. “Prepare to meet them in the courtyard.”

“We’ll meet you there,” he responded, giving Kenax the signal to open the airlock as he put his helmet on and the seals tightened air tight.

Leaving the Exodus through the airlock, Reyes walked purposefully to the agreed upon meeting point, Kenax lingering a step or two behind him like a bodyguard but mainly looking like the muscle in general. Zia and two others met him there.Zia’s armor was a dark maroon in color and made her body look bulky—generic was what came to mind. He’d seen similar armor types sold in the market that were adapted from Angaran armor sets. Her companions wore cheaper versions of hers in dark grey. Reyes’ own armor had the ability to camouflage to the environment and it was currently set in a generic desert tan and clay red that matched the environment of Eos.

“Vidal,” was Zia’s greeting as she walked up to him, her voice sultry like it had been at the party. She obviously still had fond memories of him.

“Zia,” he returned, using her first name to make him sound more pleasant and to encourage her to be as informal, maintaining an impression that he was happier to see her than he really was. They both turned to look as the noise of the oncoming ship became louder and a large transport put down right in the center of the colony, perhaps a dozen meters from them.

“I’ve got this,” Zia said to both him and their respective crews as she walked over to meet the ship.

Two figures stepped out of the airlock—men from their body types. From where they stood, Reyes couldn’t hear what Zia was saying to them but it appeared to be friendly from the body language. He took several side glances at Zia’s crew.Both were human, male. Neither said anything as they waited but they seemed more interested in what Zia was doing rather than in him or Kenax. Two clicks sounding off in his ear at the regular check in time told him Vestus had eyes on them with his sniper rifle so they had support that was unknown by the others.

One of the new arrivals had gone to open the back airlock of the transport and Zia was doing something on her omnitool that looked like a credit transfer. Zia returned to them and said to start getting loaded. Reyes gave a nod accepting the command and started unloading along with Kenax and the two from Zia’s crew. Zia continued talking to the Initiative smuggler and didn’t help.

Half an hour later, the entire hold of the Initiative ship was unloaded into a neat stack of crates.Reyes had surreptitiously been scanning the contents with his omnitool on passive scanning. Most of the crates contained supplies for prefabs and manufacturing... but there were medical supplies and ammunition crates. Zia was obviously supplying the Outcasts as the ammunition matched the preferred guns that he’d seen carried by the Outcasts.

This simple pickup was getting a lot more interesting in ways he wasn’t sure he was prepared to find out.

How to make the ammunition go missing and make it seem like an error on the smuggler’s part? 

They’d been stacking the crates into semi equal piles to put in both ships. He made sure that the ammunition crates (which were the same size as the rest of them) were in the pile that would go on the Exodus while seemingly being random other than feeling for the weight of each crate and trying to divide them up evenly. He’d rather of shorted her on the medical supplies but he couldn’t let the ammunition get to the Outcasts if he could help it.

It’d be his people that would get shot if he didn’t.

But how to divert it?

Reyes focused on making sure the lion’s share of the ammunition ended up in his pile. Once the cargo was divided roughly even, Reyes moved his ship closer and they began packing it up.He was purposefully slower and pickier about the weight balance which made Zia give him an exasperated “hurry up.”In doing so, he ensured that she was pack and loaded before he was, leaving him and Kenax to finish loading their ship while Zia’s crew climbed back aboard hers. He saw a ripple in the fading twilight and a disturbance in the dirt around the air lock to let him know that Vestus had climbed back onboard the Exodus just as he and Kenax finished the last few crates. Kenax purposefully made it obvious that he was closing the airlock as Reyes dusted himself off before going to climb into his ship.

He was stopped by Zia rounding his ship to come speak with him. “Reyes, I’m transmitting our drop off point to you. I’ve got a buyer all set up for this stuff so all we need to do is deliver with a good return profit. Think you can handle this and then we can have a celebratory drink at Kralla’s Song?”It was hard to tell her mood due to her helmet but her tone was pleasant.

Reyes nodded in agreement. “Sounds good to us. I would recommend traveling spaced out rather than as a convoy. Too tempting a target with these types of ships as they can’t outrun the smaller fighters I’ve seen in port.”

“That’s fine but I want to maintain communication on the way back—no going dark or off grid. We don’t stay in communication and then you don’t get paid and I’ll make sure you never work in Kadara again.” She seemed willing to let him do this his way but there was a threat to the last part—she obviously didn’t trust him overly which was fair.

“Your pilot know the standard spacing used by Systems Alliance?We’ll use that. Should be able to help each other out if smothering happens but not too tempting to round up at once.”

“Keep in contact,” she said with a nod. “We’ll follow standard distance.”Well she obviously didn’t know what he was talking about as only a former Systems Alliance pilot would know that was an in-joke. Which meant her pilot likely didn’t either and he had some wiggle room.He’d see how much distance he could get before they got nervous.He’d gambled that neither of her companions were former Alliance pilots and it seemed he’d been right.

Climbing aboard the Exodus, he slowly went through the checks with Kenax. Vestus was in his usual jump seat, sniper rifle cradled in his arms.Reyes watched as the other ship started their engines up to full blast and took off before starting to cycle the engines on the Exodus.He had the ship VI run a scan to detect any listening equipment before he spoke, the VI indicating they were in the clear. Theo had been helpful with the coding for this particular precaution among the others he’d asked for assistance with—Reyes could code but he wasn’t on Theo’s level. “Did you see what was in the crates as you loaded them?” He asked Kenax quietly.

“I did.That’s a lot of ammunition.It’d be a shame if it was defective or misplaced....” Kenax replied.

Reyes thought about the hidden compartments he’d altered this ship with. The usual spaces under the floor for additional equipment that most ships carried when they had more than three passengers had been emptied to leave space if they’d needed to actively smuggle supplies—he’d used this when dropping things off for trade in port and the inspectors only did cursory inspections as long as you appeared to be playing along. Sloppy work and it was obvious that most of Kelly’s dock workers didn’t have a lot of experience in their roles. “We need to short the crates as much as possible. It’ll be noticeable if the weight is off too much though. Is there a way to make the ammunition unusable?”

“It’ll be a bitch but we can remove the ignition tabs or squib them,” Vestus said with a displeased frown. “Once we get up out of atmosphere one of you can come back and I’ll show you how to do it. We’re going to need as much time as possible to make this work.”

“Squib them?” Reyes asked Vestus.

“If there’s not enough gunpowder or cordite in the bullet to send it down the barrel. Might be the easiest to do and hide. Would look like a batch failure.” Vestus was frowning at the crates, his crest lowered in thought as he worked through the problem. “Squibbing would work best and it might actually cause gun malfunctions. I’m going to get started.”

Reyes had to turn his attention back to the controls but could hear Vestus moving things around in the back. When they’d breached the atmosphere, Kenax gave him complete control and went back to help Vestus do whatever he was doing in the back. Reyes focused on leaving the gravity well of Eos and charting his course back to Kadara. He responded to the inquiry he got from Zia about his course and he confirmed it with her. He’d be just far enough behind to give himself some warning if she suddenly wanted to meet up somewhere between here and their charted destination.

He continued on pilot duties for the next few hours before Kenax relieved him, pushing him back to join Vestus. Vestus was in the back and had pulled the ammunition crates to one side of the ship and had systematically removed a few bullets from each box. Those bullets he would not alter and they were going to be stowed in the below decks storage for them to take.The rest of the bullets he’d sorted so they’d make about half of them misfire in each box. Vestus was already steadily working his way through the first crate. He paused in his work to demonstrate to Reyes how to squib the bullet and remove the ignition tabs or break them. He removed a small amount of ignition powder from half the bullets and was putting it in a spare container so they could reuse it at some later point. He was carefully resealing each bullet after prying it apart to remove some of the powder. Explaining that squibbing was when there wasn’t enough ignition powder to propel a bullet down the gun’s barrel and how damaging this could be to the gun if the user wasn’t careful.Vestus was alternating between squibbing about half the bullets and removing the ignition from a few per box. They didn’t have any way of marking which boxes were tampered with so Reyes would need to make sure it was clear to the rest of the Collective that if they found Outcast ammunition they had to assume it was tampered with and should destroy it—which worked since they were mostly being supplied with guns and ammunition by Evfra.

They had the better part of four days to go through all the boxes and Reyes better get started on his own share.It was going to be a long four days.

***

Four days later, Reyes and Kenax decreased the following distance behind Zia’s craft as they followed it down to the surface of their home. The area she was taking them to wasn’t too far from Kadara Port and was just a valley over from an area that Keema’s scouts had identified as an Outcast camp. Reyes had given the order while they were underway for Keema and a team to take out another one of the Oblivion manufacturing sites that had popped up. His instructions had included that they leave a calling card—the circle and three lines in red as well as a message that the Collective would take action against any and all who propagated the drug trade on Kadara.

An hour before landing he got the report that the raid had been successful and another factory shut down.Keema had sent notice that she’d see Reyes in port later tonight.

Landing in Varren’s Scalp, it was mid afternoon. Vestus had shoved himself into the sub flooring along with the couple of hundred bullets they’d liberated from the crates. The extra shielding they’d put into lining the compartments would even hide him from thermal scans. Otherwise, they’d taken inventory of the shipment but left things untampered with.Following Zia’s ship to the place she had indicated, nobody came to meet them. Reyes had the impression that Zia wanted him to unload and she’d pay him for transport. Whoever she was meeting would come after he left—which was fair.

Opening the airlock, Reyes stepped out. A few moments later Zia and her crew departed their ship. The two crew members began unloading their ship into a large pile between the ships.

“Vidal.You need to unload and leave your part of the shipment. Our buyer only wants me present during the handoff. I’ll meet you in Kralla’s later tonight to give you your share of the profits.”Zia said, her helmet off making her hair ruffle in the breeze as she spoke.

Reyes, less than pleased with not being able to mark their buyer, gave in easily. “If they’re that nervous then sure. But you better pay up....” he trailed off meaningfully.

“I keep my promises Vidal. You’ll get paid one way or another,” she said with a leer. “I look forward to a long and pleasurable partnership with you.This buyer’s just a nervous one—to many people at the handoff and they might not show.”

Shrugging, Reyes couldn’t help his eyeroll even as he agreed to her plan. “Fine. But I expect prompt payment tonight.”

Zia laughed and went to oversee her own ship being offloaded. Reyes and Kenax added the cargo from their own ship to the pile. In a short period of time, there was a small mountain of crates stacked on the valley floor and both ships cargo holds were empty. Zia ran her omnitool scanner over the stack and verified each labeled box was present before giving Reyes a thumbs up.“Everything is here. Have my drink ready tonight at 1930–a angaran brandy. Umi knows how I like it.”

“I will have your drink ready for you,” Reyes said amiably before climbing back in his ship. Kenax had already closed the cargo doors and was waiting for him just inside the airlock. Zia waved him off and he entered the Exodus, quickly closing the door behind himself and climbing into his seat, hands already starting the engines even as Kenax joined him.

“That went well,” Kenax said.

“Don’t jinx it. I still have to meet up with her later,” Reyes warned. He could hear the compartments opening in the back and Vestus climbing out. “We still need to get paid.”

***

Having no reason not to, they went straight back to Kadara Port. Landing, he paid his docking fees and entered the port. He made a point of walking through the marketplace as it was late afternoon almost evening and should be busy. He wasn’t really in need of anything but he was hungry. Vestus was looking at a piece of tech at the stall next to their preferred food stall.Speaking to the angaran cook, Reyes had just gotten four adhi kebabs and a slice of paripo spread on a baguette when there was a loud commotion from the main walkway through the market. Stuffing the baguette in his mouth, Reyes joined Vestus and Kenax to see what all the shouting was about.

Sloane Kelly stalked through the marketplace until she found a place she wanted. Throwing everything off a display table, she jumped on top of it. She was furious—her scowl thick and her eyes bright, each motion choppy and with more force than necessary. The salarian whose table she’d emptied took one look at her and shrank back without a complaint to the treatment of his wares. Outcast guards formed a semicircle around Kelly and their guns were in hand and pointed at the crowd, shouting at the crowd to shut up and fall back.

“Everyone shut up and listen,” Kelly screamed, sweeping her right hand in an exaggerated motion to get attention before smoothing down her tightly braided hair which looked more frizzy than usual.She had dark circles under her eyes like she hadn’t slept in days and her teeth were stained from too much coffee without brushing, spittle flying as she screamed again for attention. “Everyone better fucking listen up!”

The crowd silenced immediately as there was the sound of guns racking that accompanied the Outcast Queen’s statement. Everyone was watching Sloane Kelly, her scarred face showing how angry she was, the deep furrows making her appear like a demon and the pinched lines around her eyes that burned with fury. “I’m placing a price on the head of those fucking fuckers that are messing with Outcast business. The fucking Collective and their boss—that fucking charlatan boss of theirs who hides in the shadows and is afraid of facing us is a coward and soon will be a dead one.Can’t even face us without hiding and running—makes them a fucking charlatan. Fifty thousand credits to anyone who brings us information about this fucker. I want this charlatan and any members of this collective dead. Kaetus?”

Kaetus stepped forward from where he’d been lingering on the side lines. “The Collective and it’s leader are persona non grata. If you are found to have assisted or be a member of this Collective then you will face Outcast justice. Do not help them. Do not assist them. Do not give them information. If you do.... we will come for you. No one will help you,” Kaetus finished darkly.

No one said anything, the market completely silent when usually it was a hubbub of noise. No one made any move, afraid of drawing attention to themselves as Kaetus stalked amongst the crowd, reiterating what Sloane Kelly had said. Reyes himself got a brief glance from Kaetus and Vestus a nod from him as he passed. The Turian’s body language was severe and businesslike. Sloane made a few more pronouncements about how the Collective were “fucking dead” before jumping off the table and kicking the merchandise out from under her feet as she stalked in the direction of Outcast Headquarters, her guards trailing behind her in her wake. Kaetus was the last to leave the marketplace, a final glare cast about before walking stiffly out, his gun in hand.

Reyes watched them leave, nonchalantly eating his kebabs that really were very tasty.He’d have to see what herbs the angaran was using on these so they could make them back at base. Vestus and Kenax said noting but went back to what they’d been doing once the crowd around them began to disperse and go back to business, albeit much more subdued than earlier. It wouldn’t do to draw attention to themselves and Reyes worked on his meal before he needed to go to Kralla’s Song to find a place to get his payment from Zia.

Reyes went over what Kelly had said in his mind as his companions went about their business, savoring the flavor of the words in their vulgarity but she’d gotten her point across he supposed, however much she came across as unhinged while doing so. Charlatan.... hm. Could be useful to use her words against her. He actually kind of liked it, and of the names he’d collected since arriving in Andromeda it wasn’t as bad as Shena. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Vestus knew he was thinking about something and had an unimpressed look on his face.

Making eye contact, Reyes shook his head to indicate he didn’t want to say anything to Vestus as he finished the last of his kebab and shoved the remainder of the paripo into his mouth and swallowed. Inclining his head towards Kralla’s to signal he was ready to go, Vestus finished his business about some small piece of tech hurriedly and joined Reyes as he began to walk away. Kenax also fell into step with him and soon they were out of the marketplace and at the door to the bar. The conversations around them seemed to focus on the dramatic announcement they’d all just heard but Reyes remained silent until they were entering the bar.

“You two can find a different booth but stay close,” Reyes told them in a low tone, stepping up to the bar and placing an order for his preferred Angaran whiskey and asking Umi for Zia’s usual which got him a raised eyebrow from Umi but she served him the drinks efficiently and demanded her credits which he surrendered before taking one of the booths further away from the door that had an empty one next to it for Kenax and Vestus to take. His omnitool informed him it was almost 1900 so it shouldn’t be long before Zia showed up, assuming her business didn’t take very long.

A bit later than she’d indicated, Zia entered Kralla’s by herself. She was wearing the same tight leather pants that she’d worn to the party but the top—while low cut—was more weather appropriate with a matching leather coat worn over it that was fashionable and reminded Reyes of Sloane Kelly’s preferred aesthetic. He wondered if Zia was taking notes from Kelly or if Port fashion was in general doing so. Zia gave him a smirk as she slid into the booth across from him slowly, leaning forward as she slid in to give him an eyeful of her visible cleavage.

In the dim lighting of the bar, he realized this felt more like a date than meeting up for payment. This feeling was confirmed when he felt her foot run up his shin, nudge his knee to the side and he felt a sock clad foot give him pressure against his groin which he could admit, perked up a bit in interest. She had a mischievous grin on her face that, for a moment, made her appear younger than he guessed she probably was—maybe thirty or around there. Coughing, he took a sip from his whiskey which he’d been slowly nursing. “Zia,” he greeted her.

“Reyes. I have your payment but I was hoping we could have a longer, maybe multiple times, repeat of the other night.”

He chuckled, “I am sure we could see about that.”He had to get back on the horse according to Kenax. “You have a place in mind?”

***

2819 CE May 4th

Havarl Vault, Havaral, Faroang, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Finding his way out of the jungle

Scott was getting really sick of hiking through the jungle and their packs were light now with minimal food and ammunition left. With all three monoliths activated, Peebee was able to easily use the data to pinpoint where the vault was.It was just up to them to find the entrance. Based on their maps, they would start at the deepest point of the canyon—where Scott thought the vault was likely to be—and move up the side of the canyon where the signal was until they found it.Taavos was with them but he said he didn’t know where the vault was from Zorai’s memories. Jaal had briefly disappeared into the jungle yesterday to contact Evfra using their comms. Scott didn’t tell him he could have had Gil or Suvi hijack the signal as he hadn’t done so. He’d let Jaal have some privacy for the moment.

Reaching where the signal was going, Scott could see evidence of Remnant architecture and a recent change as the jungle had pulled back slightly as the structures had risen from where they’d been hidden. At the base of the cliff where the signal said it should be was a door with a console. Scott didn’t waste any time and stepped up and activated it, Taavos watching what he did closely but didn’t comment.

The vault seemed typical—similar in design to the one on Eos. There was the obvious gravity well in the center of the room that was polygon shaped, all sharp edges without rounding. Automatic lights sprang up in response to Scott entering, giving off their bright blue white light which made the room feel colder than it was. Taavos followed with Jaal, their steps hesitant as they looked around the room. Peebee did her usual scouting of the perimeter, finding nothing of interest, while the rest of his team fanned out around the gravity well waiting for Scott to lead them in.

Scott stood next to the gravity well but didn’t activate it. “Jaal... you’ve seen how these work.I want you to know that when I do reset the vault it has, in every instance so far, activated a protective cleansing of the vault.”Jaal was staring at him, Taavos looking back and forth between Scott and Jaal as he didn’t understand without a translation, and Jaal made a guttural sound in his throat before Scott continued that sounded like a protest or shock.“When I activate it, there are probably going to be Remnant robots that attack to try and slow us from getting out. You need to make sure Taavos gets out—your first priority.My team and I will take care of ourselves but you need to make sure you both get out of there immediately.”

Taavos asked Jaal to translate what Scott had said, which Jaal did. They both were staring at Scott with expressions of mixed fear and anticipation. Taavos spoke directly to Scott instead of Jaal. “You would prioritize my safety over your own? For our planet?”

Scott shook his head. “You’re not armed and with your Roekaar ties I’m not willing to give you a gun but I am willing to put your safety as a priority. We will get you out of there if you choose to go in.”

Jaal translated and Taavos had a look on his face that Scott couldn’t interpret. Scott waited patiently for one of them to respond and Taavos finally spoke, his tone calm and determined. “I wish to see for myself what you can accomplish. I understand the risks and your concerns. I am well protected in your hands.”

Scott nodded to show he understood, listening to Jaal explain what nods and shakes of a head meant in body language to Taavos. He turned back to the gravity well and activated it, feeling the pull to the center of the well as it enveloped him with a firm grip and then pulled him down. This well felt deeper than the others and he spent longer in it than he had in any other. When the well deposited him in a rather large room, he moved to the side so he wouldn’t have anyone following land on him.The room was similar to others he’d been in but had some differences. There were multiple consoles around him—he counted four small ones and one large one in the back of the room with some sort of mechanism that hung above it.

Multiple small lights had triggered when he landed but he couldn’t see the roof of the room as the light didn’t penetrate that far. His team landed with soft thuds and a louder thud as Drack’s weight made an impact. Jaal came last with Taavos right before him.Both Angarans looked around the room with curiosity, Taavos following Peebee as she did her search for new technology and asking Jaal questions about what she said.They really needed to get Taavos an omnitool so he wouldn’t need a translator.

Scott ran his own scanner over the different consoles, trying to figure out why there were so many. He could feel SAM running his own analysis. He could see the individual codes that the consoles were running with SAM’s interference and it was obvious if he didn’t do things just right it would set off an alarm—there was a thick red strand of code running through everything in a twist that Scott had seen before. An alarm to alert the murder bots... let’s not set that off he told himself. Scanning around, Scott could see that the consoles were interlaced and that the locks that each one had were set to go off in a specific order.

“Peebee.... don’t touch that,” he told her seeing that she was examining one of the consoles. She pulled her hand back as if had been burned and looked at him for explanation. “The locks are.... I think they have to be activated in a certain order or we’re probably going to be swimming in Remnant.”

“Tricky,” she said, looking with more interest at the console. “That’s a turret... I think,” as she waved her hand to the large machinery hanging above the big console.

Scott startled and looked at the hulking piece of machinery. If that started shooting at them that would not be fun. There would be no cover from that. “I better get this right then...” he muttered as he focused back on the consoles.

Twenty minutes later he was pretty sure he knew what he needed to do. “I’m going to recommend everyone get behind the turret. Hopefully I get this right,” he said as he stood next to what he hoped was the first console he needed to activate. He put his hand out and started working on the lock which behaved like it normally would, the lines of code aligning with a flourish and a wave of the keyboard as it settled.

He took a deep breath and moved on to the second one. No one said anything as that one unlocked too.

Two more consoles to go. _SAM?_

_My calculations suggest you are picking the correct order._

Scott took another deep breath and started on the third console which also went normally.

One more console and no murder bots. Scott licked his lips nervously, eyeing co the turret as he stepped up the fourth console.The code danced before his eyes as he held out his hand. The dark red of the alarm strand continued to pulse but it appeared less active than it had previously, having untangled as he’d opened the other locks. He slowly nudged the code to unlock on the final console and it swirled as the code complied and the keyboard waved underneath his hand, the console sinking into the ground. He hadn’t realized he’d closed his eyes but when he opened them he heard the telltale noise of an observer bot which was hovering over him but it did not attack, just scanned him.

“It’s leaving you alone....” Vetra said, her tone surprised.

“Yeah. Let’s not borrow trouble,” Scott said. While he’d been distracted by the bot, the doorway had opened at the end of the room. He could see a strong power flow that lit the room beyond it and he could hear the crackle of the energy field. It seemed that this vault was much smaller than Eos’. “If you guys want to see this then follow me.”

Stepping into the next room, Scott could see that it was similar to the Eos vault with a stream of power coming down from the center of the ceiling in a torrent that was both loud as well as crackling with excess energy. There were two large consoles in the room and SAM indicated the far one was the one that had the reset. Ferrofluid surrounded the energy stream that twisted in mid air and then ran in channels through the floor.Watching his step, he navigated to the far console. “Everyone get ready to run when the safety reset happens. If you’re caught in the purge there’s not going to be anything I can do for you.”

Jaal immediately took him at his word and began explaining what was going on to Taavos.The rest of the team had their guns in hand and were ready to react to whatever would happen next. Cora gave him a nod of confidence when he caught her eye.They’d be able to hold off the purge field if necessary a second time... which would hopefully not be necessary as SAM informed him that the large console in the other room with the turret also could close the door.They’d just have to make sure they were all on the other side when Scott activated it.

Shaking himself to get rid ofa sudden case of jitters, Scott carefully held out his hand and began the interface. Like the other consoles, this one was just much more complex as had the one on Eos. Twisting strands of code with the dark red strand of the alarm threaded throughout the tangled mess.He could see where the vault wasn’t working right as that part of the coding looked broken. He carefully slotted glyphs this way and that, turning the three dimensional coding so he could arrange it so it fit together right. It took him much longer than a lock did and he could distantly hear everyone shifting around him impatiently but took his time to be careful given how angry that red thread looked as it untangled.

Finally, the coded glyphs fell into place and pulsed as the reset took. The red thread was loose and it pulsed before fading away. Turning his gaze from the console as it cycled through the reset, he heard the telltale sound of assemblers. His team reacted to the presence of the robots and were firing upon them. More than twenty enemy notifications sprang up on his visor and he ducked behind the console just before a hail of bullets struck where he’d been standing. He could also hear in the distance the angry roar of the reset vault defense beginning to come to life. They had minutes to get out of here. “Everyone, get to the other room. Take turns providing cover!”

The next two minutes crawled by as the angry maelstrom inched closer from where it had started far away in the vault. Just he and Drack were still in the room with everyone else having made it back to the gravity well. He shouted for Drack to get out while throwing an assembler into two of it’s flyers and sending them careening over the edge of the platform they were on with a crunch of metal on metal. Drack gave a krogan battle roar and charged through the open door.As soon as he cleared it, Vetra and Liam provided covering fire through it. Which left just Scott facing the gathering storm with more than eight robots still running around him in the poorly lit platform. Activating his tactical cloak, he made a run for it and was just a meter shy of the door when the remaining assembler jettisoned it’s core at his feet and it blew up, throwing him through the doorway to slam into the floor and skid another ten meters to land in one of the ferrofluid channels.

The ferrofluid immediately began to eat at his shields and he pushed up with his arms and rolled out of it, his shields mostly eaten through and his tactical cloak charge empty. He took two shots from observers to his back, feeling his armor crack from shots as well as the kinetic energy being transfer to his body which hurt, the sting of the shots making his back feel on fire and then numb as the impact wave spread. Hissing, he threw a shockwave through the doorway.His team felled the two observer bots that had made it into the room. Bracing himself, he hauled himself up and hit the console to activate it, quickly snapping out his hand and beginning the interface to close the door so the vault protections wouldn’t leak through to this room. He could see the rolling clouds of dark energy already just a meter or two from the doorway.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled on the interface to make it work and it snapped into place, the door closing just as the energy began to enter the gravity well room. Scott found himself bracing himself on the console, trying to take a deep breath even though his back simultaneously felt like it was on fire and pins and needles sensation.He’d lost his pack somewhere around the ferrofluid channel. _SAM?_

_I am blocking your pain receptors and the pain should lessen.You are just bruised from the impacts and the plating in your armor will need to be repaired, possibly replaced as soon as you are able._

“Thanks,” Scott ground out as the pain improved and he could take a deep breath again.He was sweating in his armor, feeling like he’d just run a marathon. He was so tired... heblinked twice and focused on his team. “Status?” He asked, his eyes seeking out each member of his team to make sure they were okay.

Various calls of “I’m okay” and “fine” rang out. Cora appeared next to him and was looking at him concernedly. “I just need a moment,” he told her before she could ask. 

Her hand that had been outstretched to touch him dropped and she frowned. “SAM said you took two to the back with your shields down.”

“The armor plate stopped them from penetrating.I’m just sore and landing in the ferrofluid zapped me pretty good.”He hoped that was all it was.He hadn’t been out of his armor in over a week so it’d be interesting to see what sort of bruise collection he’d gathered. “Let’s get out of this place.”

***

Stepping out of the gravity well and into the light up top, Scott’s comm immediately picked up a transmission. “Pathfinder.... Pathfinder do you read? This is Kiiran Dals. Pathfinder do you copy?”

“This is Pathfinder Ryder,” Scott replied, holding his omnitool up so the transmission was clear.He could see that part of his omnitool had been damaged from being immersed in the ferrofluid.

“Stars.... did you do it? Did you cause the energy wave?” Kiiran’s voice was excited ands she began to speak rapidly, describing an energy wave that had rolled over the entire planet when he’d reset the vault.

Chuckling at her enthusiasm, Scott interrupted the flow of questions and scientific observations. “We just reset the vault.Things should start stabilizing pretty quick.”

“Oh my.... thank you for what you’ve done for us.You must come back to the research station so we can record your experience.When can you be back?” She asked him.

Scratching his hair which was getting matted from sweat and poor hygiene of the jungle, Scott eyed the position of the shadows. “Any chance you can pick us up where you dropped us off?”

“I can.How soon?” 

“If you leave within the hour we should meet you there,” Scott told her. He’d love to hitch a ride back rather than slog through the jungle with dwindling supplies. He hadn’t found his pack and suspected it had dissolved in the ferrofluid.

“I will meet you there.I will see you shortly,” she informed him.

“Thanks. Ryder out.”

***

Kiiran was good to her word and met them at where she’d originally dropped them off almost six hours later. Scott had jumped aboard the skimmer with a sigh of relief as he took a seat on the side benches. Taavos had departed for Mithrava, saying that he wished to share what he had witnessed with the Elders. He hadn’t been antagonistic to Scott or his team when he left, only saying that he wished them luck in finding the Moshae.

Kiiran was enthusiastic, updating him about what had happened in his absence.The Nexus had sent a shuttle to pick up the Turians and they’d departed for the Nexus yesterday. Kiiran was happy to discuss with him having a small colony of Milky Way people present on Havarl as long as they were scientists and willing to exchange any research they performed with her team. Scott eagerly took her up on this.They had at least one Angaran who was happy to have a colony team here. 

As he leaned back on the bench, Scott enjoyed the wind as it ran through his hair. He was tired, sore and smelled enough that he could pick it up himself. His armor was full of mud in the crevices and the back plates that protected his spine were in need of major repairs. He’d managed to reclaim his sniper rifle from where it’d fallen when he tripped in the vault and it was mag locked to his shoulder with his M3 on his hip. He was ready for a shower and then sleeping in his own bed for a night. Hopefully with some food in there somewhere.

His team was in a good mood, joking and playful as they recounted their adventure for Kiiran. Jaal even was interjecting details here and there making it sound like a grand quest to restore Havarl. Scott let them have their moments, content to just listen and enjoy the ride.

Arriving at the research station, they disembarked the skimmer and headed for the Tempest to get cleaned up.Kiiran, realizing how tired they all were, invited them for dinner which Scott begged off as he had a report to write but encouraged the rest of his team to go which they then accepted the invite. Cora said she’d go in his stead and he was very thankful to her for that. Her only condition is that he needed to check in with Lexi before going to bed which he agreed to. Kiiran graciously told him to rest up and she’d see him before they left as she still wanted the rest of the story from his perspective.

The airlock at the top of the ramp opened as they approached and he could see Gil standing there, arms crossed over his chest with a large grin on his face. “I see you made it back,” he called as Scott climbed the ramp, his handsome face screwing up as he smelled them into a look of horror. “What did you guys get into?!?”

“Oh you know... swamps, mountains, and more swamps,” Scott told him. “Need you to have a look at the back plate on my armor but other than that should just need a deep cleaning.”

Face still screwed up in a grimace at the smell, Gil gave a slight nod but made no more to come closer lest he get some of the grime on himself.” This is why I never wanted to be on the ground team.”

“It’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it,” Scott agreed as he walked past. Entering the armory, he stripped down out of his armor, moving slower than usual as his body made him realize how much support the armor gave. His under armor layer of thin insulation was probably beyond redemption, having lived in it for over a week and was thick with sweat despite having been designed to be worn in such a manner. His skin was slightly irritated from the material but it had done it’s job and wicked away any moisture to prevent chafing or infection. He slowly deposited each piece of armor in the cleaner which started cycling immediately. The rest of his team was doing the same thing.When it came to his back piece, he had Cora help him pull it off. His back felt better without the weight and he rolled his shoulders feeling the freedom of not being encased in protective plates.

Standing in the armory in just his under layer, he walked barefoot to the ladder and then to the showers. Suvi made a face similar to Gil when she got a whiff of him but didn’t comment, just let him pass into the showers.Walking into the cubicle, he had the water start to rinse off the base layers that were stiff from the sweat that had accumulated on it. Once it had loosened, he pulled it off and flung it into the corner where he’d have to pick it up later.

Letting the water run over him, he put himself into the stream face first, hands running through his hair to wet it completely and scratching at his scalp. Using the soap dispenser, he washed his hair twice before putting conditioner in it so he could cut it later. He then started scrubbing his body down but taking his time to enjoy the water. Liam had joined him taking the other shower head but he was too tired to talk with him and he knew that meant the girls were waiting on them. Liam began singing the theme song to one of the boxing movies that he’d made Scott watch, something about tiger’s eyes.

He should have let them go first, he thought vaguely but just hurried himself up a bit.He had stuff in his room to shave and trim his hair up a bit as he was getting pretty scraggly but first he had to visit Lexi like he’d promised. Wrapping a towel around his waist, Scott picked up his under layer and put it in the laundry cycler which took it with a thwack of wet fabric dropping into the machine.Drying off, he grabbed a clean uniform and quickly dressed in the humidity of the showers.He hadn’t left his ship shoes here so he’d have to go to Lexi barefoot. 

Making his way to medbay, he was shivering in the cold air of the ship by the time he stepped into Lexi’s domain—he’d become accustomed to Havarl’s jungle like environment. “Lexi you in here?” He called.

Pushing back with her chair so it rolled over the floor noisily, Lexi greeted him by waving to the examination table with an arched eyebrow and an exasperated look. “I thought for sure I’d have to tranq you to get you in here.”

“I promised Cora I’d come get checked out,” Scott grumbled as he climbed onto the biobed and it began scanning him.

Lexi stood at the bottom of the bed as it started giving out data. “What did you do to your back?SAM’s been helping I see....” her brow wrinkled in concentration as she watched the read out, her face saying she wasn’t happy with whatever it was telling her.

“I took two shots to the back after my shields got drained. SAM said I bruised pretty good.”

“Shirt off,” she said as she moved to take a look at his back. He obliged and took his shirt off, grunting as he felt his muscles pull with pain taking the shirt over his head.Lexi took a quick inhale of breath as she examined his back, her hands tentative as she followed his spine, fingers prodding and causing him to inhale in pain and flinch away.“You did a number on yourself.How long ago was this?

“About twelve hours ago?Took that long to hike out,” Scott admitted, holding himself still despite the pain as she checked his spine, hands pressing into his shoulder blade and making him move through the entire range of motion to make sure he still had it.

“Those implants your father had us put in you are speeding things up but you’re still going to be sore for a while. My scans say you cracked some bones but the inlays in your connective tissue is allowing SAM to prioritize bone remodeling.”

“I broke something?” He asked, curious.He’d broken things before and it had hurt worse than this.

Lexi waggled a hand. “Let’s go with cracked instead of broken clean through. I’d recommend light duty for you for the next 48 hours and then we can reassess.”

“Define light duty,” Scott said with a grunt as she found another tender spot. He had things to do and none of it would wait.

“Nothing that would require a gun or armor to do. And I’d also go light on the biotics since you’ve dropped weight again.” She stopped her torture—er exam—and went back to tap on the screen that showed Scott’s records. She then turned and pulled a box of rations out from a drawer and handed him two. “Eat those.I’m not letting you out of here until you do.”

Scott glumly took the offered bars. Both were chocolate flavored and he opened one and swallowed half of it without tasting it. His stomach had stopped even telling him he was hungry after they’d been hauling ass to make it to the pick up point. He chewed noisily on purpose and Lexi rolled her eyes at him.“Be glad I don’t stick you in an osteogenerator.... and I would if I thought it would actually do you any good. SAM is better than it in some ways...” she muttered to herself as she kept updating his records.

“Thanks Lexi,” he said as he stuffed the rest of the bar in his mouth and tossed the wrappers in the garbage can. Grabbing his shirt, he hopped off the biobed.

“Light duty!I mean it!” She called after him as he left the medbay.

***

Two hours of answering messages later, he was reporting to Tann and trying not to hang up on him. Only years of being scolded by Ellen Ryder about manners had him hanging onto his last thread of sanity as Tann went on and on over each detail of his report. Addison had been there for the first half hour of the interrogation before she’d been pulled away by some issue or another that required her personal and immediate attention. Currently, Tann was talking about resource utilization in pursuit of a colony site. Both Tann and Addison had been pleased by the news that Kiiran would allow a scientist team to be deployed to Havarl, and if successful, an eventual colony.

“....and this use of ammunition is excessive. You stated that you had to split your team into two to locate the last monolith and while that was appropriate from a time resource standpoint you put your SIC in a situation in which she was at risk.Had the hostile angaran force realized that she was there she could easily have been captured or killed.I expect better judgement from you in the future.” Tann stated with a bored tone as he continued to scroll through the written reports Scott had been sending in like clockwork each evening.

Scott bit back the reply he wanted to make and instead gave a neutral, “I am aware of the risk and discussed it with Lieutenant Harper before splitting up.At the time it seemed to be the most appropriate use of manpower given the rumors we’d heard about the Remnant Abyss.”

Tann looked up from his datapad and blinked at Scott, his tone continued to be monotone. “Yet you encountered no difficulty in this so-called Remnant Abyss. Obviously the danger was overstated by the local population.”

Scott debated arguing further but decided it wasn’t worth it. “With the intel I had at the time I felt it was the most logical course of action.”

“I see,” was the slightly edged reply. Tann’s gaze flicked to behind Scott and he straightened, hands crossing behind his back. “I see that your Angaran envoy wishes to speak with you.I expect your full mission report by tomorrow.”

Scott twisted around and saw Jaal hesitating at the top of the stairs, just within view of the comms.“I will get it to you soon as it’s finished.”

“I will look for it,” Tann said and then motioned for the transmission to end.

Scott felt his posture slump a bit as he turned back to look at Jaal. “Jaal.What can I do do for you?Did you need something?”

“I spoke to Evfra and I wanted to talk to you about what you will do next,” Jaal admitted, pacing slightly back and forth in the space around the conference table that the communications equipment was built into.

Scott leaned his back into the conference table and crossed his arms over his chest, feet crossed in front of him in relaxation to try and appear less confrontational despite his conversation with Tann having made him annoyed and frustrated—Jaal seemed nervous about whatever he’d talked to Evfra about and Scott should do his best to get it out of Jaal gently. “What did Evfra have to say?”

“He still does not know the location of the Moshae but hopes to have that information soon. He said it could be a few days still before he has information for you.”Jaal looked honest as he said this and he stilled his pacing, an apologetic grimace with the news he’d just delivered.

“And?” Scott prompted when Jaal didn’t continue.

“I was not sure what you would do now that you have activated Havarl’s vault in this time. I was hoping...” Jaal paused, gesturing towards Scott,”to see this Nexus of yours that I have heard the others speak of.

“Did Evfra ask for you to see the Nexus?” Scott asked for clarification.

Jaal waved his hands in denial, flusters. “No... but it sounds like a great technological achievement as to how Peebee describes it. I would see this myself if we have time.”

Scott thought about it a moment before giving a small nod.It would be good for Jaal to see the Nexus and see that the Initiative was working to build themselves a home base for exploration that wasn’t like the Kett. “We do need to resupply and I’m sure that my superiors would appreciate an in-person report as well as dropping off the scientific samples we’ve been taking for study. I can have Kallo direct us there in the morning after I speak with Kiiran. I promised her I’d give her a full accounting of the vault before I left.”

“I would like that,” Jaal said as if he were confessing a great secret.

“We’d love to welcome you to the Nexus. I’m hoping that when we rescue the Moshae that Evfra will feel it’s safe enough to have an Angaran ambassador stationed there.”He’d forgotten to ask Tann about the suggestion he’d included in his last daily report.

“That would be an interesting thing to ask...” Jaal said, his worried look fading. “I am sure that Evfra would allow this if you rescue the Moshae.”

“That’s the plan anyways,” Scott agreed. “Did you get something to eat yet?”

“No.Would you share a meal with me in your ‘kitchen’?” Jaal asked, stumbling over the word kitchen to indicate he was trying to use the name of the room in Standard rather than relying on SAM to translate for Scott.

“Sure.Lexi would be proud of me for getting more calories in me,” Scott agreed with a laugh. “Let’s go see what we have left of the supplies.”

***

_Excerpt from the After Action Report (AAR) of S. Ryder filed 2819 CE May 7th 2348 SHT (Standard Havarl- Pelaav Research Station Time)_

_Havarl is a planet that’s been undergoing an accelerated genetic crisis/mutation event due to imbalance of the terraforming vault left behind by the Remnant and atmosphere involvement of the Scourge.. Attached to this report is C Harper’s and S Anwar’s reports regarding field genetic testing. Per discussion with the Angaran scientists stationed at Pelaav Research Station, the current estimate is that within the next ten standard years the planet would be entering the rapid phase of mass extinction—the genetic change rate exceeding the ability of any species ability to adapt and survive long enough to propagate ongoing generations—with likely completion of extinction event within the next fifty standard years._

_Preliminary estimates from Pelaav after vault activation suggest that the mutation rate has dropped dramatically back to expected baseline background rates, possibly lower given lack of accurate historical detail at this time and further research is indicated. Rate drops do indicate that Havarl may now be suitable for possible colonization deployment if an agreement can be reached with the local sentient population._

_Several persons of interests have been identified:_

_Kiiran Dals is the lead scientist at Pelaav Research Station and indicates an interest in developing a science and knowledge exchange with the Andromeda Initiative. Please see attached communication details for agreement to have Initiative scientists deployed and housed at Pelaav. (See K Jath’s report on Pelaav Research Station personnel)._

_Sage Esmus at Mithrava is another potential point of contact. While this pathfinder team was not able to obtain permission to stay in Mithrava, I am hopeful that with the proof of vault activation this may be yet obtained. Sage Esmus, per intel, is the best resource currently available on Angaran history and religion on Havarl._

_Taavos, formerly known as Zorai, is another potential point of contact. However, caution is advised if approaching as he is a known Roekaar member. Last known location is Mithrava...._

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reyes is still being difficult and his section was written three times and I’m still not 100% okay with it all but we need to move on. Stay tuned for (hopefully) the next chapter of Recurrance before Friday as Reyes wanted that written instead of this. I’ve also discovered I don’t actually like writing anything about Zia. 
> 
> Regarding the bullet sabotage... i have no idea if this is realistic as I don’t own guns or fire them on a regular basis unless you count a misspent youth with a bb-gun on a farm. 
> 
> Comments make me write faster and are adored, kudos loved. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	35. Chapter Thirty-three

Chapter Thirty-three

2819 CE February 10th

Kadaran Port, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective, aka the Charlatan

Status:feeling generous

Things had generally speaking been moving in the positive direction. Reyes was having to repeatedly tell Kenax not to count his chickens before they hatched (he was full of useful human idioms to teach his best friend—the more banal and confusing the better).Given that Turian physiology was similar to protobirds aka dinosaurs there were a lot of bad jokes floating around with the new recruits to the Collective. Kenax took it with good natured sense of humor but Vestus found it all hilarious and had been joking that maybe his code name needed to be changed to T-rex with the long arms.They’d been expanding and they’d opened two more satellite bases—one of which was a hydroponics farm in Kurinth’s Valley that Maiko had crafted a second water distillery plant for.The caverns were deeper underground but the temperature was steady due to the depth—so less energy to heat the place but they’d had to be creative with how to hide the power conduits from the surface.Paranoid, Reyes had run surface scans from every type of vessel they’d had access to—the place was fully hidden unless you knew exactly how to find the entrance.

There had been two outlaw camps in Kurinth’s Valley but they’d been far out and easily gotten rid of. Reyes had taken a new way of marking that the Collective had been somewhere—leaving a video upload to the Port’s Intranet of the place destroyed with the Collective’s symbol and banner plastered over destroyed equipment that he hadn’t been able to salvage.Theo’s gift for encryption and hacking had become very useful. All the videos ended with the same voice over, “The Charlatan sends their regards,” in a gender and species neutral mechanical voice in standard. Untraceable and infuriating—the Collective specialty.

They’d also purposefully aimed at any camps that were further out and less well defended in Spirit’s Ledge, Draullier, Sulfur Springs, and the further reaches of Haarfel.The Outcasts had been forced to pull back from operating without a lot of heavy support from those areas.Because the Outcasts now operated in heavily armed convoys that were not quick, the Collective had enough warning to be well hidden whenever they came looking.

Sloane Kelly had been in a foul mood for weeks. Kaetus had been walking on eggshells when around her and in a foul mood himself when trying to run the Port for her.The unfortunate side effect of all these raids and dismantling of the Outcast’s support network was that living in the port itself was getting to be a bit more of a risky proposition unless you were vouched for.If you weren’t known to Kaetus’ band of followers you could be hassled and your belongings confiscated for the slightest reason.

Reyes was lucky in that Vestus was blindly trusted by Kaetus—which they’d done nothing to dissuade. He’d been given several jobs for the Outcasts which he’d been careful to complete without issue.They’d kept their eyes and ears open but had made no move to sabotage or divert any of the supplies they’d delivered.He maintained that he had no interest in joining ‘any sort of club’ vocally when asked in the bars and at Outcast parties while purposefully being friendly with all comers.They had successfully become a part of the background of the port and were escaping attention for the most part.

The one thing about Reyes that had drawn some interest was his association with Zia and her unfortunate shipment. She’d had a bit of trouble but had ultimately been able to blame the bad supplies on her Nexus contacts.She hadn’t suspected Reyes at all and they’d continued on as before. He now had an arrangement with Zia for sex—which he didn’t really prioritize and was likely to blow up in his face at some point. Zia seemed completely fine with the arrangement that basically amounted to booty calls. He was available when she was interested.That was as far as it went—and it wasn’t exclusive as he’d seen Zia having fun with another smuggler a week ago and made no point in acknowledging he had competition for sex with her. He was available when it was convenient for him. She either was okay with that or wasn’t.

Today he was sitting at Kian’s bar with Keema. It was either very early or really late—about 0500. Most of the bar had cleared out and only a few people remained.A turian slept in the corner booth, his hand still clenched around his glass of wine while a pair of asari cuddled in another corner were usually featured in one of the dance displays and were eating their late diner. Kian had turned the music down about an hour before to a tolerable level so Reyes and Keema could talk softly and hear each other, Kian leaning against the bar while he cleaned glassware and updated them on the latest gossip. Vestus and Kenax were having some private “couple time” in the backroom. Reyes didn’t want to know what they were getting up to.

“I don’t know if you heard but Nakamoto’s falling out of favor fast,” Kian said as he twisted a bar towel in a glass, eyeing it with dissatisfaction as he still had some water spots on the bottom that were visible.

Picking at his salad that he’d ordered, Reyes raised one eyebrow, “Oh?I thought with the production falling that he’d have found some other way to make himself important to the Outcasts.They are having an injury problem as of late.”That was putting the raids he’d ordered mildly. He’d purposefully ordered his team to severely injure but not kill.Survivors made more dramatic claims about what happened so they’d not be killed by their capricious queen.It also helped the mystique of the Collective grow.

Kian gave him an unimpressed stare, hands stilling as he indicated Reyes should try harder. “He’s got some competition for the Oblivion trade. An asari doctor named Arenna Farenth.Piece of work—that one.”

“Is she the same one that botched that thing?” Reyes asked Keema, trying to remember where the name sounded familiar from.

“Yes. She’s the one who was conducting the dosage experiments in the slums.It appears she’s moving up in the world.”Keema sniffed as she swirled her glass of brandy. “Just make sure she’s never responsible for patching you up.I’ve heard her mortality rate is sky high.”

Reyes shrugged. He would have to see if Colton had more information on Dr. Farenth since she’d been associated with that mess last month in the slums. There’d been over twenty overdoses on Oblivion in a week.All the victims had previously not been known for their Oblivion habits but had been linked to an Outcast recruitment for food and credits. Colton had remarked on it in his reports as worrying but not had a lot more to go on.One of the victims had been a prostitute friend of Colton’s. “So Nakamoto?” Reyes prompted Kian for more information.

“He’s getting pushed to the outside.Not sure how much longer Kelly is going to put up with him hanging around. She’s got Farenth as her new shiny doctor.”Kian set the glass he’d finished polishing down and picked up the next. “He’s been drinking up at Umi’s but he’s going to be running out of credits quickly the way he’s drinking his way through her supplies.”

Keema asked the question that Reyes most wanted to ask, “Do you think he’s up for changing employers?”

Kian shrugged. “I don’t know.But it’d be a shame to put his medical training to waste.We don’t have any reliable medical resources down here in the slums.”

Reyes nodded as he sipped at his whiskey, the ice in his glass clinking. It was a good point—there was no healthcare of any sort currently in the slums. They had a few people with medic training that he’d recruited for the Collective but he’d purposefully placed them with teams that would be most likely to have injuries—ie the raiding group.“Has anyone approached him about alternatives yet?”

“A few of the smuggling groups have reached out but he’s turned them all down. He was heard saying something about ‘making up for his sins’. Kian wiggled one hand to show how uncertain that piece of information was. “I’m sure if the right offer comes along he’ll have to entertain it.Before all of this he used to be somewhat reasonable.”

Interesting.“So did you know him before?”

Kian coughed and blushed visibly in the dim lighting of the bar, embarrassed. “We briefly dated before Andromeda.”

“Oh?”

“It wasn’t going anywhere and neither of us were interested in commitment at the time. It was two fucking dates,” Kian grumbled, not making eye contact and his shoulders rising defensively as he began moving his hands more agitatedly as he picked up another glass to polish.

“But how was the sex?” Reyes prodded, having fun now at his friend’s expense. Kian had used the word fucking—he’d just taken it as a literal description of the dates.

This made Kian even more embarrassed, his ears bright red and he mumbled a response that Reyes didn’t catch, his Irish accent thickening to the point where his speech was too garbled to understand.

“It must have been good,” Reyes continued, “since you’re still advocating for him even though it didn’t work out.”

“It was good enough,” Kian admitted, no longer making any effort at eye contact. “But he is a good guy. Or at least he was. You don’t change who you are underneath things—you just need to remind him of that.”

“I’ll pass it along,” Reyes said with a smile, leaning back into his barstool. “But just to be clear—you’re not interested in him anymore? He’s free game?”

“No you bloody bastard. If he figures out his head from his fine arse then I want first dibs.” Kian had finally looked up and was scowling at Reyes, his knuckles white from where they clutched at the glassware as he threw his towel at Reyes, hitting him right in the face.

Reyes almost fell off his barstool laughing as he batted the towel away. Keema rolled her eyes at the both of them and told them to grow up.

***

A few hours later, Reyes wandered to his usual meet-up place looking for Colton. Vestus and Kenax were speaking to Adan Filan—the salarian who ran the little food cafe at the crossroads. Reyes had been feeling out Filan off and on for a few weeks about the possibility of opening a soup kitchen up in the slums. Reyes didn’t want to put Filan out of business and would rather employ him to run the soup kitchen. The kitchen was the brain child of Maiko since their farms were now producing a significant amount of perishables that they could use to feed the less fortunate residents of the slums who were on the verge of starvation from day to day. Filan had been playing coy but was more interested each time he was approached about the idea. Reyes had not been the one to directly approach Filan as he wasn’t a visible Collective agent in port but was suspected to have contacts.

The usual place he met Colton at was just off to the side of the main intersection, under an awning that had at one time had another stall housed there. Colton had messaged him that he’d be available to meet but was with a client for the next half hour or so.

So Reyes waited while Kenax surreptitiously approached Filan about the soup kitchen. Filan was putting his stall together, having already opened the sliding doors that he closed when not open. He was carefully cutting raw adhi meat and placing it in a container full of angaran spices so he would be able to fry it on the small grill as customers ordered it so it was fresh. A stack of angaran flatbread similar to fajitas had been placed next to Keema’s favorite orange colored condiment. Keema ate the stuff on everything but Reyes liked it only in small amounts. He liked to have an esophagus that functioned—the stuff was hot when you ate a lot of it.Vestus had sold fresh greens to Filan which was their original reason for talking to the salarian. They were now just asking him what he thought of the idea of a soup kitchen.

“It would be good to have more ability to feed others,” Filan agreed neutrally as he made small, even, neat cuts across the meat, knife flashing as he drew it through. Reyes could hear their conversation clearly but it was early and there were few people about this time of day. It would be another hour before most of the inhabitants would start stirring.

“I know you’ve been approached before...” Kenax said, leaning casually against the open doorway as he watched Filan work. “But we’ve been told you didn’t agree to it.”

“I have not,” Filan agreed. “I would need to know that the Collective would be committing enough resources always.I will not start something and then leave my people hungry.”The Salarian gestured with a knife to indicate the slums were who he considered ‘his people’.

“I get that,” Vestus said, his mandibles flaring in a small smile. “We just want to make sure people have enough to eat.The Outcasts don’t care for any but their own.”

Filan stopped to stare at Vestus briefly before continuing his work. “The Collective is not much different. It is a good recruitment pitch to feed people, make them indebted.”

Kenax was quiet but serious when he responded. “The Collective wants a functional society. Which means everyone eats and nobody starves. You’d have your supplies on the regular.”

“Tell your Charlatan that I would want it in writing. Will also likely need some form of protection,” Filan said with sharp gesture of his knife. “I am not agreeing.I will need to see details first.”

Kenax and Vestus changed the conversation to be more gossipy and Reyes tuned them out as he saw Colton approach from the left. Colton looked tired as he was at the end of his workday but smiled slightly as he saw Reyes, joining him.

“Busy night? Profitable?” Reyes asked.

“Always,” Colton said with a shrug, his eye makeup had smuggled from being rubbed at which made him look fatigued. “You get my last report?”

“I did.Any more overdoses?” Reyes asked as he shifted his weight from where he was leaning casually against the side of the stall.

“Two—but I suspect one was really a normal one. Amvus was known for doing anything to get his next hit. He’d been worse as of late. The asari though.... no one knows her. I don’t have a name for you but she only had a few fresh marks on her arm from injections. She was dumped in the southeast corner near the chute.” Colton looked serious. “I did get a scan of her so you can see if anyone knows her, let them know she’s gone.”

“Any more rumors about experiments?”Reyes asked. That was a decline in the overdose rate but if someone was actively trying to figure out physiologic limits it could just be the beginning of an epidemic.He really wanted the Oblivion trade shut down completely. He suspected they’d started actually manufacturing some of it in Outcast Headquarters but he couldn’t prove it. There wasn’t enough space available for a big, high volume production lab based on the size of the labs they’d already shut down.

“Yeah. Rumors but no confirmed subjects.Everyone is getting real skittish about anything related to the Outcasts down here. Us slum residents know when we’re getting culled,” Colton frowned, crossing his arms across his chest.“We’re still getting tourist traffic from up above but Kelly’s people are getting more vicious. They’re taking stuff instead of paying lately.”

“Any problems in your business?” Reyes said with concern. He considered Colton one of his people.

Colton brushed his concern aside. “I can take care of myself but the girls have been having some trouble.i sent another one off to hang out with Ruby last week. She got a bit too roughed up with her last client.”

“I’ll check in with her. Anything else I need to know about?” Reyes had been making inroads with the other vendors and had a few unofficial guards stationed around the slum crossroads during business hours but he couldn’t do much for round the clock coverage.

“Got a few new slum residents over the last week. I sent the details on about each of them. Might be new blood for you amongst them,” Colton added at the end. “We could really use some services down here but if you have steady work for them they’ll take it.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Reyes agreed. “Stay safe and get some sleep.”

Colton gave him a smile and a leer, eyeing Reyes’ long legs. “Are you still sure you don’t want to take me up on my offer?”

Rolling his eyes, Reyes smiled back.“Another time maybe.”

“Be careful with that red head you’ve been banging. Heard she’s been catching bad business deals lately.”Colton’s tone was playful but his face serious. He made a mental note to be a bit more careful around Zia. He had no immediate plans to see her anytime soon.

Waving off the warning, Reyes gave Kenax the signal to say his business was done. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’ll send a report later after I’ve had some sleep,” Colton said as he walked away.

***

Two days later, Reyes had made up his mind. He’d talked with Maiko and Keema about his idea and everyone was tentatively in agreement. When he’d approached Kian with the proposal from the Charlatan that Nakamoto run a clinic, Kian had thought for hours on it before he agreed to try and propose the clinic to Nakamoto as a neutral third party.

Reyes and Kenax were currently waiting for Umi to call last call.Nakamoto was slumped over at the end of the bar, a line of shot glasses in front of him that he’d refused to let Umi clear. it seemed that was the only way the good doctor had of judging how much he’d imbibed over the course of the evening. The several empty whiskey glasses were also telling. Umi hadn’t left a refill in a hour but had been giving Nakamoto judging side-eyes all evening.

Reyes had claimed a booth earlier in the evening and conducted some additional business, lining up shipments to Elaaden in addition to his usual water route.He’d also heard some interesting intel about possible mineral resources in the Faross system—there’d been some exile activity out that way but there was no recent news. He’d have to adjust his flight plan for their next mission to Elaaden in order to check it out or get one of Keema’s people to do a fly by.

Umi finally called last call. Multiple orders were placed including one more shot for Nakamoto which Umi served with a sneer of contempt. Nakamoto simply threw back the shot in one gulp before putting his head back on the bar, arms wrapped around it. Reyes himself finished the whiskey he’d been nursing before standing with several others who were leaving the bar. He changed his direction at the last minute to grip Nakamoto and haul him up to standing, making Nakamoto swear as he struggled to get his feet underneath himself.This close, Nakamoto stunk of sweat and spilled alcohol. Kenax took Nakamoto’s other side and they quickly left the bar.

Nakamoto was mostly out of it, too drunk to do more than slur a “whaaa...” as they moved to the freight elevator, head hanging down low between his shoulders.It was like gripping a limp noodle who was dead weight. Kenax gave a snarl to the amorous couple who tried to get into the elevator with them making them exit so they had the elevator to themselves.Reyes sighed as Nakamoto leaned heavily into him, resting his head on Reyes’ shoulder as he began to snore, a trickle of drool escaping the corner of his mouth to land on Reyes’ shoulder.

“Are you sure he’s worth it?” Kenax asked, looking unimpressed at the plastered doctor.

Reyes stole a glance at the drunk doctor. While he’d complain about how much the man weighed it was obvious that he was skin and bones. His face had more hollowness to it than the last time Reyes had seen him and was paler.Pursing his lips, Reyes considered Kenax’s question. “Yes.You don’t become a doctor with his credentials without wanting to help people. We just need to remind him of that.”

The elevator reached the slums with a lurch as it hit the ground, the door opening with a rattle as it was pulled upwards to let them out. Grunting, Reyes took his fair share of Nakamoto’s weight as they hauled him to Tartarus. As they walked past the neon lights and the loud dance music hit their ears, it awoke Nakamoto who squirmed in their grip. “Fuck!” Was the loud exclamation right next to Reyes’ ear which made him wince.

Tempted to cuff the man over the head, Reyes instead hitched him up higher as they made their way towards his back room. As it was late, there were less occupants of the bar but it was still open for business as Kian never really closed, only about half the dancing spaces occupied and the dance floor still going strong with the synthetic music booming above as bodies twisted and twirled in the flashing neon lights. Hitting the biometric lock that was keyed to him and the turians, Reyes dumped his load on the couch.

The door closing cut off the loud noise of the main bar area abruptly. Nakamoto curled into the back of the couch, facing away from Reyes and Kenax, moaning something in a slurred drunk voice that cracked from disuse, eyes closing as he began to snore again and fell asleep. The noise in the room picked up briefly as Kian entered and handed Reyes a bucket and a couple bottles of water. “For him,” Kian said, eyes flicking to the prone man before beating a retreat, the noise cutting off again.

Reyes kept his lips sealed so he wouldn’t laugh. Kian was obviously much more attached to the doctor than he’d let on earlier. He’d thought Kian had folded pretty easily when he’d proposed the clinic and his role in getting it started. Kian usually liked to be less involved in Reyes business, only passing on intel.

Putting the bucket right next to Nakamoto’s head, Reyes shook the man awake. “Hey, you need to drink some water or you’re going to really regret it in a few hours.”

Nakamoto’s eyes opened to slits, taking in Reyes. “Where....?”

Not waiting for Nakamoto to drunkenly figure things out, Reyes hauled him to sit upright and put the bottle of water in his hand, tipping the opening to Nakamoto’s mouth. Grimacing, the doctor took a cautious sip as his hands came up to cradle the bottle. This became a firmer grip as the doctor began to drink in honest, taking long pulls off the bottle until it was empty, noisily breathing between drinks. If Reyes hadn’t been holding him up, the man would have slumped back to the couch, his muscles trembling as he fought to stay awake long enough to drink the water.

Judging that one bottle would have to be enough, Reyes let Nakamoto fall back to the couch and curl up in a miserable, drunken ball.It would be best to let him sleep it off so they could talk to him when he was somewhat sober. Making sure the bucket was close to the man’s head, Reyes left the other water bottle on the floor next to it and went out to the bar to settle in to wait.

He was pretty sure he’d get a good show from Kian once Nakamoto woke up.

***

Reyes had been joined at the bar by Keema as well as Vestus reclaiming his mate to pull him into a corner booth by the time Nakamoto woke up. The sound of retching could be heard from the back room since it was almost 0700 and the music was off. Kian, who’d been nervously taking inventory behind the bar came to attention like a meerkat on the savannah, head snapping up and gaze focused on mostly closed door, taking a hesitant step towards it.

“Go,” Reyes encouraged, watching Kian put down his bar towel, pick up another bottle of water and go to the room, forgetting to close the door behind him which was convenient for Reyes and Keema who were closely watching.

The retching gradually stopped and they could her Kian’s Irish lit coaxing Nakamoto—who Reyes’ hadn’t even realized his first name was Ryota—to let it all out and then to take a few sips of water.

A few minutes later, Nakamoto shuffled out of the room with Kian following him. They both went to the washrooms and the sound of a toilet flushing could be heard as well as running water from the sink.

Eventually, Kian rejoined them without Nakamoto, reclaiming his spot behind the bar and fiddling with the glassware to try and keep busy. “He coming?” Reyes asked, drinking the angaran tea that had caffeine in it. If it was hot enough he couldn’t even taste it since it burned his taste buds off. He’d kill for a cup of coffee but the last cup he’d had was before he’d left the Nexus.

Kian nodded, looking nervous, blowing air out through his nose. “Yeah.He will be out in a minute.”

Reyes knocked on the bar right in front of Kian to get him to look at him. Kian was a little wide eyed but determined. “Hey. It’ll be alright.”

The corner of Kian’s mouth twisted and he gave a slight shake to his head. “It’s going to take a while for him to get his head on straight.”

“But he will,” Reyes said with determination. “He will Kian.”

“Yeah. Bloody hell...” Kian picked up another one of his bar towels and twisted it in his hands.

Nakamoto picked that moment to re-enter the bar, stumbling slightly as he abruptly stopped to take in his surroundings. Seeing Kian at the bar with Reyes and Keema sitting there, it was obvious that the doctor was debating what to do. Picking up his breakfast plate and his tea, Reyes stood up and moved over to one of the booths, Keema following him to give Kian space to talk to Nakamoto. Nakamoto stared at them for a while before his gaze flickered back to Kian. He took a few hesitant steps towards the bar before pausing to make sure Reyes and Keema weren’t watching before continuing on towards Kian.

Pulling out a bar stool, Nakamoto climbed onto it shakily before leaning heavily on his elbows that he propped up on the counter. Kian placed a cup of tea in front of him which Nakamoto took a grateful sip of and sighed in relief at the caffeine. Kian busied himself putting together the usual breakfast he served to his regulars—fried adhi with vat grown eggs that the Outcasts sold. Tellingly, Kian also put several of the strawberries that he dolled out like they were precious gems on the plate he put before Nakamoto along with a fork and cloth napkin.

Nakamoto just stared at the strawberries, right hand clutching his fork tightly. “Where’d you get these?” He asked, voice full of surprise. Reyes couldn’t see his expression from where he was as the angle was wrong in the mirror behind the bar.

“A friend,” Kian said, not looking away from Nakamoto to betray that he’d gotten them from Reyes who’d given them up on the account that he got a few every now and then.

“The only people who have food like this are members of the Collective. I may not hear much anymore but everyone hears the rants about the berries.....” Nakamoto trailed off, hunching in on himself.

“I got them as a trade from a friend who traded for them from someone else,” Kian said, back stiffening. “At least I’m not working for someone who trades in lives and supplies drugs.”

Nakamoto flinched. “I thought at first I was helping.... my patients left the Nexus and she offered me resources....”

Kian had his arms crossed over his chest now, his face showing he wasn’t impressed at all. Reyes was proud of his friend. “Helping who? Yourself?You told me the whole reason you signed up for Andromeda was so you could use your skills, that there weren’t enough medical staff that were appropriately trained. You said you became a doctor to help people. Your mom....” Kian trailed off, glaring away and to the side.

Nakamoto held up a beseeching hand. “I know... I... I lost sight of what I really wanted. What I trained for...”

“So if I had an opportunity for you to do what you said you wanted.... you’d do it?” Kian asked, shifting his weight to lean towards Nakamoto, hands coming to rest on the bar.

Nakamoto straightened up. “What do you mean?”

“There’s an empty storage container.I talked to a few people about supplies but we need someone to run it.A clinic. A medical one.”Kian wasn’t looking away from Nakamoto who seemed frozen in his seat.

Nakamoto broke the staring contest, rubbing his face with his hands. “You’re serious.”

“I am.”

“Shit. Who’s bankrolling this?”Nakamoto dropped his hands from his face.

“Right now?A pool of slum residents who’d like to be patched up if they need it. If you need more money and supplies I have contacts who would be willing to help.”Kian wasn’t budging.

“If I said yes.... what would I be getting into? I’m not going from the frying pan into the fire.”Nakamoto sounded

“All the people of the slums want is a medical clinic. We’ll figure out a way to keep you afloat. You won’t lack for business,” Kian ended with a slightly cajoling note.

“I want to say yes... but it won’t be as easy as you say. It’s going to take resources... credits.” Nakamoto seemed to be protesting for the sake of it now.

“We’ll figure it out Ryo...” Damn... Reyes hadn’t realized Kian had that much of a begging puppy look but it seemed to be working on Nakamoto.

“Yes.... but you will have to help!” Nakamoto protested as Kian smiled at him, leaning over the counter to kiss the man which silenced him before he could utter any more protests8.

Keema kicked Reyes to get his attention. “This is better than your stories, your telenovelas. I did not know you were such a matchmaker.”

Reyes groaned and put his face in his hands as Keema cackled in amusement.

***

2819 CE May 9th

Nexus, Zheng He, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: adding to his to-do list

The trip back to the Nexus went much quicker than Scott wanted it to, He didn’t get nearly as much done as he wanted. Cora joined him in his quarters to continue working their way through the backlog of intel that SAM had found for them. Most of it just generated more questions than answers. Scott’s mysterious ghost who he’d followed on Aya remained a mystery—which he spent more time wondering about them than working on his actual paperwork that Tann wanted him to complete. He’d also spent time with his crew, trying to feel less like strangers that had been thrown together and more like a functional team.So far, he’d learned that all of Liam’s movies were centuries old and he loved pop culture more than anyone Scott had ever met.

He’d had to establish ground rules though—no more velociraptor movies. Or at least none on the movie nights he attended and he expected warnings if the movie would include them so he could avoid that particular movie night.

Vetra had called him boring.

He’d told her he’d like to sleep at night occasionally without thinking up fresh monsters to haunt him.

Liam had just told them both they were no fun.

Peebee was still feuding with Lexi about something asari-related. Scott was not touching that with a stick. She also had been doing something with all the Remnant robot parts she’d salvaged and he was pretty sure he should stick with willful ignorance of whatever Frankenstein thing she was building. She popped up for movie night but otherwise spent most of her time banging on machinery.

Vetra seemed to be everywhere and nowhere. She would pop up for movie night only to make sure Scott gave her his requests for supplies. She said to ask for whatever he wanted and she’d make it happen. He was pretty sure that the same principle applied to Vetra as it did to Peebee—willful ignorance meant plausible deniability when asked by Tann.

Drack, however, had made himself at home in the kitchen. He’d cooked up some interesting things with the ration packs and what the Angarans had given them before they left. Some of them were even edible.

Or at least Scott hadn’t died of food poisoning yet. His taste buds were definitely on their last leg as they’d found some of the options tasty. Cora was pretty sure he’d killed his taste buds in the military. She’d refused to touch Drack’s mystery recipes and stuck to plain rations.

The only ones left had been the butterscotch ones—no thanks. Evidently they didn’t even mix well with Drack’s cooking.

Suvi, Gil and Kallo had all been pleasant but he’d run short of time to spend with them. He promised himself he’d make an effort once they were underway again. Lexi, however, had not let him off the Tempest without a repeat physical which she had begrudgingly passed him albeit with a weight lifting restriction as his bones still weren’t how she’d like them. She’d given him a shot of a hormone booster to make his bones more dense as a parting gift. The damn thing had stung going in and his deltoid still ached from it.

Pulling into their berth on the Nexus, Scott had slipped into his Initiative uniform and a clean pair of ship boots. He’d given everyone 24 hours for sure—they’d likely be shipping out as soon as they could.Cora had volunteered to show Jaal around, acting as an ambassador since Scott had a list of people he needed to talk to and report to. The rest he’d given shore leave to. He’d told them to enjoy their time off the clock.

HIs first stop had been administration and he’d spent an hour and a half with Tann and then another hour with Addison grilling him on every decision—separately—he’d made and all the reports he’d given since his last one. All the intel he’d relayed was gone over with a fine tooth comb and dissected like a rather interesting lab specimen. Scott was beginning to feel a kinship with the science lab specimens Cora and Suvi had been studying.

Finally being dismissed, Scott felt like an age had passed as he stepped away from Addison’s office. He’d briefly caught Brecka’s eye and the man had nodded to acknowledge him. Scott wondered if that meant the man had something to pass along or not. Either way, it couldn’t happen in the light of day shift on the Nexus and he had other stuff to do.Walking down the stairs, he got a ping on his omnitool. Kesh was summoning him as well.

Sighing, he turned and went back up the stairs to the krogan’s office. The door opened as soon as he approached and he could see Drack inside talking with Kesh.“Come in Pathfinder,” was Kesh’s greeting.

“Kesh,” Scott returned as he stepped inside.

“I’ve been hearing only good things about you. I believe I made a promise to you when you left,” she said, cutting to directly why she’d messaged him without exchanging more idle chit chat.Scott could appreciate someone who was direct like Kesh. It cut down on having to try and dust off his social skills.

“You did,” Scott said, eyeing Drack who was watching Scott with a grin on his face. The grin was instantly setting off alarms in Scott’s head that told him to be wary.

“You did good kid,” Drack told him.“I told Kesh she should keep her promise.”

“I promised if you got another planet on the right track to habitation that I’d tell you why the krogan don’t trust the Initiative,” Kesh began, obviously somewhat uncomfortable with the topic. “What have you pieced together?”

“Not much....I get that there was a disagreement and a bunch of people left. Lots of uncertainty and desperation about survival. Makes keeping everything together difficult,” Scott hedged.

Kesh found his answer amusing and laughed. “You’re smarter than your father. Better at politics.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Scott deflected.

“Oh you are.” Kesh’s eyes glittered as she studied him. “You’re much sharper than your father in a lot of ways.... but I suppose we need someone like you in times like these. And you should be informed so you make the right decisions.”

Scott tilted his head. “What kind of decisions?”

“Forewarned is forearmed kid,” Drack said which didn’t really clarify anything.

“Really.”He suspected that the sarcasm of his thoughts leaked out more than he would have liked.

Drack chuckled as Kesh continued on with her story. “When the uprising became a problem, there was a deal made between the krogan leader Nakmor Morda and administration. The krogan would provide the muscle to provide security and escort out the rebels in exchange for a larger say in how the Initiative would be run.All of the negotiations were between Spender and Nakmor Morda.”

“And I’m guessing that this deal went bad,” Scott said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It did. After the dust had settled, Tann decided the agreement was null and void, that he hadn’t given the authorization for the deal.It left the krogan flapping in the wind with no standing on a ship where no one wanted us.”

“Fuck,” Scott whispered.Drack laughed at his exclamation.

“Fuck indeed. The krogan all left as one to go and find our previously promised golden world. Even though it is just as troubled as the rest of Andromeda—at least it’s honest in it’s trying to kill us whereas the administration here seems to have other reasons.”Kesh didn’t elaborate more and Scott was thinking a thousand kilometers a minute.

“So why are you still here?” Scott asked finally, aware both Kesh and Drack were watching him closely. “Why choose to stay when the others left?”

“Because I could do more for my people by staying. Tann is not going to be in charge forever—the charter specifies that unless somehow something changes but he doesn’t have the power at the moment to do so. Addison is just as mistrustful of him as I am. You are the best shot this Initiative has at succeeding right now. I’d like to make sure you understand where I stand.”Kesh was dead serious and he got it.

“She’s right kid. You’ve done more for all of us than anyone else. We want to propose a deal. You help out the krogan when you make it to their planet and we’ll help you out. I do not have permission to make this a formal agreement but I’d like to think you’d take our word—it’s worth more than Tann’s.” Drack’s eyes still held mirth but he’d become much more serious.

All that Scott could think was how the fuck had he gotten in the middle of this mess. If he could go back in time he’d tell Sara to stick his contract where the sun didn’t shine. How had he gotten himself into this? He wasn’t some diplomat.... and the krogans were waiting for him to say something. “I assume you have proof of all this?” He stalled for a moment so he could think.

“We do. You are as smart as Drack says,” Kesh said with what sounded like amusement—it was hard to tell given he hadn’t been around many krogan.

“I need time. I can’t just give you an answer,” Scott stammered, his mind wouldn’t stop running over all the possible ways this could go sideways. He thought being Pathfinder meant he had to find a habitable planet... not intergalactic politics.

“Understandable. I trust you’ll be able to keep this between us for now?” Kesh asked

Scott swallowed against the heavy weight that had settled in his throat and nodded. “I just need time to evaluate your evidence. I... I want the Initiative to be successful. All of it, not just part of it.”

“Honorable as well as smart.” Kesh tapped a few strokes on the workstation in front of her and Scott heard a ding from his omnitool to indicate he’d received a message. “That should answer most of your questions. I expect you’ll be discrete in verifying it.”

“Of course,” Scott said, trying not to swallow his own tongue.

“I didn’t need anything else from you right now.Your reports are thorough,” Kesh said in dismissal.

A laugh escaped Scott before he could help it. “At least someone thinks they are.”

Kesh raised a brow ridge. “If you have anything to add?”

“No. I’ll reach out when I’m ready to talk.”

“Good luck Pathfinder. You’re going to need it.”

***

Leaving Kesh’s office, Scott felt overloaded and his head was pounding. SAM offered to modulate his neurotransmitters in order to help and he agreed. He needed to be alert—here of all places seemed to be one of the most dangerous places in Heleus. He’d already talked with three of the people on his list... which left finding Avitus and seeing Sara. And Brecka if he was available.

Sighing, he descended the stairs out of administration. Out of the corner of his eye a Turian in a white suit twirled around to her workstation after she caught sight of him like she was trying to hide. That was strange... She took another peek at him, saw him looking and exclaimed something before going back to her panel to appear busy.

 _SAM?_ Scott asked silently as he walked up to the turian who was now determinedly ignoring his approach.

_Her name is Sidera Nyx—her next of kin is listed as Vetra._

Scott cleared his throat as he crossed his arms, waiting patiently to be acknowledged.

The turian froze at the noise before slowly turning around to face him. She was taller than Vetra and leaner in her white armor. Her clan markings on her face were similar to Vetra’s but not quite the same—a double chevron in red that complemented her nicely with a double red stripe on her chin and accent marks on her mandibles and crest. She appeared to be younger if he was guessing her age. “I’m Scott Ryder. And you are?” He asked her when she didn’t say anything.

“I’m Sidera Nyx—Vetra’s sister,” was the excited reply. She fidgeted with her hands before clasping them before her. “She’s told me all about you. I can’t believe I’m really finally meeting you!”

“It’s nice to meet you.Vetra hadn’t really mentioned she had family here...”Scott trailed off.

“Ah well. It sounds like you’re busy all the time.I monitor the communications between the Nexus and all the ships—including the Tempest. She tells me that you’re always up to something—meeting aliens, activating vaults, changing weather patterns. It all sounds so.... adventurous.”She obviously was either younger than Vetra or Vetra was just that more jaded, Scott decided.

Before Scott could say anything, Vetra interrupted, coming up behind him. “Sid.I thought we talked about you harassing my friends.”

“I wasn’t!” Sid exclaimed, pulling the turian version of a pout. Definitely younger.

“She really wasn’t,” Scott told Vetra coming to Sid’s defense. “I noticed her looking at me and introduced myself.”

“See!” Sid agreed with him, defending herself.

Vetra looked between them both and sighed. “Scott, this is my younger sister Sid. And she’s always in trouble.”

“Not always!”

Vetra rolled her eyes and looked at Scott as if to say “See what I mean?”

Scott found himself laughing, feeling more at ease with this than the meetings he’d been in for what felt like an eternity. “It’s nice to meet Vetra’s family,” he told Sid.

“Likewise,” Sid said with pleasure. “Vetra tells me so much but I know she leaves out the good, juicy details. Did you really see velociraptors on Habitat 3?”

Chuckling, Scott nodded. “Yes—although luckily they don’t spit acid like they do in the movies.”

Sid was delighted with his answer. “But you had to go through jungles infested with them?”

“Yes. We did. Your sister too,” he pointed out.

“And did you...” Scott spent the next half hour engaged in a back and forth with Sid.She really just wanted to know if her sister was safe with him while learning of their adventures. Scott got the impression that Vetra had edited out the worst of the things they’d encountered for her sister. Which he totally got. He’d never told Sara a lot of the things he’d seen during his service. She wouldn’t have understood it as she hadn’t gone through the special forces training as a researcher attached to the Alliance.Either way, he enjoyed talking with Sid about things much more than he did with administration.Vetra gently steered the conversation away from some of the more dangerous things they’d done and Scott let her.

Winding down the conversation, Scott found himself agreeing to meeting up with Sid and Vetra for a drink later in the newly opened lounge/bar sometime this evening. He actually even was looking forward to it. Giving his good-bye, he asked SAM for the location of Avitus to check in with him.

_He’s in the security office going through the intel logs._

Scott mentally gave SAM a thumbs up and continued down the stairs to the main atrium where the security office was. Sure enough, Kandros was at his usual post and greeted Scott. Scott was delayed for a few minutes answering a few questions for Kandros about the capabilities of the Angaran that he’d personally witnessed. Evidently, Kandros had met Jaal and been invited to meet with the Resistance when Aya was opened up—assuming Scott succeeded in getting that to happen.

Kandros then pulled up a few maps of Eos and he found himself getting sucked into an analysis of the defensive points of Prodromos. This was something he’d actually trained for and gone to school for. Before he knew it, he’d spent two hours discussing preferential points for placement of colony defense, colonist shelters in case of a raid as well as the most likely places for them to expand into based on his ground experience. Kandros actually seemed to value his experience and asked the appropriate questions based on his reports. Scott had forgotten about Avitus until the turian himself appeared from the back workroom looking like he had finished whatever he’d been working on.

“Avitus,” Kandros greeted him. “You know Pathfinder Ryder?”

Avitus gave a short, formal nod. “Yes.You know I do Kandros.”

“It’s good to see you Avitus,” Scott interrupted.

“Are you back for a resupply?” Avitus inquired, joining them at the reception desk and leaning into it casually.

“Yes.Also that observer of mine—Jaal—asked to see the Nexus. I figured it was a good way of getting the Angara to be more welcoming to an alliance,” Scott admitted.

“Hm. As long as he doesn’t bring any Roekaar here it should be fine,” Avitus said.

“These Roekaar are the hostile Angarans?” Kandros asked for clarification.

“Yes.They’re particularly annoying on Havarl where I just heard we’re sending a small colony of scientists to—was that your doing?” Avitus’ gaze pinned Scott as he asked his question.

“Yes. Kiiran Dals said that her people will ensure their safety from the Roekaar. It’s a first step towards getting a real colony going on Havarl so I took it.” Scott shifted his weight. Yeah he knew that there was a possibility things could go pear shaped on Havarl but they had to try. Kiiran had been very serious when she’d made the promise to look out for his people.She had made a vow that Jaal had indicated was very serious when she made that promise.

“Hm. I suppose that’s as good as we’re going to get, given the circumstances. Kandros—did you make sure that my reports regarding the tactics of the Roekaar was included in the prep packet for Addison’s scientists?”

“I did. I’m also sending a few of your own people back who have science backgrounds.They all volunteered and are leaving in a few days,” Kandros said, hands up to show that he hadn’t pushed Avitus’ people into going. That made sense—they had the experience and also fulfilled the scientist part of the agreement with Kiiran. Scott thought it was a good idea.

“As long as they volunteered,” Avitus agreed then turned to Scott. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard anything else about the Natanus since we last spoke?”

“No I haven’t. I’m keeping my eyes and ears open though. How are you settling into the Nexus?” Scott asked.

Avitus waved a hand dismissively. “The Nexus is fine but there’s very little information about the Natanus which is my priority. Macen is still out there and it’s my duty as his second to find him.”

“That’s commendable,” Scott agreed.

Kandros snorted. “It’s his husband—Macen the Turian Pathfinder is his husband,” he informed Scott.

Scott felt terrible for Avitus—having your husband missing and knowing he was out there somewhere? Yeah. He got that. “I’m sorry about that,” he said.

“Don’t be. Macen can take care of himself or he wouldn’t have married a former Spectre. Just.... if you find anything, even the most insignificant bit of news it could make a difference. Please let me know the moment you find anything.”Avitus’ posture was careful almost, a fragility to it as he made his plea for information.

“I will. The moment I find something. If you find something in the meantime I and the Tempest remain willing to help out in whatever way is needed,” Scott promised Avitus without thinking about it. This was something that made sense to him.

“Much appreciated,” Avitus said. “I have to go—I am meeting one of my men for dinner.”

“The logs will be there for you later whenever you get around to them,” Kandros told Avitus with a wave of his hand.

Scott said his own farewell and watched as Avitus briskly strode out of the security office. “Is he always like that?” He asked Kandros.

“No.Macen was always the tempering influence on him. When the whole Saren incident happened it changed a lot for Avitus,” the turian admitted.

“The Saren incident? But what did Avitus have to do with that?The official inquiry from the Citadel Council made it sound like Saren Arterius was acting as a lone rogue agent when Commander Shepard took him down at the Battle of the Citadel.”Scott hadn’t had time yet to read all his father’s files related to the Saren Incident as it hadn’t seemed relevant. He may need to reevaluate how relevant they were.

“Avitus doesn’t make a big secret of why he isn’t a Spectre anymore. Saren recruited him personally to be a Spectre—he was a Spectre for fifteen years before resigning. If the rumors are all true—and I suspect they’re only half of what actually happened—he was one hell of an agent for the council. But he lost his confidence after the Saren Incident. His mentor betrayed everything that he believed in which can change a lot about a person. Macen personally recruited him to the Initiative. Not sure how Macen ended up with us but if we can’t find him he’s a huge loss.”Kandros looked concerned as he spoke, telling Scott a lot more than the dry, technical dossier he’d read on Avitus did.

“That’s... well I guess I understand his reasons for leaving the Spectres. How has he been settling in?I came here looking for him but it looks like he’s figuring it out,” Scott admitted.

Kandros gave him a side eye. “If by settling in you mean spending every damn free moment combing through my intel again and again, then yes. He is settling in. The turians he rescued on Havarl have been taking turns getting him out of here and making sure he eats and sleeps occasionally.”

Scott winced. “That doesn’t sound like settling in.”

Kandros gave a harsh chuckle. “He’s doing what he feels he needs to.Hopefully it’ll settle down or you’ll find the Natanus. Whichever happens first. Just be careful out there.”

“I will. I have other people I need to check in with but thank you for your time,” Scott said.

“Always a pleasure Pathfinder,” Kandros said with a shooing motion to indicate Scott should get going.

***

Scott had made a few more rounds, checking out the weapons upgrades that were available to him as well as stopping by the infirmary to check on Sara. Nothing had changed with his sister but Harry was hopeful that she’d eventually wake up on her own, they just needed to give her time. Discouraged, Scott responded to the message ping from Liam that they were already in the lounge and waiting for him to join them. Liam’s ping included directions to Vortex—the bar.

As he entered the bar, the neon lights and music hit him like a physical wave. The sound and light stimulation momentarily clouding his senses before SAM adjusted things so he could comfortably keep going. As he walked in he scanned around until he saw Liam at a table on the far side, waving his hand up in the air to grab Scott’s attention. Nodding to acknowledge he’d seen them, Scott weaved his way in between sweaty and inebriated bodies to make it to the table. The entire crew of the Tempest was here except for Vetra and she’d said she’d be late as she had a few more things to locate before they headed out. Gil had a woman next to him who Scott didn’t recognize. She was pale skinned in that she hadn’t seen any sunlight in a very long time, a few smattering of freckles across her fair skin with hair pulled back in a severe pony tail with shaved sides that made her look older than she was.She wasn’t beautiful but had clean features and obviously was amused by something that Gil had said prior to Scott’s arrival.

“Scott Ryder,” he introduced himself, almost shouting to be heard over the music.

Gil reached around the woman who he had his arm slung around her shoulders to clap Scott on the back. “This is my best friend Jill. She’s a reproduction specialist.”

Jill eyed Scott up and down and he suddenly felt very, very nervous about the look she was giving him. “Reproduction specialist?”

“Yes.I’m shipping out to Eos in the morning to remove the hormonal reproduction blockers on the colonists,” she said with a grin before taking a sip of the violet colored fluid in her cocktail glass.

“I see. So they’re already okay with having babies on Eos? The radiation fall enough for that?” He asked with curiosity. He would have guessed they wait a bit longer but he could understand the need to start ASAP.

“Removing the blockers is like ‘boosting the batter’ so to speak,” Gil said from the other side of Jill.

Jill elbowed Gil for answering for her or for the crudeness of his answer. She licked her lips to clean off the liquor before taking to Scott. “The sooner we get started on reproducing the better. There’s only so many years of reproductive viability before it falls off. With a colonization effort you need to start as early as possible.”

“Even though we just got the colony established? What about supplies? Food storage buildup? Hostile aliens—sorry Jaal not you,” Scott found himself asking, curious despite himself.

Jaal, who was across from Scott, laughed as Scott asked Jill his questions. Soon there was a vigorous debate over how soon was too soon to be having babies. Jill was in favor as soon as possible. Scott, who’d not really thought to hard about children before given that he needed to find a husband first, found himself arguing about making sure he was in the right time and situation with a committed partner being the right time. Jill pointed out that survival statistics would encourage him to get going sooner than that and asked if he’d considered donating to the available donor pool. Scott had almost choked on his horridly expensive whiskey when she asked him. Gil had blushed bright red and snuck a few glances at Scott before deflecting the conversation back around to more normal topics.

What the hell?He hardly knew Gil.... and well... he wasn’t really in a position to spend a lot of time figuring things out right now. He had work to do and he couldn’t imagine adding a relationship on top of that. Luckily, Gil seemed just as determined to avoid any further discussion as he was but the thought stuck out in Scott’s mind that maybe he needed to keep an eye on Gil. And perhaps figure out how to let him down gently if needed.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE May 10th 0200_

_I’m so tired I just can’t even. It was good to go out with my crew for the night but I feel like I lost so much productive time. I’m sitting here having asked SAM to filter out the alcohol effects so I can get an hour or two of work done before trying to get some sleep._

_Evfra sent word to Jaal today that we’re being given our orders to get to Voeld. We ship out in the morning as early as I can get everyone moving and things loaded. I had hoped to have a chance to talk with Brecka but it looks like I’m going to just have to leave him a data dump via Vetra who agreed to be an in-between way too easily. She’s got her fingers in everything—I swear, really._

_I did stop by and see Sara. Harry didn’t make any suggestion about trying to connect with her again. I guess the last time didn’t go so well, so I guess it makes sense. They say her scans all are normal and she’s just in a deep sleep. I’ve been assured by no less than three doctors that she just needs to wake up on her own, in her own time. And I can’t make it happen any faster._

_I thought maybe I’d be able to chat with Avitus but that was a bust. He’s pretty determined to find the Natanus and Macen.... which wow. To have your husband missing like that has to be rough but he’s handling it better than I think I would.I haven’t had time to go through the files regarding the Saren Incident and I need to prioritize that—it might give me a better idea of where Avitus is coming from but there’s just so much to get through. My backlog just keeps getting bigger instead of smaller as I work my way through._

_Speaking of which... how the fuck did I get myself into this mess? I mean, I theoretically know how I got here. I’m just not sure what Dad was thinking when he set things up the way he did. And now I’m getting alliance offers from krogans and trying to avoid all sorts of political traps and pitfalls. I didn’t sign up for this... but I don’t know who I could dump this all on? That would be horrible to do to someone._

_I guess I’m just going to have to keep going—that’s what Mom would tell me. I just wish I had someone to talk to about it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ::sigh:: neither of the boys wanted to follow their plot outline for this chapter but somehow we made it here. I’ve updated the tags to add Kian/Ryota, which totally just snuck it’s way in. My plot outline did not have them as a couple but, I now totally ship it. Also, Reyes’ life is becoming a telenovela—he only has himself to blame. Keema has ‘scheming aunt’ down as a role. 
> 
> Comments loved, kudos adored. Thanks for reading.


	36. Chapter Thirty-four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning this chapter for Reyes/Zia.

Chapter Thirty-four

2819 CE May 13th

Angaran Resistance Base, Voeld (aka Habitat 6), Nol System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: So fucking cold

Standing in the Tempest’s bridge, Scott watched as Kallo did something with the ship. Voeld was visible through the front windows and it appeared rather.... silver tinted blue—like the giant ice ball it was. From orbit, he could see massive storms sweeping across the planet, the swirls of their systems covering hundreds if not thousands of kilometers across. Suvi, bless her Celtic soul, was telling him what she’d been able to parse from the data that had been made available to him by Evfra and the long range scans they’d had prior to arrival.

“Designated Habitat 6–or Voeld if you go by the Angaran name—our long range scans showed a nitrogen rich atmosphere with surface oceans of water. Predicted temperatures were in the temperate zone making it an ideal golden world for settlement,” she told him in her soft lit, just repeating what SAM had already relayed to him as mission prep. “Unfortunately, prior to our arrival in Heleus, it appears that the planet has been affected gravitationally by the Scourge and it’s orbit is off by several hundred thousand kilometers from where it is supposed to be. This has caused the planet to enter an ice age.”

“And to go into decline,” Scott added as he leaned on the railing that was around the navigational map. “Evfra’s intel showed that prior to the Scourge there was a large Angaran population here with big cities. Most of that’s gone now.”

“Yes.It’s very tragic,” Suvi agreed.

“But there is evidence of a vault here,” Scott reminded her, remembering the map they’d found in Eos and how one of the locations had correlated with where Voeld was originally located in orbit around Nol. 

“Do you think resetting the vault can have enough effect to end the ice age?” Suvi asked him.

“Won’t know unless we try,” Scott admitted with a touch of lightness he really didn’t feel, trying to put on a confident face for his crew who were watching everything he did as always.There’d been three remnant monoliths identified on the local map given to them by Evfra as well as a rather impressive, fortress like Kett base that was their primary objective.Scott was mildly concerned about everything to do with his assigned mission but couldn’t do anything about it other than try and power through at this point.He’d already committed to Evfra and they needed an alliance, a win.This was about survival and he’d do what was needed, asked of him, even if it seemed impossible on paper. “Kallo, take us down.”

“Yes Pathfinder,” Kallo responded to the command with a flurry of movement. Voeld became bigger and bigger as they descended until all they could see was planet and the FOB supply station that was orbiting at high speeds zipped across the planet to bisect it before disappearing around the curve of the horizon. The LZ they were headed for was outside of an angaran base. According to Evfra’s intel that he’d passed through Jaal, there was a big enough airfield at this base for the Tempest to safely land that was protected from the extreme winds by a mountain range but they’d have to make it through the nasty weather first and then navigate a steep climb down that would be tricky to navigate with a ship the size of the Tempest. Data indicated gale force winds, surface temperatures averaging where they were going of about -40C.The adaptable suits that Gil had cooked up had warmers in them... but they’d sap his tactical cloak and shield strength to keep him from becoming a human icicle.

He was still trying to figure out who he was going to take with him on their mission. They really could only fit four people semi-comfortably in the nomad. Leaving one spot for the missing Moshae and himself that meant he could take two people.

Peebee had already expressed a hatred of the cold but had talked about the monoliths.She would want to investigate them... but activating them didn’t require her and he could make sure SAM’s scans were available to her.Her tech skills were useful but he’d probably end up leaving her back here to work on data analysis of stuff he sent through.

Drack was unaffected by the cold, the implants he’d had put in made it so that he was comfortable in temperatures close to -70C. So he’d do to take along for firepower and Scott could admit that having someone around to act as a wrecking ball appealed to him personally if they had to smash their way though the kett stronghold that Evfra had suggested was the most likely location for where the Moshae was. So he’d take Drack.

But who to fill the last spot?He was mentally vacillating between Cora and Jaal—Liam was good but if he had Drack to act as vanguard he didn’t need to bring Liam as well. He couldn’t see Jaal as being left behind but Cora’s biotics and fighting style meshed well tactically with Drack and himself. Vetra also would be a good choice but again, Jaal wouldn’t like being left behind. Also, he was pretty sure Vetra would be the best person to leave to back up Cora—Vetra somehow seemed to be the best contact manufacturer of his crew. She’d have the locals eating from her hands like babies by the time he got back.

So really the only option was going to likely be Drack, Jaal and himself.Maybe they’d be able to get a second transport for the rest of his team? Unlikely but not impossible. He could task Cora with liaising with the local Angaran Resistance forces to get more time sensitive tactical information with Vetra backing her up and Liam rounding them out with Peebee providing analysis of any data they found. It was probably as good as he was going to get.

As they descended into atmosphere, the ride was pretty bumpy and Scott found himself gripping the railing tightly so he wasn’t flung around as the Tempest was buffeted by hurricane strength winds and he could hear the noise of a thousand pieces of snow and ice hitting the tempest at high speed that the shields couldn’t completely eliminate. The ship swung laterally back and forth several times as the wind took hold of it and Kallo corrected their course by increasing the thrust of the engines to power his way through making the deck hum as the engine output ramped up.

Finally, they seemed to have broken through the upper atmosphere and their descent slowed but the ship was still swaying at times due to the winds. Suvi and Kallo threw information back and forth, Suvi about the weather and the mountain range, Kallo with vector adjustments that Suvi tracked. Scott could only watch them work. Abruptly, seemingly out of nowhere, mountains appeared and Kallo skimmed over them and then hovered before inching their way down, fighting against the winds that cut out as the mountains began to shield them slightly. Kallo jittered about something as he corrected them to level out and descended like he would normally.

The crunch of snow sounded like an explosion as the landing gear deployed and hit the surface and the ship settled onto it’s moorings. Scott, Suvi and Kallo were looking at each other and he was about to say thanks for the smooth landing when the starboard side of the ship lurched as the LZ snow compacted under the weight of the ship, throwing Scott against the railing and bruising his hip. Hissing, Scott clung to the railing and waited for any more movement. “Nice Kallo,” he gritted out as SAM did something to make the pain dull instead of sharp. He really should be in his armor already.

Kallo nervously chuckled. “Sorry.”

“Happens to the best of us,” Scott waved him off. “Everyone suited up?” He asked into his comm.

“Affirmative,” Cora replied. “You going to get into your new gear?”

“I’m on my way,” Scott said, turning to leave the bridge. “Suvi, Kallo—make sure the Nomad is out and ready. We’re going to go see what the locals have to say.”

***

Joining his team in the ready room, Scott had shucked his usual ship wear in the showers and put on the skin tight under armor that worked like a second skin and functioned to wick away moisture and as a thermal barrier—cool in hot environments, warm in cold ones. Gil stood next to the armory and handed Scott the pieces of his new set of armor as he needed them that Gil had modified when he’d heard they were heading for an ice planet. The new set of armor fit just as well as the last set he’d had but had added cold shielding.

He’d also gotten a new helmet so he wouldn’t have to wear his Dad’s old one—he’d personally purchased that on the Nexus. Every time he thought about the old helmet he started feeling claustrophobic and an edge of panic that just wouldn’t go away no matter how much he focused on ignoring it. A new helmet was neutral and he felt fine putting it on as the seals clamped down and the HUD started, SAM integrating data readouts in the usual way he liked it without him having to put effort into changing it himself.

The new armor was built for snow camouflage with a subtle pattern of different shades of white and light grey while appearing almost fashionable. Sara would like it when she saw it had been his first thought when he’d seen the new pieces.The back plating had been reinforced given his most recent experience with being shot on Havarl, the interlinking plates making him feel almost like a Turian despite how the lay flat and moved smoothly with him as he rolled his shoulders and made sure everything was fitted correctly. Thick tactical material woven with ballistic fibers covered his thighs and snuggly hugged his pelvis with the protective codpiece interlocking with the abdominal plates over it. He still had weakness areas in both hip creases but there wasn’t much he could do about that and still have the flexibility he preferred.An external bracer covered the outside of both hips, with what Gil was calling the cuisse—an old French term for it—that covered his thighs over the tactical cloth. His lower legs were protected by greaves that interlaced with a pair of redesigned tactical combat boots that were weather sealed and had the same thermal interface as the rest of the armor set. All electrical outputs were red in color so they wouldn’t be visible from a distance in the dark but could be found by his HUD.The twelve slots along his chest plate also allowed for the small, lethal grenades to be easily accessed.

Drack had also switched out some of his armor pieces in deference to the environment but Jaal just watched them all with curiosity, wearing his rofjinn but otherwise seemingly unconcerned about the huge change in environment compared to Aya or Havaral. Cora and Liam had new armor similar to Scott’s while Vetra wore a turian version of it. Peebee was still in ship clothes as she’d be staying behind where it was nice and warm.

“Everyone ready?” Scott asked as he placed his M3 on his hip and a new sniper rifle that had been modded to be more cold weather friendly, a widow that was based on Spectre weapons that Avitus had given the blueprints for upon his arrival at the Nexus. Scott had been the only one with clearance to purchase the gun and the five clips he’d shot on the test range before buying had made him feel like he’d fallen in love. Yeah he was a sniper and whoever wanted to make fun of him for his preferences could go fuck themselves.The weight of the sniper rifle was offset by the kett assault rifle that he fastened on his other shoulder mag lock to balance out the weight across his back. He wasn’t going to be hauling a pack around this time as the Nomad would be carrying most of their supplies as well as serving their life support needs when they had to head out into the cold.

Having received affirmatives from his team, Scott waited for Peebee and Gil to escape outside the airlock protective barrier that separated the hold from the airlock before opening the airlock. An icy, knifelike wall of cold air hit him even through his armor which he could see on his HUD that SAM was adjusting the output of the thermal tech. His body temperature had dropped a whole degree and they hadn’t even stepped outside of the Tempest yet. Not giving himself time to adjust, Scott strode down the ramp and onto the ice crusted snow pack. The ramp descending had crunched the snow around it and he used his jump jets to propel him across the small boulders the impact had created. Landing, his feet sunk into the snow that compacted underneath him from the force of his landing and he had to crawl out to stand on top of the icy crust that bore his weight—mostly—as he took a few tentative steps.

Snow swirled around him, the wind howling through the peaks and sweeping down the slopes to run through the valley around him. The LZ was a small mesa created by glaciers creating a relatively flat area before descending even further down into a deep circular valley which at some point had probably had flowing water below it and he could see a gap in the peaks further away that suggested a mountain pass. The visibility was poor as he moved towards the edge of the LZ but in the distance he could see an amber light swaying in the wind—the trail markers that Evfra’s intel had specified they should follow. The map data had shown that they’d need to climb up a bit further and deeper into the mountains to get to the hidden base—the Tempest had been to big to land where the Angaran ships did.

Noting that everyone was following his lead, Scott began following the trail markers. Soon he was using his jump jets to climb over huge chunks of ice that had obviously tumbled there from higher up. The chunks were as solid as rock, having frozen so completely. He was thankful for his HUD as he didn’t risk going snow blind due to the tint that SAM had overlaid his visual output to reduce eye strain in the whiteout environment.

Jaal warned him not to make any sudden moves or reach for his gun as they climbed, stating that they were most likely being watched even though they were expected. The trail led up and then into a ledge that was protected from the wind. He was soon passing parked Angaran ships. Several angarans in Resistance colors watched them pass by, guns held at ready but not pointed at Scott. Jaal hailed them in greeting but they all just silently watched and waved them on further into the mountain.

Going deeper, Scott verified with SAM as he started seeing actual columns that they were now within some sort of artificial structure—the columns were as thick as a meter cubed and were frosted over but you could still see indications of adapted Remnant architecture underneath. His HUD notified him that they’d reached temperatures where it would be okay to remove his helmet so he did so for communication reasons—he looked a lot more trustworthy when someone could look into his eyes according to his mom.As the helmet unsealed, he could feel the hairs in his nose freeze as he inhaled and his teeth hurt, breath clouding around him as he exhaled.He kept moving deeper into the base. They passed more and more small groups of Angara Resistance fighters going about their own business and the conversations he overheard indicated that there had been recent skirmishes between the Resistance and the Kett with several remarks indicating that morale was low from heavy losses.

They were greeted by a male Angaran wearing more stripes on his armor than Jaal had when they’d first met as they entered a large chamber that had a huge display of Voeld with it’s satellites marked and flight paths denoted on it atop a bank of electronic equipment.The Angaran who had greeted them was more delicate looking than most of the other males, with pale lavender, almost white skin with two parallel lines running down his cheeks from his eyes in a dark royal purple but his voice when he greeted them was deep and commanding. “Jaal.I see you brought the outlanders.Welcome home.”

“Yes. Is Commander Do Xeel waiting for us Raelis?” Jaal responded, greeting the other male with a firm hand clasp around the shoulder.

Raelis inclined his head towards the center of the large array that dominated the chamber.A cluster of angarans stood spread around a center display board that looked like a tactical map. As they approached, the group turned to look at them and a comment was made to the female angaran who seemed to be in command. She was stern appearing and gave them a long look as Scott approached before looking to Jaal which he took as permission to speak.

“Commander Do Xeel, this is Scott Ryder an Initiative Pathfinder.Pathfinder, this is Commander Anjik Do Xeel, the base commander for the Angaran Resistance in this part of Voeld,” Jaal said to give the introductions.

“So this is the one who helped Kiiran find her missing scientists,” was the deep purr that came from the Commander.She eyed Scott up and down, her gaze assessing and missing nothing as it flicked to the rest of his team behind him. “Evfra has sent you here after the Moshae.”

“He has,” Scott said amiably “We’re here to help in whatever way we can.”

She looked unimpressed. “I see. I passed along reports from our scouts regarding the large kett base,” She touched the map and it zoomed in to show a base surrounded by a force field. “We see kett patrols going in with our people held captive.They don’t come out.”Her tone was just as cold as the weather, her eyes frozen with anger. “We don’t currently have the resources to launch an offensive against a base of this size.”

Scott could feel SAM running through the map that was displayed. He himself noted that the force field around the base was all encompassing. He knew, however, that no shield could be without a weak point of some sort—the physics of the energy cascade demanded it. “Do you know the weak point of the shield?”

Do Xeel looked mildly impressed. “No.We suspect it is either here or here,” she said as she pointed to obvious structural shapes in the snowfield around the base, motioning for Scott to move closer so he could see what she was indicating.

“How detailed are your scouting reports? Do you have troop counts and types?” Scott studied the limited approaches around the base. There were three potential ones via air and two via ground that he would be able to drive the tempest up to the base of the shield but there was a third, trickier track that he would be able to possibly take on foot.... but the weather... the cold would likely be severe even with the changes they’d made to their armor. They’d be risking serious exposure. He needed to see the area himself was his first impulse but he waited to see what Do Xeel would say—she didn’t seem offended by his questions and responded carefully after some thought.

“They’re fairly accurate but there has been increased activity as of late that coincided with the Moshae’s disappearance. Our estimate is approximately two to three hundred total kett man the base at any one time, mostly the low ranking grunts that are not well trained.... but the numbers don’t match well. Fewer go into the base than come out.” Do Xeel was frowning at the map as if it had personally offended her as she informed Scott of her difficulties.

“So how are they getting additional soldiers into the base if the numbers are higher leaving?Another entrance?”Scott touched the map to expand the area slightly, looking for anything that would suggest another entrance to the base outside of the shield. There were troop movement routes noted on the map but they generally made sense, moving towards other smaller bases or angaran settlements that had been recently attacked as denoted by the labels tacked to different places.

“I do not know nor do our scouts. It is a mystery. I can tell you that their raids on our settlements have stepped up—we’ve had to move as many people off Voeld as possible or into our bases. I am sure you can understand what this means....” Do Xeel’s light blue eyes were sad but determined, her posture rigid. Yeah. Scott got what she was telling him—they were loosing slowly but surely unless they could change the status quo. The kett base was a major source of problems for them. And there were a lot of kett there—the numbers weren’t in their favor.

“How many fighters do you have. Those ships as we came in—not all of them looked like they were being used.They were iced over,” Scott had noticed that there had been an entire row of those ships that looked like they hadn’t been used in a while, icicles formed on their exhaust vents, windows covered completely by frost. If they hadn’t been under a protective ledge he was pretty sure they’d be buried in the snow outside.

“With our current commitments I can perhaps give as many as twenty to thirty fighters if we can guarantee that we’ll be able to get past the shields. We are spread thin here and I cannot pull more than that off their current assignments.”She was adamant, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared at him challengingly.

Scott sighed. He trusted her intel but he felt that he might be able to pick something up with SAM that they were not able to unlock—she had no reason to lie to them. “Will you take offense if I ask to take a team out and do some scouting of my own with our resources?We’re a fresh set of eyes with different capabilities. Even if I don’t find anything new, it will help for planning an assault if I know the area around it might make a difference when we make our move.”

Do Xeel stared at him for an awkward minute, Scott tried to look as confidant as he could.“If you feel it will help us, I will not stand in your way but I will not take responsibility if something should happen to you or your people out there.”

“I understand,” Scott said. They didn’t have the resources to babysit him and his team. “We’ll be heading out shortly then.Any other intel you care to share?”

***

He had a brief conversation with Cora before leaving the base.Cora’s orders from him were to start feeling out the locals, get an idea of what kind of resources they’d have when they began their mission to infiltrate the base. She had looked briefly happy when she’d realized she’d be able to stay near the heat lamps instead of going out into the frigid weather but advised him to stay warm.

Hah.

Going back to the LZ, the nomad had been unloaded. They had approximately a three day battery charge in this type of weather to maintain the life support. This assumed he didn’t go jumping off a cliff and have to work his way out. He’d need to be careful where they were driving unless the solar cells could recharge the batteries effectively but they were less efficient in such cold temperatures. Since they were scouting, He’d added Liam to his team and left Vetra with Cora due to her people skills. Both Vetra and Cora had already begun to scope out the different inhabitants of the base as he left.

Climbing into the driver’s seat, he waited until everyone was in before sealing the doors and heading out. It took almost twenty minutes before the temperature was high enough in the cab for him to safely remove his helmet which he did. The going was slow with poor visibility this high up in the mountain pass due to snow. The windshield of the nomad was SAM enabled and functioned as a HUD which meant that they were able to navigate but he still couldn’t drive as fast as they had been able to on Eos. His hands slowly unthawed from being outside and began to ache as he gripped the steering wheel.

Liam, who’d taken the back seat to give Drack more room, kept the team entertained by describing the ‘family project’ his family had sent along to Andromeda via the slowest shipping method possible. Scott found himself listening and contributing a few questions regarding this project car since it was such old technology. Liam had not struck him as the mechanically inclined type but evidently his skills were specific to a certain type of vehicle. Maybe Scott should ask Gil if he needed help maintaining the nomad then Liam would be his man.

Coming down in elevation, the wind decreased and the air temperature outside rose to a slightly better -35C from being somewhat sheltered by the mountain peaks around them. They made their way through the valley to the next pass and it continued to snow, the accumulation picking up as they began ascending to the next pass. According to the map they’d been given by Jaal and Evfra, after this pass they’d have a choice of going east or continuing south east.To the south east there was a monolith and possibly a hidden way into the area where the Kett base was given how little detail the map had of the area. To the east, they’d have to follow the mountain ranges around to eventually go south to the base. There was also a monolith out that way but it was further.After a brief discussion of the routes when they came to the decision point, Scott continued on south east track.

Six hours later, the snowstorm had temporarily cleared and they’d picked up the pace, the nomad’s tires biting into the fresh snow as Scott sped a bit more.Voeld was beautiful in it’s frozen shades of blue and purple and white with a clear sky.Scott watched as the solar cells began to help add power back to the batteries. It sucked that Voeld had a breathable atmosphere and so much water around to have this snow and ice but was too cold for a colony at the moment.Scott found himself wondering what resetting a vault in this environment would do... would the vault be able to counteract the planet being pushed out of it’s prior rotation around Nol? 

They crossed a massive, frozen lake and in the distance they could see the monolith—it’s dark architecture standing out in contrast to it’s surroundings. Scott was somewhat surprised that it wasn’t ice covered like the mountains but as they got closer, well, it made sense why it wasn’t but it was definitely weird.The monolith base was surrounded by a glacier field and they’d had to find a canyon carved in the snow that led to the base.The ice canyon reminded him of Eos but was much more slippery as the floor was made of ice.The nomad barely fit through and he had to take some corners by driving up the side of the wall.The temperature was approaching -15C in this narrow channel but everything remained sadly frozen.As the nomad made a tight turn, it bounced heavily on it’s suspension getting complaints from the back seat about Scott’s driving.It was going to be interesting getting out of here if he couldn’t turn around at the monolith itself.A hundred meters out from the monolith, the temperature abruptly rose like they’d crossed some sort of undetectable shielding and the air temperature rose to a balmy -5C. Scott stopped the nomad and let SAM run scans, the monolith rising up in front of them was deserted with the glacial field surrounding it but not covering it—it had somehow been held back from covering the monolith. 

“SAM?”

“It appears that the monolith itself maintains this temperature around it.I can not find evidence of any stasis field or force field. The local environment is being affected by the monolith itself,” SAM replied unhelpfully.

Great, so the monolith did this but SAM didn’t know how it was doing it.“Helmets on Liam.Let’s go look around and stretch our legs.”

Getting out of the nomad, they began to explore the monolith site.It was very similar to the others that they’d activated and Scott couldn’t really find anything all that unusual other than the location specific temperature difference and the disturbance in the glacier field around them.He scanned everything with his personal scanner, aware Peebee would be disappointed if he was less than thorough. He should have brought her even though she didn’t like the cold and it had made sense to leave her behind to crunch data so it could be used immediately.

He heard Drack’s shotgun go off and the dying cry of a remnant robot but there was no further shots and SAM did not alert him on his HUD of any further murderbot movements. There was a central console amongst the tall rising black towers that was inactive and he could see two power conduits on his scanner leading away from the console. The first conduit led him to a ground level ice cave where his scanner picked up a data packet that SAM began decrypting so he followed the other conduit with his scanner and saw that it was leading up thetowers. Off to one side was a series of rising columns which he climbed atop of and tried to figure out how he was going to get up where the power was flowing.

The tower the conduit followed leaned precariously at an angle and it was just about in range for him to get to via his jump jets. Backing up as far as he could, he took a running leap before hitting his jump jets. He was just shy of the edge of the tower when he gave himself a biotic push and smashed himself into the side of the leaning tower and his hands found purchase on the edge barely.

Hauling himself up, Scott couldn’t find any place to put his toes into the side of the tower to get leverage. His shoulder’s screamed at him, still not fully recovered from the shots he’d taken but he gritted his teeth, flared his biotics and pulled himself up onto the incline, resting spread out on his back as he tried to catch his breath, sore muscles complaining bitterly that he should still be on light duty. “You okay?” Was Liam’s concerned voice over the comms.

“I’ll be fine. Give me a minute.” He was going to catch hell from Lexi if she heard about this.He gave himself two minutes before curling forward and getting to his feet. It was still below freezing and the monolith was covered by a sheet of ice a few centimeters thick. His boots were adapted for the environment and had small, teeth-like gripping spikes in them so he was able to stand on the incline but he was unsteady when a buffeting breeze whistled through the towers. Taking a deep breath, he began to slowly inch his way up towards the top of the tower where the power conduit was leading him.

At the top of the tower, it flattened out horizontally and he could see two caches of data which his scanner copied and SAM began to decrypt into remnant glyphs. It was quite the view from up here as be could see the top of the glacier field that surrounded the monolith with the bright blue sky above him. While SAM was busy he took a panoramic photo of the view and saved it to his personal log. The wind was more powerful up here but the temperature remained warmer than it should have been. He could see Drack, Liam and Jaal exploring the ice field around the monolith and watched them for a few minutes as SAM worked.

When SAM indicated that he’d finished the decryption, Scott levered himself off the edge he’d been sitting on and fired his jump jets to slow his descent. Landing lightly in a crouch, he smiled as Drack called him a show off. “I’ve just got style,” he told the krogan offhandedly as he approached the console.

“Hmph. And a death wish,” Drack said, his tone belaying the concerned words.

Humming absently in reply, Scott put his right hand out to interface with the console. The console activated immediately and the twisting, dancing Remnant code appeared in front of him. He turned and manipulated the matrix into a form that was just ‘right’ to his senses and input the glyphs which settled gently into place until he had the matrix completely filled.Activating the coding, Scott felt the monolith activate under his feet and the temperature around them rise another degree or two as a hum of energy was released causing ice to fall off the towers as a stream of energy began to beam off into the clouds in a northeast direction.

“Well that’s one down,” Liam said as he joined him.

“Yeah. There’s one down,” Scott agreed. “Let’s go check out the area on the map that might lead to the base.If we don’t find a way through we’ll come back here tonight to camp.”

“Roger that,” was the reply.

Scott couldn’t help looking straight up through the triangle of towers.The sky seemed a lighter blue with the energy stream and the light it gave off refracted on the monolith itself to create a rainbow refractory effect as the ice began to melt and cause rivulets of water to run down them.

Maybe they could unfreeze this ice world.

***

2819 CE February 13th

Kadaran Port, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective, aka the Charlatan

Status: there are choices... and not all of them are good

Zia’s hole in the wall apartment in port was convenient for when she gave him a call and they’d had a drink in Kralla’s when they met up and then made their way back to her apartment for some fun.Which it had been for two rounds. Reyes was now lounging on her narrow bed, shirt still on but naked otherwise under the sheets—he was always careful that she didn’t get too good a look at his tattoo—he didn’t want her to guess anything she shouldn’t and it was cool enough in the apartment to justify it since it was winter in this part of Kadara. His boots, pants, omnitool and leather jacket were scattered on the floor of the small studio along with Zia’s clothing.Zia’s space was claustrophobically small and she currently was making some Angaran tea on her hot plate which she brought to him once it was ready.

Reaching out to take the mug, Reyes punched the pillow to act as back support as he reclined against the wall that functioned as the headboard, pulling the sheets with him so he wasn’t exposed. Zia had pulled on a green threadbare, knee length, angaran style shirt that was almost see through as she moved about the five by five meter area she called an apartment. There was a sink, toilet and shower shoved in one corner, the bed which was a mattress on the floor in another and the cabinet she called a kitchen in between. For Kadara Port accommodations if you weren’t a member of the Outcasts this was pretty standard. Cramped and provided the bare minimum of essentials.Since it didn’t share facilities with three other apartments it was actually probably a bit nicer than some of the others.

“I have another job that I was wondering if you’d be up to helping with,” Zia asked him as she joined him on the bed, pushing him so she had enough space to sit next to him with her back against the wall and feet tucked under Reyes’ thigh for warmth.She ran her free hand through her disheveled hair trying to comb it back so it would stay behind her ears. It’s bright flame red he could now say for sure was not her natural hair color.The carpet and drapes did not match—not that he really cared—and she hadn’t kept it up so her lighter honey colored roots were beginning to show.If he thought about it he’d actually say she’d look better with her natural hair color rather than the dye job.

“Oh?” He asked noncommittally, drinking from his own cup.The hot hit of caffeine was welcome as he couldn’t stay all night and he needed to be in Draullier for a pickup before dawn before heading to Elaaden.

“I know you’re not exactly hurting for work or anything,” she said with a sharpness to her tone he didn’t miss.“But this job is big for me and my crew and we need a second cargo ship like yours.”

“Where to and for how long?What kind of cargo?” He asked for the specific bare minimum details.

“Eos and back again. Same as before.The bastard owes me for the last batch having a lot of manufacturing defects,” She sounded unhappy but she gave him a fake looking smile and tossed her hair a bit to try and flirt, chest pushed out so her nipples were visible through the shirt as they pebbled.She licked her lips before continuing. “It’s good money.Should be fine for you since it was okay last time.Leave in five days.”She took his left hand from where it’d been laying on the sheet and pulled it to her mouth, gave the first to fingers a suggestive suck to wet them, then moved his hand with hers to her chest where she squeezed it around her breast in a fondle before pulling it down between her legs which she spread to accommodate his hand.

Taking the hint, Reyes busied himself with stroking the delicate skin of her inner thighs before his thumb nudged her slit and entered, other fingers following as he rubbed and stroked. He took another drink of his tea which was almost gone. Zia moaned in appreciation and his fingers were becoming wet as he continued to work her. “Reyes....” her hand pushed his deeper as she abandoned her own cup on the floor before rubbing her own chest to pull the soft fabric of the shirt across her full nipples, eyes hooded and pupils dilated as she watched him. “Reyes...”

Emptying his cup, he leaned over her to carefully place it next to hers on the floor.He then moved so he was straddling her and removed his hand from her just long enough to pull the night shirt off. As he did this, her legs slithered around his waist and hooked behind his thighs to pull him closer as she kissed him, arms going around his neck to hold him close. Soon he had a condom on and was in her, thrusting in a rhythm he knew she appreciated. His mouth latched onto her right nipple as his hand was full of her left, thumb rubbing back and forth over the breast bud. She had a hand tangled in his hair and was pulling on it in counterpoint to the rhythm of their hips as the other braced herself against the wall, mattress thumping loudly against the wall as it moved with them. She orgasmed first, tightening around him so he could finish.They lay quietly together in the sweaty sheets before he stood and got rid of the condom in the trash bin. 

“I should go.I’m going to be late,” he told her as he picked up his clothing and started dressing.

“Mm.... you’re always busy,Busiest smuggler in Kadara. Are you ever not working?” Her eyes glittered underneath her hair which clung to her sweat drenched skin. She made no effort to cover herself and stretched under his gaze to try and tempt him back to bed which made him smile. 

“I really do have a job lined up that I need to go pick up my crew for,” he told her, leaning down once he was clothed just long enough to give her a brief kiss and then untangle himself from her attempts to pull him back down into bed.“Send me the information on the job—the real info.I should be able to make it with you.”

She rolled over away from him and pulled the sheets around herself. “Lock the door on your way out.”

***

Setting down in his usual spot outside the Draullier base, Reyes met up with Kenax and Vestus.The Draullier base now had a water distillation plant that was even larger than their original one so they were using it to fill their water order to Elaaden.Crux gave him a wave as she saw him but didn’t leave whatever she was doing with one of her new underlings to speak to him right away.Vestus and Kenax had been waiting for him so they fell into step with him as soon as he entered the cave system.Kenax took one look at him and told him to go “wash up” an odd look on his face. Vestus gave a frustrated glance at his mate before following Reyes into the wash area.They had about an hour or so before they really needed to get moving. Kenax had been weird the last few times he’d met up with Zia. Originally he’d thought Kenax approved of her but lately.... something had been bugging his best friend about her. He’d protested the first time but this was the third time Kenax had been weird about her.

Having more time to make the base livable, there’d been showering facilities created in one of the rooms that was close enough to the hydroponics set up that it was kept reasonably warm despite the winter outside the cave systems. He shucked his clothes and grabbed one of the clean towels that were kept on the shelf. Taking a bucket and filing it with the warmish water from the reservoir, he went over to the drainage area which had a wooden bench over a perforated floor mat and moistened himself down with an ewer before soaping himself up head to toe.The water was lukewarm at best and he was shivering slightly as he washed away the sweat and dirt he’d accumulated since his last bath. Flicking his hair back with his hand to sluice away the extra water, he poured water over his body to get rid of the last of the soap.

Hearing a throat clearing, he looked up from the bench he was siting on.Vestus was watching him with a critical eye, leaning casually against the entrance to the wash area. “Did you have something you wanted to say?”

“Give Kenax some time to get used to you having a girlfriend.You’ve been spending more time with her and I think that’s why he’s upset,” Vestus said with a shrug, looking away.

Reyes put the bucket down and dried his face before beginning to rub his head to dry his hair. “I think you and I both know it’s not that. He didn’t have a problem with Tefa and he was okay at first with Zia—something changed.”

Vestus sighed and looked at Reyes with mild frustration. “You could at least pretend to buy my explanation.”

Reyes snorted in amusement as he stood and further dried himself off. There were sticks of deodorant as well as shaving tools in the cabinet which he picked up after tying the towel around his waist with a secure knot. “It’s Zia he doesn’t like—and you don’t like her either and it’s a new thing. So something tells me there’s something else going on and it’s not that you want me to be your love slave.”

Selecting one of the combs, Reyes eyed himself in the small shaving mirror they’d placed next to the cabinet and quickly put his hair to rights. He’d cut it only two days ago so it didn’t need any touch up. He added some gel to it but Vestus didn’t seem inclined to say anything more even as he kept glancing at him as he worked. “Really Vestus.I’m not a mind reader. Something is bugging the two of you about her specifically.”

Vestus made a disgruntled noise. “She’s not a good match for you. You could do better.”

Reyes stopped what he was doing to look at his friend. “Define good enough.”

Vestus flapped one hand at him in exasperation. “You’ve heard the rumors about how close her ties are to the Outcasts.”

Reyes’ narrowed his eyes. “I know that most of her jobs are for them... unless you know more about them than I do.”

“She’s been supplying the drug factories and the ammunition. That load that we had? It was just one of the larger ones she’s moved in the last few months—we got confirmation about it a week ago.She’s Outcast in all but name. We’re both worried you’re going to get burned hanging around her if she even suspects who you are.”Vestus looked mildly upset as well as worried for him and Reyes wasn’t really surprised by Vestus’ information.

“I guessed that by what she said,” he finally said as he spread shaving cream over his stubble.

“You really need to be careful or she could really damage both you and the Collective.”

Reyes swiped the sharp straight razor over his cheek in a smooth stroke to reveal tanned skin against the white of the shaving foam, eyes not leaving the shaving mirror as he replied. “I know. She had another supply run she needs help with.I think it’s really why she messaged me tonight and the sex was just a side benefit.It was a little too convenient.”

“You think she suspects?”He could see Vestus’ calculating look behind him.

“I don’t know.But I think I need to take this next job of hers she’s offering. If it’s more ammunition then we need to either know where it’s going and divert it or make sure the Outcasts don’t get it.”His cheeks were still hollowed out from weight loss but he’d started putting weight back on the last month or so given the better rations he’d had access to. Looking at himself critically, he could see that he was better fed than most of the residents of Kadara Port—he was gaining weight not loosing it—and he wasn’t a member of the Outcasts. Her comment about him being the busiest smuggler... he didn’t want to read too much into it as it had been such a throwaway comment.

Vestus looked thoughtful. “She offered you another job?”

“Yes.Just like the last one she said,” as he spoke his omnitool made a noise indicating a new message. He picked it up from where he’d set it down and brought up his messages. Zia had sent the information regarding the run and it was as she’d said. Planned cargo weight was similar to the first one they’d accompanied her on with the destination listed as Eos and drop off on Kadara. He tapped to send the message to Vestus. “Same as before.”

Vestus pulled up his own omnitool and read the message. “Possibly a trap.We know that the Outcasts took the delivery of a bad shipment of ammunition—the stuff we altered—the market was abuzz with the news for weeks to confirm it.You said she never let on that she got any blowback on it.”

Reyes began to quickly finish shaving. “It might be a trap. But if we let her get that big a load of ammunition... it could cause problems,make us vulnerable or kill our people.”

“So what do you want to do Charlatan?” Vestus asked.

“We set up a contingency plan.She gave us enough time to get one in place. I think Keema would be willing to help us out.This affects her people too”

***

Eight days later they had an empty cargo hold and landed at the same place in Resilience that they’d landed at previously. They’d gotten to the rendezvous early on purpose, so they’d have the advantage on the ground. This time around, Vestus stayed with Kenax and Reyes, all of them with guns on their hips and knives hidden on their bodies. They’d tapped into the comms and radar for Resilience which Reyes had had to jury-rig to get up and running so it’d report to them. It was just after dawn and the sunrise was beautiful when he got a ping from the system to notify him they had a ship on approach that matched Zia’s.

Sitting on top of the roof, he watched as the nearing ship cut through the clouds to leave contrails in it’s wake. “Showtime,” he murmured into his comm as hovered overhead and descended, waving to the pilot who wasn’t as good as him and accidentally knocked slightly into one of the buildings as they put their ship down, sand blowing everywhere from the wind generated by the engines.

Kenax and Vestus loitered outside their open cargo door as Reyes joined them.Zia’s ship was the same make as the Exodus but a smaller size so it could hold less cargo. “Good morning,” he greeted Zia as she exited the airlock, squinting in the bright morning light.

“You made it,” she greeted him, approaching him to give him a kiss in greeting which he returned, arms circling around her waist as she leaned into him. When he opened his eyes, he saw that her two crew mates were outside their ship and greeting the turians.

“How long until the drop?” He asked her.

Obviously thinking he was interested in sex, she gave him a sultry smile before shaking her head. “Not long enough.Maybe later though?”

“Releasing her, he languidly replied, “Yes.Hopefully we’ll have time.”It had started to bug him that she always seemed to think he was only interested in sex. He hadn’t dissuaded her of it but it did make their relationship rather shallow. It wasn’t like it wasn’t true when he replied to her messages that he’d meet her somewhere. But to business.

“They should be here any moment.We need to make sure we don’t linger.Supposedly the Initiative is making another attempt at the first colony site.We’re lucky they don’t come out this far.”She ran her hands through her hair as she looked in the direction of the road to the other colony—Promise.There were just faint tracks in the dirt that were mostly eroded by the wind. “Did you have a good trip?”

“It was a tight turn around from my last job but I didn’t want to let you down,” he told her even as he received a notification about an approaching ship with an Initiative beacon. It was a large heavy transport and it landed on the other side of the main building from where they stood.

“I’ll go chat with them. Wait here. Don’t want to make anyone nervous,” she told him as she went to greet the ship.

Reyes, made idle conversation with Zia’s crew—a married pair. He’d met them before and they seemed a lot rougher around the edges than Zia.He suspected both of them had Oblivion habits that were hard to keep up with based on how twitchy they were. They soon had exhausted all conversation points about the weather on Eos and stood around awkwardly waiting on Zia to return. The woman had gone back into the ship but the man stayed out and kept watching Reyes before finally saying something. “Why haven’t you joined our crew?”

Amused, Reyes quirked his lips in a half smile. “I prefer being an independent operator—mixing business and pleasure can get too messy if they’re too intertwined.”

The man snorted in amusement. “I can see why she likes you.”

Reyes simply gestured as if to say ‘what can you do?’

Zia returned momentarily and soon they were unloading the transport with the help of its’ crew, making a large stack of crates in the center. The freighter was crewed by two human males that Reyes didn’t recognize. The man who seemed to be Zia’s contact was annoying and spent a lot of time ordering them all around. When he tried to do the same with Reyes, he gave the man an unimpressed look and kept moving. There was no point in antagonizing the man as Reyes needed him to leave and not remember much about him so he didn’t say anything.He overheard the man talking with Zia and caught a name—Bill, no last name given when addressed by Zia but he seemed to know her well. The other male seemed to be named Aroane but didn’t say anything other than work steadily at unloading their ship. According to the labels on the crates this load was similar to the last one.

Unloading done, Zia and Bill had a conversation off to the side and credits were exchanged in a hushed tone that didn’t carry.While almost everyone was distracted, Reyes put the three taps into the comm that served as a silent signal.

Bill and Aroane got into their ship and lifted off, heading directly for orbit. Zia, watched them briefly before telling her male crew member to go move their ship so they could load it. Reyes gave Kenax a nod to go do the same and the turian followed the other man around the building and out of sight. Zia was separating the crates into to piles—his and hers.Reyes moved around the stacks and pulled his knife out of his boot.

The woman, whose name he is still didn’t remember, wasn’t paying any attention. It was beyond easy to wrap his arms around her and rest the tip of the vibroblade against her neck, right over the pulse point so it pricked the skin and caused a few drops of blood to stain her skin. She made a startled sound and froze at the prick of pain, her hands trying to dislodge his. He pushed her into the stacked crates and she didn’t move, whimpering. “Don’t move,” he ordered her.

Vestus who had been circling around the other side, took her from him and pushed her down into the packed dirt.Reyes drew his ushior after resheathing his knife.

Zia, hearing something, called her name. “Emily?”As she rounded the corner, Reyes had his gun aimed right between her eyes. “What the fuck? Reyes!”

“I wouldn’t make any sudden moves if I were you,” Reyes told her with a smile. “Wouldn’t want anyone to get too excited.”

“What are you doing?Don’t you want to get paid?” Zia asked, eyes wide as she stared at the gun in his hands, her own hands raising “If we don’t make the delivery together they’re not going to pay you!”

The sound of angaran engines greeted her ears just then and she stared as a ship landed where the other had just vacated before staring at him in anger. “I got a better offer,” he told her with a shrug of his shoulders.

“It’s not your fucking stuff! I paid for it!”

She took two steps closer to him in her anger, forgetting the gun pointed at her.

He purposefully let a shot off that went just over her shoulder which made her hunch over and her hands go up higher. “One more step and the next shot won’t be a warning one,” he informed her as he calmly let the next round move into the chamber and the nozzle pointed back at her center mass. “It’s just business.”

“You fucking bastard,” she snarled at him.

Unbothered, Reyes shrugged again.“It’s just business.If you play along I’ll even let you live.Down on the ground, face down.”

She looked like she wanted to refuse him but after a pause she kneeled, going down on one leg and then another before leaning forward to lie face down on the ground. “Hands out above your head,” he instructed her. She had no gun on her but he double checked her boots and the pockets of her clothing for any weapons. Kenax reappeared like magic and restrained her with a set of cuffs they’d had Maiko fashion before leaving Kadara.When she tried to kick Kenax, he just tightened the cuffs down even more around her wrist before taking a second set out and fastening them around her ankles.

As the cuffs tightened, she swore at them and called into question Kenax’s parentage which made Kenax give an amused look to Reyes before hauling her up effortlessly and heading off to the back of the transport truck that had been left behind by the colonists.When they’d scouted out the colony they’ decided to stash Zia and her crew in there. While this was going on, the angarans who’d agreed to help out had opened the cargo door of their ship and were waiting on Reyes.

“Stars and skies my friend,” Keema said in amusement. “Looks like quite the haul here.”

“It is.I know the Resistance can’t use the ammunition but some of the other supplies might be worth sending to Aya.Or we could just keep them all,” hetold her with a grin.

“How thoughtful of you,” she said with a smile. “When you proposed this I was surprised you’d want to do this to your... what do they call them... girlfriend?”Keema eyed him with a more sober look, the smile fading. “She will not forgive you for this.”

“She’s got too many ties to the Outcasts. It was a matter of time before that became a problem,” he told her softly, watching as crates one by one were loaded into the cargo hold. It was all going to the same base on Kadara and they’d sort through things there.

“I should have asked you before this, but are you sure?” Keema asked him just as softly, her expressive eyes watching him with concern.

Reyes sighed. “She’s no Tefa.If I ever settle down it won’t be for someone like her.”

“I will await the day that happens,” Keema gave him a small smile.

They left Zia and her crew restrained in the enclosed cargo area of the truck. He personally made sure a few liters of water were left for them before closing the cargo door and locking it.

Maybe she’d get lucky and someone would find her before they ran out of water.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE May 13th_

_I never expected I’d miss Havarl and it’s sticky heat that makes you sweat so much you think you’d kill for a shower just so you can feel clean for the half second after you step out of it.I actually fucking miss the place that I thought was a miserable, velociraptor infested war zone... but dammit I want to go back there—or better yet Eos with it’s dry heat and smaller population of hostiles that want to kill me. I’m so fucking cold—the thermal lining for my armor is doing as much as it can but my fucking god... Voeld is frigid. I’m certain I still have hands and feet attached to my body as I can see them but feeling them?Not since I stepped off the Tempest this morning.And my poor teeth—they ache. I’m too young to feel this decrepit. Side note—I may have to thank Gil for making sure that the core thermal protection is much stronger than the limbs as I hate to think what would happen to my cock without it. I want to get the Moshae out and get off planet as soon as I can find the vault and activate it._

_Fucking permanent winter. I like fall. I like spring. Those are my favorite seasons. I’ll even take summer at the equator in the desert with no shade over winter like this.Why couldn’t it be a nice, slightly cold ice planet where it feels like winter midway between Halloween and New Years before I hate all things winter (I am of the firm opinion that nobody likes the deep winter of the northern hemisphere on Earth—that training I did in Siberia down into the Ural Mountains was the worst!)._

_And I’m stuck in the ice age until I can fix things._

_Fuck my life. My contract made no mention of ice worlds. It talked about golden worlds. This is not a golden world._

_It is pretty though, in a breathtaking, freeze your lungs kind of way._

_Today we did some scouting and I was hoping to find a back door. No luck.There’s this solid sheet of ice and rock that’s physically like a wall and it’s almost a kilometer straight up and another five deep.There’s no way the thing is natural but we’re not going to be able to get through it.Scans didn’t show a way through other than flying but the angaran intel says there’s a big anti-aircraft gun aimed straight this way._

_So tomorrow we go the other way.There’s two more monoliths on my maps and they’re both close to the Kett base.I’m concerned that the one closest to the base also is within range of that anti-aircraft gun according to their specs so I’ll leave that one alone until we get inside the base and the Moshae out.The other.... well, we’ll see if I can get to it tomorrow.We’re camping out at the first monolith since it A) conserves how hard the nomad’s life support has to work and B) it’s warm enough around the place so we can camp outside and stretch out in the winter gear.It’s also fairly well protected and I put down a FOB to let us know if anyone’s coming to visit._

_Oh god I’m so fucking cold. Maybe I can convince SAM to rewire my nervous system so I can’t feel it. Or at least my teeth._

_I should have brought a sweater. Mom would be so unhappy with me for not bringing one._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments adored, kudos loved. Thanks for reading.


	37. Chapter Thirty-five

Chapter Thirty-Five

2819 CE March 10th

Tartarus, Kadaran Port, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective, aka the Charlatan

Status: telenovela and chill for when you’re not sure about your next move

There were rumors about a deal gone wrong between Zia and the Outcasts but details were sparse and the rumors nonspecific. Neither Reyes nor any of his friends had said anything. Which meant that her missing the handoff had been leaked from the Outcasts and quickly too. Sloane Kelly’s already capricious nature had been set to defcon levels never reached before the last several days.

It probably didn’t help her or the Outcasts that Reyes had authorized more selective raids when the opportunities had presented themselves. The Outcast convoys had to travel through many narrow mountain passes which were vulnerabilities that Reyes had been exploiting. For such a military heavy pirate group, they lacked anyone who actually had field command experience.Or common sense.

Not that Reyes did... but he’d copied an entire doctorate’s worth of military tactics and strategy, from King Leonidas and the Spartans all the way up until the most recent published works on the Saren Incident. Reading had become his new hobby since he was romantically unattached and he’d had a lot of down time to discuss said works with Vestus who, surprisingly, did have a degree somewhere in the distant past that said military tactics on it. Kenax had made sure Reyes found out all about it and prodded his mate to help out his best friend. Not that it took a lot of prodding. The once forgotten knife lessons also had made a reoccurrence and Reyes was regularly taking grappling lessons when they were in confined environments such as ships.

Any time not spent arguing tactics with Vestus or getting turned on his ass by Kenax was spent drinking and strategizing with Keema.Keema was giving him more and more control as she focused on any Kett presence but coordinated with the Collective when needed to the point where Reyes could and did order raids that were carried out by the Resistance. There had been three new classes of graduates from Aya that had come to Kadara and Keema was gradually farming out all leadership responsibilities to Reyes. He hadn’t been amused by that at first but it helped if one person was coordinating everything. Evfra he been effusive in his comments regarding their efforts but was pleased with their work towards creating a niche for Angarans and Milky Way people alike to make a home.

Because he had access to Resistance resources, they also freed up some of his Collective resources as they were being developed so he was exploring other opportunities outside of Kadara. His small agreement with Clan Nakmor was going to be a big deal sometime in the future and they’d expanded the water trading to increase trade volume and a bigger variety of trade goods.Morda was satisfied with the product they were providing and the service, indicating that the terms that Reyes had hammered out with her were satisfactory.They’d also found abandoned mining equipment in three systems and had restarted some basic mining of needed raw ores—specifically the ones involved in making ships and farming equipment. With the intel exchange going between Maiko, Alzik and Kjaan was spurring technological improvements for both the Resistance and the Collective as designs from the Milky Way were adapted for Heleus conditions and Angaran physiques.

So with everything going the right direction he was naturally feeling pessimistic about something that was bothering him. He somewhat regretted his actions with Zia... but he also knew that long term he couldn’t have stayed with her and still been a member of the Collective. Kenax had been happy with the decision, Vestus less happy that they’d left her alive. It’d been a momentarily lapse—maybe—leaving her water. But he had hesitated rather than putting a bullet between her eyes when he could have. He’d like to think that he wasn’t that much of an asshole but he really had left her to die.It bothered him more that he was capable of it rather than that it’d been Zia he’d done it to. So much for romantic relationships.

Maiko had told him to stop being such a pussy and find someone who could be a partner, not a liability, if he wanted someone to curl up around at night.

He may or may not have told her to fuck off and leave him alone to watch his mother’s favorite show—which she called brooding.

Maiko being Maiko?She hadn’t budged but had pushed him around so she could drape herself more comfortably over him on the couch they’d been curled up on. Tovrel was long suffering and a saint among angarans. He’d merely pulled Reyes around so both he and Maiko could use Tovrel as a pillow.

Kenax had pouted for days at being left out of the cuddle pile and may have been a bit rougher during grappling practice. He’d bruised Reyes a bit more than usual from being handsy. If it had been anyone else other than Kenax, Reyes might have stabbed them by now as he hated clinginess. And then there was the daily dawn runs he’d been harassed into by Kenax. Twenty kilometers out and back when they were out in the badlands, body weight exercise when in port. He was in better shape than when he’d been in the Alliance.

At least it was keeping him busy and preoccupied to cut down on the melancholy mood that preoccupied him when he was idle.

Negotiations with Filan had progressed to the point where there was now a small, secretly Collective funded and supplied, soup kitchen in the slums.Feeding the people of the slums had made the slums all but his in name.The Outcasts were now visitors in their own territory and they knew not to go into the slums by themselves. 

Nakamoto, however, was still an independent contractor who was struggling to fit in. Kian was on and off again with the man and it was amusing to Reyes who made sure that the money from the Collective was funneled through Kian before it reached the clinic. This kept up at least a semblance that the people of the slums were funding him so Nakamoto would accept the funds. Reyes had also sold the clinic some medical tools he’d liberated from the Outcasts’ shipments from the Nexus as well as medicines and medigel. He’d taken a good look at Nakamoto’s clinic personally when he was conducting business. If he got wind that Nakamoto was backsliding into what he’d done for the Outcasts and the Oblivion trade.... Maiko wouldn’t forgive him if he let that happen,.

Speaking of supplies... he wondered if the Nexus administration knew how their equipment was ending up in Sloane Kelly’s hands?Since he’d already been on Eos, Reyes had contacted Vladimir and given a description of Zia’s smuggler to him.Vladimir’s reaction had been interesting to say the least and Reyes now had a name. William Spender, Foster Addison’s number two man and the architect behind the whole krogan mess. Vladimir had asked Reyes to keep an eye out for any more obvious leaks of Initiative equipment and thanked him for the intel.

Vestus and Kenax had offered to take care of the traitorous rat. Permanently.And Reyes had offered their services which Vladimir declined for the moment but said he would reserve the right to take them up on it later.

Better the devil you know... you can keep an eye on him then.

Which left him at the corner of the bar in Tartarus, staring into his second glass of angaran whiskey, waiting on Keema. Kian was a few feet away and filling drinks as others came up to the bar. Kenax was on Reyes other side and keeping an eye on everyone who came near Reyes but pretending to just be enjoying his drink. He’d just had a meeting with one of their newer recruits who didn’t know who he really was.The orders he’d “passed along” had been to encourage a few of the more friendly market stalls to move down into the slums where they could be monitored and “protected” by the Collective. Colton and his network provided good information coverage while Vestus’ steadily growing network of heavies played law enforcement. The slums were a lot safer than the marketplace on any given day any more. 

Keema finally made it an hour later, sliding smoothly onto the bar stool left empty next to Reyes. “I’m sorry for being late.Evfra had more questions than usual.”

Reyes quirked an eyebrow and raised his glass in greeting before taking a sip. “How are things going for the Resistance?”

“The Moshae Sjefa is missing on Havarl.She was supposed to be on Aya three days ago.She never arrived.”Keema gestured to Kian and he set her usual drink in front of her, a glass of angaran liquor that was similar to tequila but stronger as she lit up one of her cigarettes.

“Does anyone know what happened?” Reyes asked quietly, indicting he wanted a refill. They’d need to retreat to his office.

Keema waited until he had his drink and then they retreated to the back room, Kenax following them.Keema practically melted into the couch cushions, her face pale and fatigued now that they were out of the club neon lights. Reyes couldn’t help the concerned look he gave her as he took the other corner of the sofa, his back to the sofa’s arm, one leg tucked up and under himself to face her. “Keema?”

“As far as we can tell... and I don’t have all the details yet. Evfra said he’d be sending them to both of us,” she looked troubled as she took a deep inhale off her cigarette and blew out a stream of smoke. “She was part of a convoy that was headed to Aya via the Haranj route a week ago. When she didn’t arrive...they waited a day before going looking for the convoy.”

“Did they find anything?” Reyes asked when she didn’t continue, the look on her face telling him that whatever they’d found hadn’t been good.

Keema swallowed more of her liquor and took another drag off her cigarette. “They found the convoy. It’d been attacked, stripped of everything and opened up to vacuum. No bodies though.They took them all.”

“Everyone?Who took them?” 

“Kett.They didn’t bother to wipe the logs. They knew when and where they’d be too....” Keema looked like she was grieving her own family members. The Moshae Sjefa was the equivalent of a religious leader to the angara, their Dali lama, pope and and guru all rolled into one person. She also was responsible for the knowledge of the people in a way that was uniquely angaran. Kjaan was one of her former students who ran most of the engineering and science needs for the Resistance but he answered to the Moshae not Evfra in a lot of ways.

Reyes watched her smoke. “How did they know?”

Keema’s look became murderous and her hand shook as she took another drink. “I do not know but when we do.... we will make whoever did this pay.”

“What can I do to help?” Reyes asked, leaning forward.

“We need to know that they were not taken here.It is unlikely... but we must know for sure,” Keema finally said, drawing heavily from her cigarette. “There is too much interference from the Scourge to know where they went for sure.”

“The camps.We’ll have to check them all,” Reyes told her as he thought through the problem.There wasn’t a huge kett presence on Kadara any longer... but there was a few small camps far out in the badlands.

“Yes.Time to put those military histories you’ve been reading to the practical,” she said a bit more softly. “If she’s here we need to find her....”

Reyes took her hand, the warm tingle as her fingers twined with him reminded him of Yaansa’s touch—something angarans seemed to do with family members. “I’ll do whatever I can.The Moshae is important to you.”

“Sholaon thank you,” Keema told him, the output from her fingers increasing as it trailed up his arm before she detached her hand from his. “Evfra did not want to order you to this as you have been making such a difference for the people here... I told him you would not see it as a burden but as your duty.I am glad to be right.”

“You are right.We will do whatever is needed,” Reyes promised her. “Kenax?”

“I’ve already signaled Vestus. He’ll be here shortly,” Kenax assured him.It seemed they’d be doing some raiding.

***

Three weeks later and they didn’t have much to show for their efforts other than a lot of dead kett and some supplies they’d scavenged.Crouched in the mountains above the most recent base, Reyes was between Keema and Kenax with Vestus on Keema’s other side. Arrayed around them in a semicircle wasanother twelve of his Resistance brothers and sisters, all armed to the teeth and waiting to hear the plan. The Kett encampment below them was small, a cluster of cargo containers set down in the valley in an attempt to hide from fly overs. The drone that Reyes had launched had identified about twenty occupants of the camp—four of which appeared to be prisoners. The HUD on his helmet had all the kett tagged as the drone hovered up high to give them live updates. Maiko had adapted the usual Resistance software with some help from Theo so they all could share information.

Using the loose sand, Vestus and he had created a dirt map of the encampment and were describing the plan to infiltrate it. Vestus and Kenax both had sniper rifles and they were waiting until dusk before moving in. Vestus and Kenax would provide covering fire while Reyes and the advance team would take out the sentries—preferably stealthily. The rest of them under Keema would then enter the encampment and push towards the area where they though they’d find prisoners and liberate them. It would be mop up time after that.

“Anyone have any questions?” Reyes asked.

A chorus of negatives was the response. “Okay, everyone move towards their position. We move at dusk,” he ordered and the group dispersed in an orderly fashion. They’d been at this for a while now and everyone knew their role.

Vestus clapped Reyes on the shoulder, “Stay safe.I’m going to have my scope focused on watching your back.”

“Thanks,” Reyes said as he double checked that all his ammunition was firmly in place and his guns were loaded for the twentieth time. “Maybe this time we’ll get lucky and find what we’re looking for.”

“Hope does spring eternal,” Vestus agreed as he gathered his legs and leapt to grasp the ledge above them.He’d be headed for the sniper’s nest he’d spied earlier during their scouting.

“Be careful,” Kenax said as he moved off towards another spot further away. In the last few weeks they’d allowed him more freedom rather than hovering over him physically like they had in the beginning. It was nice to know they trusted him to take care of himself.

Reyes moved to his own holding position, three of the Angarans and following him and they settled down to wait the three hours until dusk.There’d been a lot of waiting for the action to start as of late. They’d made a raid on a kett camp on average every three days since they’d received notice the Moshae was missing. So far, the raids had resulted in a lot of dead kett but not much else.

Fidgeting until he was more comfortable in the shade of a large boulder, Reyes watched the camp below him and the occasional movement of aliens in and out of the storage containers they’d adapted into buildings. Leaning back into the boulder, Reyes found himself settling into a light doze. Nothing to do until dusk other than wait.Someone would alert him if anything happened before then.

***

Three hours later, the sun was setting and the shadows had gotten long before the valley was all in shadow. The kett below were settling into their night rotations, three sentries moved in a predictable pattern, all of them by themselves which was a mistake. Slowly, Reyes moved down slope into the valley, his team spreading out around him so they’d be able to take each sentry as they moved past them. There were loose boulders that provided enough cover to crouch behind and hide a body or two. Reyes found one such and pulled his blades out of their sheaths, tossing one in a fancy flip before gripping the hilt firmly. He tapped on his comm mic three times to indicate they were in position.

The shadows were becoming even darker before the signal came from Keema that they were in position—four taps, two staccato beats followed by more methodical pair of taps. This happened just in time as one of the sentries began approaching where Reyes was crouched, his HUD allowing him to see like it was daylight in the dimness of the night.

Allowing the sentry to take a few steps past him, Reyes ghosted up behind the kett that was slightly taller than him and thrust his blade right between the joins of the shoulder and neck to slice deep, blue green blood gushing as his arm encircled the Kett’s mouth and prevented him from screaming as he thrust the knife in deeper and pulled back into his blind spot behind the boulders. The kett in his arms struggled but weakened quickly as Reyes pushed his knife deeper and sliced cleanly through the neck, stilling it as it died.

Making sure that he was still undiscovered, Reyes flicked his knife and cleaned it, tapping twice into his mic to verify his sentry was down. Two more confirmations occurred and he could see on the HUD that all sentries were down.Ten meters from him, a kett wandered out into the night, stretching as it called a name in it’s guttural language. It opened it’s mouth to call the name again when a bullet from one of the sniper’s took it right in it’s open mouth. The kett gave a gurgle and blood flowed out of it’s mouth as it slumped to the ground.

That was when Keema and her team made their appearance, entering like shades from all directions.Reyes followed behind one of them as they pried open the door to one of the smaller containers. Inside, three kett were lounging around who looked at their unexpected visitors in frozen shock.Reyes threw the knife in his hand into the throat of one while he drew his ushior in a smooth movement and shot a second in the face, the discharge of the weapon was deafening in the enclosed space even with the hearing protection in his helmet. The other kett was down under fire from the angaran he’d followed in. Retrieving his knife, he flicked it clean and sheathed it before reloading his gun.

Exiting the container, there was absolute chaos in the encampment. The alarm had been raised too late. Several dead kett lay on the ground outside and the sound of gunfire erupted from multiple containers. Reyes moved with his teammate to the next container and saw only two dead kett. They kept moving, exchanging gunfire when necessary but five minutes later, his HUD informed him all targets were down.

They then began the process of clearing out the containers for salvage. The kett bodies were stripped of all weapons and placed off to the side. They’d burn the bodies before leaving.Keema found Reyes as he worked alongside the others, her hand gently resting on his shoulder to get his attention. “Anubis.... We found something.This way.”

Keema’s voice was stressed and her eyes dark with contained emotion. Reyes nodded and followed her, giving orders to keep at what everyone was doing. Keema led him into the largest container that they’d assumed held prisoners and then back into what could only be considered a prison cell, devoid of light and he was barely able to see anything even with the enhanced vision of his HUD. Four angarans had been restrained in the dark, claustrophobically small space for an unknown period of time. The clothing they wore identified them as from Havarl due to the cut but their bodies were wasted, skin pale and almost milk white uniformly that practically glowed in the darkness, the speckling that was so common to angaran skin tones bioluminescent and the only source of light in the cell. “They’ve been kept dark—tortured with lack of sunlight,” Keema told him, a stray tear escaping her eye as she gently positioned the one closest to her into a more comfortable looking position. The angaran blinked but otherwise didn’t move despite the restraints that had been tied around each limb having been undone.

“If they get sunlight... will they wake up?” Reyes asked her as he crouched on the other side.

“Perhaps.It is an evil thing to do this to someone,” she said, voice shaky. “There are those of us since the kett arrived who have chosen to go dark, a way of suicide that makes you fade away until you cease to be... but to do this on purpose... this is beyond cruel.They would have known what was happening to them and been unable to do anything to stop it.”

They carefully positioned each of the four to be more comfortable, putting limbs at more natural angles, noticing stiffness similar to rigor mortis as he moved them. Reyes had commed Vestus and told him to call for transport. They’d take them back to the their base and place them under the plant grow lights to see if any of them would awaken. It was the only therapy Keema knew of to help them with—regular sunlight on Kadara would not be enough given the severity of their deprivation. The bioluminescence was a sign that their bodies had been trying to give them time to get to a real light source... and it was a bad sign that they’d entered the last phase of going dark.

They were awaiting the transport when one of the Angarans found them. “Shena... we’ve found a terminal with some information on it.”

Reyes cocked his head. “Where?”

“I will show you.Follow me.” 

Reyes was led to a terminal that was unlocked. He couldn’t, however, make heads nor tails out of the kett language so he told them to download a copy for Kjaan, Alzik and Theo to puzzle over before returning to Keema. They’d pulled the four captives out under the moonlight and they could better see them now that they were out of the darkness of the cell. The angaran who’d been following Reyes made a cry of grief as he saw the markings on the faces of the four captives.

“What?” Reyes asked him, wondering what he’d missed.

“They’re the Moshae’s body guards.Those markings.... only they are allowed them,” was the choked off reply. There was indeed faint evidence of old markings that hadn’t been redone in quite some time over the faces of the captives. Matching curves of red ink faintly began at the crown of the head and descended to cross the outside corner of the eyes and end at the bottom of the cheekbone. They were the markings that Reyes had been told to look for by Keema.

Well fuck. They’d gotten lucky. Assuming that any of them woke up and could tell them what happened.

***

2819 CE May 14th

Somewhere on the Ice Flows, Voeld (aka Habitat 6), Nol System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Becoming a Scottcicle

Dawn had come to Voeld and they were up and moving before the light grew more than faint on the horizon. It had been tricky to move the nomad out of the ice canyon they’d bivouacked in, but they managed. They then backtracked to where they’d continued south and took the more eastern route. The maps were specific that while there were several valleys and a mountain range to their north, they needed to go east for most of the day before hooking around the mountains to the south to find the kett base. The route he’d vaguely plotted out meant that they’d be driving most of the day to get to the monolith at the far side of the base where he hoped they’d find another warm spot to spend the night.

Hopefully the monolith wouldn’t have a welcoming committee—kett or Remnant.

They’d changed the outside skin of the nomad to camouflage it in the local environment. They’d be difficult to see coming but Scott still was extra cautious in his approach, sticking closer to the mountains rather than driving directly through the more flat ice fields between them that covered a frozen lake. The day started out with regular commentary and discussion but gradually it fell silent, everyone tiredly the monotony and watching outside for any signs of life.

Scott had started playing instrumental background music as the planet reminded him of some of his old favorite space operas he’d grown up on.Drack had appreciated that, Jaal was enjoying learning about classical earth music and Liam had tried his best to explain music theory as well as the different instruments involved. It was an odd experience, listening to Bach cello suites performed by one of the greatest cellist’s ever born—yo-yo ma who’d been dead for a few hundred years before they’d left the Milky Way. The haunting notes of his unaccompanied cello were at turns mournful and joyful, delight and danger. After they exhausted SAM’s collection of yo-yo ma they’d changed to a contemporary of his, the Kronos quartet.

The sun was low in the sky when they reached the massive bowl shaped valley that the kett base stood at the far end three quarters of the way up the side of the mountains, just able to make out the blue discoloration of their shield on the horizon with a monolith maybe ten kilometers from it towards the wall of ice they’d not been able to cross. The other monolith was far to the south and slightly west and they’d have to make their way around the rim of the valley to reach it.That was their target for the night and then tomorrow they’d scout out the base as much as they could. The FOBs that he’d called down from orbit meant that they had some reliable telemetry and comms but the deep canyons still meant they were largely reliant on intel provided by the Angarans.

Pausing for a moment, Scott got out to have a look around outside of the nomad. With the sun maybe less than an hour away from setting, the valley was bathed in light, pink, purple, blue and grey. It really was beautiful even if it was cold.A weather front could be seen behind him, having followed them all day. They needed to get going to try and beat it to the monolith.

“Scott?” Liam asked from behind him.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” He said, not moving as he asked SAM to take a picture for his person logs.

“Yeah but shouldn’t we be going?” Liam bumped shoulders with him, urging him to get moving. The cold wind that blew around them swirled the loose snow on top of the deep snow pack they were standing on into small whirlwinds that existed for just a few seconds before falling apart. Streaks of snow and ice blew down from the peaks in streaks across the sky.

“Just wanted a moment to stretch my legs after sitting for so long.Let’s get moving,” he finally said as he worked his way back to the nomad. They had a long way to go to make the monolith still.

***

It was late when they reached the monolith.The monolith was surrounded by a field of huge ice boulders and columns that reminded him of stalagmites but there was no ceiling to drip water to form them.Some of them glowed like there was Remnant architecture beneath the ice but it was hard to tell even with his scanner. The monolith itself had been partially buried by the glacier that had grown up around it.Luckily for them, it did have it’s own local temperature improvement like the other one had and they parked the nomad right up next to it on the far side from the kett base that now appeared much larger as they were on the same side of the valley as it, the third monolith between them and it. 

There had been no welcoming committee of murderbots or kett which Scott was thanking for this piece of luck. He was tired and stiff from spending all day driving in the nomad. He exited the nomad and grabbed his winter gear, preferring to find a corner of the monolith to camp in rather than spend the night cramped in his seat.The rest of his team agreed with him. He quickly found a small crevice in the snow that he slipped down and followed into the center of the monolith. 

The glacier that surrounded the monolith had created a wall of ice fifteen meters tall around the monolith but there were multiple small tunnels that led away from it, similar to the one he’d crawled through. Finding a corner, he put up the pop tent that was in his pack as well as the subzero thermal barrier.The tent had a battery that could create a temperature inside ten to fifteen degrees Celsius warmer than outside of it for up to 48 hours at a time on one charge—out of the wind like they were it could go for almost a week.The sleeping bag would keep him warm like it had the night before and he could get out of his armor while in it, albeit it would be quite cramped.

Taking the perimeter warning system out, he began systematically placing it around the monolith at each crack in the ice wall. It wasn’t much of an early warning system but it’d let them know if someone found them. The nomad’s sensors were tied into the FOBs radar but with the storm coming in it would only give them limited early warning and wasn’t perfect. If the storm grew in severity it could easily knock out their surveillance for hours before the storm would weaken to the point where it provided useful intel.

Camp all set up, he then took a look at the console in the center of the monolith. There were two power sources nearby. One was within the monolith itself and was easy to find and redirect towards the console so it was working properly. The other, however, was outside the monolith center. Scott briefly debated going out onto the ice looking for it but then decided it would keep until morning.

Liam had set up a small cook stove and was boiling water for coffee which he quickly handed to Scott. Scott cradled the small cup in his hands, savoring the warmth from the coffee as he sipped it. “It’s a good thing that these places have their own heaters,” Liam said as he poured himself a cup and then one for Jaal. Drack shook his head when he offered him one.

“Yeah. Lucky,” Scott agreed. “Did you send Cora the data dump?”

“Yeah. Got a confirmation from her she received it. She said to stay safe out here. Don’t pick any fights we can’t win and all.” Liam gave him a grin at that.“I told her I was with you. We’d find trouble just by having you with us.”

“Ha ha....” Scott said with a roll of his eyes.

“She’s not wrong kid,” Drack said with a huffing laugh.

“Let’s just hope that this storm’s over by morning.I want to get this thing activated and then go scope out the base,” Scott told them of his plan for what they’d do in the morning. He listened to Drack’s comments and adjusted his plan slightly as Jaal also gave feedback. Jaal had spent many years on Voeld but had not been stationed here.

Scott was almost jealous with how unbothered Jaal was by the temperature extremes but then decided that he was being petty. He knew SAM had been quickly adjusting his body to be more acclimated to a cold climate just like he had for Havarl’s hot and humid jungle. He’d noticed that he’d sweated much less than his other fellow humans when they’d been tromping through the jungle.Initially he’d just suspected he was adjusting well but it’d become apparent with the cold that SAM was messing with his body.When he’d asked earlier today, SAM had only said he was making sure Scott was comfortable. His own thoughts skittered away from what that meant exactly as he didn’t have time or emotional energy to spare over the anxiety it would produce.

“The storms usually are quick to pass through,” Jaal told them. “The Resistance data confirms this and we should be able to proceed in the morning. It is lucky that we have this storm, it will protect us while we rest.”

“Right. Get some rest everyone. Regular watch shifts,” Scott said as he grabbed a protein packet from the supplies and headed towards his tent.He had the middle of the night watch so he needed to try and get some rest while he could.

***

His watch was boring and cold, having slept better after it. He stills as up at daybreak and back in his armor, tent neatly packed and stowed in the nomad as he started searching the field in the twilight for the power switch which he found by falling down a small hole in the snow pack. Making his way back into the monolith, it was ten minutes work to restart the monolith which was done before daybreak. The storm clouds that had chased them yesterdayhad thinned but there was still steady snowfall that made visibility poor.

Scott stared out at the grey swirl of snow and could still make out the glow of the force field some five or so kilometers distant.The FOBs were reporting no movement of kett troops or chatter on the comms suggestive of kett activity. Now would be the optimal time to sneak into the other monolith and activate it while scoping out that side of the kett base. “Let’s get going,” he told his team and they dutifully packed into the nomad and set off.

The going was slow, the fresh snow more difficult to navigate as they climbed higher on the rim of the valley. By midday they were at the third monolith and it was much less protected from the weather than the other two had been. This one was set into a small mountain pass, the tall pillars of the monolith at more severe angles and less tall due to the terrain it was set into.It too had those strange stalagmites but it was obvious that some sort of land slide had occurred around it not too long ago. He found himself climbing up and down the pillars to reset the power switches to route the power to the console, requiring the use of his jump jets as his team kept an eye out for unwelcome visitors. They’d have to leave as soon as he activated the place, the energy stream would be easily visible even in the poor weather.

“You guys ready to haul ass?” He asked into comms as he positioned himself in fron of the main console.

“As ready as we can be,” Liam said as both Drack and Jaal answered in the affirmative.They were standing around the nomad outside.If activating this monolith triggered the murderbots then Scott was to use his tactical cloak and make a run for it.If the robots were left to defend the place, maybe they’d be useful and keep the kett busy when they came to take a look.

“Okay.... time to do this.”Scott took a deep breath and held out his hand, the console responding briskly to his command and the interface loaded, the same strangely beautiful twirling alien code that moved to his mental commands. The intricate matrix danced and spun, twirled as if dancing in his mind to a dance he’d almost forgotten but still knew. The strands of code moved to intertwine in what he instinctively knew was the right position and the monolith activated. The ground underneath him hummed with energy as the pillars shook slightly and dislodged a rain of small ice particles around him but the energy field around him as he worked protected him from the small, needle like droplets. A beam of energy was generated and pulsed into the atmosphere off into the distance.

Hopefully Peebee would be able to triangulate the location of the vault like she said she would.They had other things they had to do for the moment. As his hand dropped back to his side, he heard the unmistakable sound of an assembler’s metallic trill. He immediately activated his tactical cloak and ran at full tilt towards the nomad, jumping into the passenger seat as the door triggered by SAM closed around him and Liam hit the throttle causing the wheels to spin out slightly as they launched into the snow. Several impacts were heard against the nomad’s shields but no further ones happened after the first set.

When there wasn’t any sign of pursuit by the robots after driving for twenty minutes, Scott instructed Liam to pull overbehind a cluster of rocks. He got out of the nomad and grabbed his sniper rifle, climbing a ways up the cliff side until he could wedge himself in, cursing how cold his hands felt even as he brought the gun up.He then started scanning for activity with his scope. Sure enough, a steady stream of kett vehicles was leaving the base and headed directly towards the now activated monolith. There was a hold that was wide enough to drive one of the large kett transports through that was right where the weak point in the shields should be.

_SAM are you getting this?_

_Yes Scott.This follows our predictions. Based on the location of the breach, that means there must be energy pylons sunk into the base or they would not be able to do this._

_So Peebee’s predictions are correct?_

_Most likely.We will still need to verify on the ground.It would do no good to just assume this. Those aircraft guns have a blind spot right there as well, probably protective so they cannot hit their own vehicles when needing to cover a retreat._

Scott continued to watch the vehicles. It took almost a half hour for the kett vehicles to cover the distance between the monolith and their base. Their vehicles handled the snow worse than the nomad and they blew right past the hidden nomad in their rush to get to the monolith. When they reached the monolith, Scott watched as multiple flyers and two assembler robots attacked through his scope. The kett were surprised by the robots and a violent firefight ensued. The kett won by sheer numbers but it was costly to them. Scott was beginning to form an opinion that Kett didn’t care about loss of life or their own soldiers—they seemed to favor tactics of overwhelming their enemies through sheer number of bodies rather than tactics.Most of the troops were the basic kett infantry that he’d seen before on Eos but there was a higher grade officer with them that tried to direct them.He seemed to be doing his job badly but they crawled all over the monolith once the robots were taken care of.

“Scott?” Liam asked over the comms.

“Stay put.We’re going to let them go past us and go home.We’re going to take a look at things once that next storm front moves in.Shouldn’t be long,” Scott said as he continued to keep an eye on the agitated kett movements. They were obviously stumped as to who had activated the monolith.The nomad’s tire prints had quickly disappeared in the wind and the fresh tracks had been driven over by the kett themselves in their haste to get to the monolith.The nomad was parked on a rocky part of the ground that had been exposed by the wind so it was mostly invisible as long as they didn’t start the engine up.

Sure enough, after crawling all over the monolith for only an hour, the kett returned to their vehicles and started back towards their base, driving past the nomad and Scott without noticing them. Scott waited until they were five minutes past them before climbing down and joining his teammates in the nomad.The change in temperature hit him physically and his legs almost crumpled underneath him as he rapidly warmed once seated in the nomad.

“What next kid?” Drack asked, an impressed look on his face as he observed Scott grimacing as his muscles unlocked from their frozen state.

“We wait for things to calm down.Then I’m going to go take a look at the base of the shield with my cloak. I’m going to try and wire the damned thing to last more than a minute or two.”

***

The next storm front moved in less than two hours later reducing visibility to less than a few meters in front of the nomad. Scott indicated for Liam to proceed and he did, swearing and questioning Scott’s parentage. Scott laughed and told him that Liam was free to swear about his father but to leave his mother alone. Drack had almost broken the side door laughing when Jaal asked Liam to explain his insults. It had added some much needed lightness to the situation and Scott found himself laughing along with Drack.

To go less than ten kilometers took them three hours in the poor visibility and SAM was giving directions to Liam for the last half. Having Liam pull over to the side, directly below the antiaircraft guns, Scott got out of the nomad by himself again, scanner active and sniper rifle on his back, M3 on his hip.

He immediately sunk up to his hips in soft snow that had blown against the base of the guns and practically had to swim out, using his jump jets to get him clear of the soft stuff and land on the more firm packed stuff with ice on top which he then promptly slid on and landed on his ass hard.

“You okay bro?” Liam asked, worry clear through the comms.

Hissing, Scott picked himself up to sitting and felt his boots gain traction on the ice as the spikes bit deep to prevent him from sliding any further down slope. “I’m fine. Just should have been more careful when I landed.”

“Let us know if you want us to do anything,” Liam said, his tone clear he wasn’t sure what he could do but willing to do it if asked.

Sighing, Scott leveraged himself upright and found himself flailing to keep upright but eventually found his balance. His guns were still clamped tight to him so he picked his way to the base of the shield. As it entered the snow, it caused a small amount of melt perhaps a hand span away from the shield barrier itself as it caused enough heat radiation to keep the ice from forming directly on top of it. He followed the barrier all the way to the other gun base perhaps five hundred meters across, his scanner running the whole time with SAM assisting.

The mid point did have two pylons that ran deep underground—it was how they created an entry/exit point for their convoys. However, what they’d missed was that there was a lateral energy conduit that ran underneath the shield and towards the far gun base. It was about three meters deep and, better yet, it was an exposed point outside of the shields. SAM quietly told Scott that taking out the energy conduit would cause the shield to fail.

The entire shield to fail.

He’d found their way in.

 _But what about the anti aircraft guns?_ Scott ran his scanner over them both and asked SAM if he had any thoughts as he could physically feel SAM processing the data like an itch in the back of his skull.

_Run your scanner over the base again please Scott._

Scott did as SAM asked, seeing what looked like electronics imbedded in the base.He placed one hand instinctively against the base and felt a zing go through his body as SAM jumped into the electrical system,

“What the fuck?” He exclaimed, ignoring Liam’s query about what was happening as he focused on SAM.He could see the electrical system reacting to SAM and something was happening.

_I’m in the system.... they did not really protect it against hacking.They assumed no one could get close enough to it to get into their systems._

_How??_

_Your body system is more integrated than others that carry me.Please leave your hand against the wall—it is acting as a conduit._

Scott didn’t know what to say to that but allow SAM to work. He really needed a fucking manual to whatever his dad had done to him. He needed to have a chat with Harry the next time he was on the Nexus.

 _I can give you a list of the changes made to your body during the trip to Andromeda,_ SAM offered as he worked.

 _Not right now_ , Scott told him as he tried to focus on what was going on. It wasn’t like he could change what had already happened.

SAM worked rapidly and something in the systems changed, Scott could see it mentally like a string of lock tumblers cascading open. And then reassembling in a new order. _The guns will now track anyone who approaches but not fire. I’ve removed their process necessary for firing. Even restarting the guns will not restore it._

Scott’s eyebrows climbed up to his hairline. _Really?You’re sure?_

SAM’s reply had an offended tone to it. _Of course I’m sure._

 _Well, let’s get back to the base and plan an invasion_ , Scott told him as he began the slow walk back to the nomad.He was beyond chilled to the bone but kept putting one foot in front of the other until he was able to climb into the passenger seat.

“Let’s get back to base.We have a way in.”

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE May 15th_

_We’re driving through the night to make it back to the angaran base late tomorrow.We’ve got a way in thanks to SAM.I’ll admit I’m trying not to think too hard about how he’s made this possible. The more I learn about how much Dad authorized them to mess with my body... I can’t hyperventilate now.And if I started to, I’m pretty sure SAM would shut that down as it’s a maladaptive response—his words not mine._

_I’m also pretty sure that suppressing things like this isn’t healthy either but I don’t know what else to do. It’s not like I can have my brain transferred into a normal body._

_Fuck this shit._

_I’ve got three monoliths activated. I’m hoping that this planet is just like the others and that means that the vault should be accessible now—wherever it is.We sent a data dump to Cora and Peebee but haven’t heard back from them other than to know they received the intel.I’d love to make this planet just a bit warmer. SAM assures me that he’s making sure I don’t have any frostbite but he hasn’t been able to do much for how much the cold causes a burning ache in my nerves and bones. Evidently the connections from the implants are what’s making me feel so miserable and SAM has apologized several times for being less than helpful at blocking the nerve pain out. All he can do is make my brain ignore it so that when I need to move I can, that it’s in the back of my consciousness rather than all I can focus on._

_So I could have my limbs falling off due to frostbite but I’ll still be able to move._

_I’m not sure this is a trade off I would have ever agreed to if I knew what I was getting into._

_Too bad Dad took that choice away from me just like so many others._

_Sara would tell me that these changes are why I’m still alive. Why I still have choices to make. Mom would just hold me and tell me she still loves me, no matter what._

_I really miss you Mom. Every day._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter than usual but wanted to get this out before starting my work week. I work in healthcare and with the craziness going on I may be less able to write than usual—I anticipate my posting schedule is likely to get pretty uneven for the near future. Stay safe out there everyone. 
> 
> Comments loved, kudos adored. Thanks for reading.


	38. Chapter Thirty-six

Chapter Thirty-six

2819 CE May 16th

Angaran Base, Voeld (aka Habitat 6), Nol System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: feeling like one of the barbarians invading Rome

Arriving back at base halfway through the night, Scott first headed into the Tempest to grab a meal as well as immerse himself in the shower set to as high as could go to unthaw. Liam joined him and neither of them commented on the fact that they turned the showers into a sauna and just basked in it for over an hour, skin chapped and raw but finally getting the ache out of his bones for five minutes. Sitting on the floor, naked except for the towel wrapped around his waist, Scott inhaled deeply the steaming mist.SAM had taken over the shower heads and used the far one to keep adding shots of boiling hot water to keep the room humid and warm. Neither of them said anything, sitting across from each other on the floor as they just appreciated the warmth around them.

There was a loud bang on the door and he could hear Cora through the door. “Are you guys about done in there?We need to go over the intel and what we’re going to do.”

Liam gave an exaggerated groan followed by a wimpier. “I can finally feel my toes again and she wants us to go back out there?”

Scott gave him a wry grin, dragging one hand through his hair and ruffling it so it stuck up at odd angles. “The quicker we get the Moshae the quicker we get off this ice ball.”

Liam groaned as he got to his feet, moving like he felt pretty achy before he held a hand out to Scott.Grabbing the hand, Scott was pulled to his feet. “I want to go back to Aya and sip a drink—one with a mini-umbrella—in the Tavetaan. You better make sure we get to do that when this is all over.”

Scott couldn’t help but laugh as he told SAM to start cooling down the room as they dressed quickly. They had a lot to do.

Cora fell into step next to him as they went up to the meeting room where the entire team was assembled and clutching cups of coffee.“We went through the intel dumps you sent and confirmed what SAM said.Those pylons are a weak point we can exploit.”She paused next to the table and had SAM pull up the data the scanner had mapped pointing to each pylon in turn. “We estimate that either a biotic overload or explosives would do the job due to the failure point here.”

Scott took a cup of coffee that Peebee had prepared as she joined them. “And it will for sure drop that shield?”

“It will,” Peebee assured him. “With SAM having taken out the guns that means we can get up close before they know we’re there. Those guns are their early warning system—the changes he made to the code mean they won’t even track the Angaran ships so we can get dropped right at the front door.”

Eying Jaal, Scott asked his next question, gesturing with his now half-empty cup of coffee. “Have you shared this with our Angaran friends yet?”

“No,” Cora said with a shake of her head.“We felt it would be more appropriate for you to do so.”

Scott shrugged his shoulders and made a face. He supposed that made sense. “What else did you find out about available resources if we ask for more forces to storm this place?

“Commander Do Xeel can commit about twenty fighters and three of their ships. Because their ships are smaller I feel this probably makes sense—they’re also specifically adapted to the environment here so they can fly in conditions where the Tempest might struggle due to it’s size—they’re just for intraplanetary travel not system travel like the Tempest”. Cora explained, tapping on the workstation to pull up a diagram of the ships Scott had seen in the approach to the base.

“Those ships would be able to fly through a storm like the one that was brewing,” Jaal admitted.

“So we can get in before they know we’re there... seems like a plan.Jaal—do you know anything about the structure of the base itself?” The scans had been unable to penetrate the shield. They could see the general structure of the base itself from outside but other than that nothing would penetrate the shield to give more data.

Jaal’s face took on a sorrowful look and he paused before answering.“None of our people who go into their bases come out.They are the disappeared. No one has ever returned from inside one.”

“That sounds ominous.... but what about the Angaran’s that are freed from the work camps?”Scott remembered Jaal commenting something about the leader of the Roekaar having been captured by the kett and why he was so angry.

“The work camps yes.We occasionally are able to raid them and free our people. But once they go into the bases.... none ever have returned. We do not know what we will find in there.”Jaal looked crestfallen as he talked about his people. “So many have disappeared into them.To find out what happens to my people...so many of them...even if we do not find the Moshae there...it would be worth the sacrifice to find out what happens to our people.”

Scott cleared his throat to break the awkward silence of everyone staring at Jaal with sympathy. “So we’ll have more guns. How long do we expect the storm to last to cover our approach?”

“Based on the telemetry we’re receiving from the FOBs... maybe another eighteen or so hours before the storm weakens and won’t cover our approach but that’s an estimate,” Peebee replied.

“Take a quick nap then everyone—I’m giving you six hours and then we’re going to head out.I’m going to ask Commander Do Xeel for their assistance,” Scott announced decisively.“Any questions?”Looking each of his team in the face, they gave quick shakes of their head. “You’re dismissed then.I’ll see everyone in six.”

Cora was the last to leave, stopping at the top of the stairs to look at him while he studied the data left on the vidscreen. “Are you going to get any rest?”

“I’m fine,” he deflected. He had slept a bit in the nomad but it hadn’t been very restful.What had his mom always said? She’ll sleep when she’s dead?

Cora’s mouth twisted in a small wry smile. “I’m serious. Try to get at least a bit for me. You’re going to burn yourself out.”

Scott sighed. “I really am okay. I’m going to suit up and go ask to talk to Do Xeel.We need to get moving—we’ve already wasted so much time. I’m worried we’re going to be too late for the Moshae.”

“If you say so.We’ll be ready when you are Pathfinder,” Cora gave him a warmer look. “Good luck with Do Xeel. She seems well respected from what Vetra and I could find out.”

“I’ll take any luck I can get,” Scott huffed as he joined her on the stairs.

“Just be careful out there,” Cora said as she took his empty coffee cup. “Stay warm.”

“Ha ha,” Scott groused as he headed for the armory and Cora went down to the galley.Staying warm was all relative.SAM promised he wouldn’t get frostbite.

***

Making his way to the same area of the base that he’d met Do Xeel in before, Scott was somewhat surprised that despite the early hour there were many Angarans going about the base still working. Do Xeel was still in front of the humongous vidscreen speaking with another angaran.

“Commander Do Xeel?” Scott called.

Do Xeel turned to look at him, pausing her discussion.She tilted her head at him but seemed to know that he’d brought news. “Pathfinder. I see you did something to our monoliths.”

“I did,” Scott confirmed stepping up next to her to see from her perspective that he was looking at a map of the areas he’d scouted. The monoliths were marked on it as well as the directions of their energy beams which transacted into one point that was in the same valley that they’d first investigated, on the other side of the ice wall from the kett facility. That was probably where the vault was located—he’d forgotten to ask Peebee.

“We received news about your exploits on Havarl. Kiiran Dahls is a big fan of yours. She says that you solved their genetic mutation crisis.It is almost too good to be believed,” she said with an arched brow. “She says you work miracles.”

“Maybe not miracles... but I do try to help those that I can,” Scott demurred.

“Hmph. Modest too.She mentioned that.”Scott got the impression that he’d amused the Commander. “What else did you find besides whatever you did to the monoliths?”

“The shield that protects the facility is similar to those I’ve encountered in the Milky Way.In order for them to have a way in and out there has to be a way of making a gate which is usually considered a weakness to exploit.”Scott had SAM interface with her vidscreen to pull up what their scans had shown. “These two pylons here.... they’re a weak point. If we take them out the entire shield should fall.”

“But what about their guns?” Do Xeel asked, studying the information before her, one hand taping her chin as she thought.

“They’ve been taken care of.With the storm currently blowing through... now would be a good window to make our approach unnoticed, take them by surprise.” Scott waited to see if she had any other concerns.

“It would,” she finally agreed. “Is your team willing to join with us to do so?”

“We are.Evfra charged us with finding the Moshae and my understanding is this is the best information we currently have,” Scott debated appearing too eager but decided that Evfra would have told her that he was here to help.

“Hm.Did you have an idea of when?”

“We estimate that the storm will start to weaken in under... uh... “ Scott glanced at his omnitool to check the time, “seventeen hours. I gave my team a bit of time to prepare but we were hoping to use your ships with your warriors. We don’t know what we’re going to find in there.Jaal informed us of the disappeared.”

Do Xeel was frowning. “He is correct We do not know what you will find.I will have my people ready to go when you are.Their priority will be finding the Moshae and if possible the disappeared.”

“I understand. I told my team five hours from now.”

“We will be ready.”

***

He’d barely had any time to take an hour’s nap and he was needing to get back in his armor and join the angarans.They would be taking three ships. He’d split his team—him Jaal and Vetra on one and Cora, Liam Peebee and Drack on another with approximately twenty Angarans split over the three vessels. Scott’s team would be responsible for breaching the shield.Cora’s team would provide covering fire and protect their exit as the Angarans and he then stormed the facility.Cora had initially had reservations but she understood after the last discussion he’d had with Tann about making sure the team leadership was protected—one of them had to protect for a possible retreat and Cora had begrudgingly accepted her orders.He fully expected to see her blasting holes in the walls with her biotics rather than just sit around and wait on him. 

The ride back to the facility through the storm was a bumpy one, the pilots wrestling with the strong air currents and friction of snow hitting the ships. They were cramped into the hold of the ships, armed and ready to jump out. It took almost two hours for the ships to make it to the facility and there was grumbling of cramped muscles and the anxiety of anticipation on the comms. The other two ships were several minutes behind them, assuming that it would only take minutes for Scott and Vetra to blow the pylons. Vetra had surprised him by producing some rather interesting explosives that she’d obtained from some new friends here on Voeld.

Finally, the cargo door opened and he jumped the fifty meters or so to the ground, jump jets firing as the wind pushed him towards the shield and he landed just shy of the pylons he’d been aiming for. SAM painted the pylons on his HUD andhe directed Vetra to place her explosives on the left one while he put the explosives she’d given him on the right one.Explosive placed, they activated the timer and ran towards the base of the anti aircraft guns, putting the massive structures between him and the explosives. Thirty seconds later, the ground shifted under him as the explosives fired with a thunderous boom causing ripples to go through the packed snow causing the ground to become unstable.Scott, Vetra and Jaal all struggled to keep upright as a small avalanche occurred with snow moving downhill and away from the facility.Scott grabbed Jaal used his biotics to push upwards and away from the shifting ground, Vetra snagging a hold on Jaal’s leg as he pulled them skyward to hover for a very long thirty seconds.As he released his biotics, the odd electric blue glow that was produce by the shield flickered and then disappeared out of existence with a weird fizzing sound that cracked through the storm and then there was silence as the snow settled again.

“Shield is down.I repeat, shield is down,” Scott barked into his comm as they started running towards the facility, his M3 in hand. With the shield down, they could see the place had an entrance up higher but there were multiple access tunnels with grates at the same level as them.The other ship could drop their troops higher up but getting there himself would be a challenge. “We’re going in low.Commander Heckt take the main entrance.” 

Throwing a grenade at the access grate, it blew it apart leaving a hole in the center of the twisted metal. Scott used his jump jets to propel him in deep, firing as he went. No kett were immediately in his way and he found himself in what looked to be access tunnels that led to a larger room. There were several kett in this room working at what appeared to be lab benches with terminals. Scott didn’t hesitate and his gun was firing, Vetra and Jaal right behind him as well as the three Angarans who’d been in their ship. The kett tried to return fire but they were quickly overtaken. Activating his scanner, Scott ran it over everything in the room. “SAM I want to know everything about this place.See if you can find anything to tell us where to find the Moshae.”

Room cleared, they continued down the tunnels. They found several similar rooms and ran into multiple kett.One room was set up like a classroom, a coffin shaped stasis pod sitting empty at the front of it—Scott had no idea what to make of it but made sure all the data from each terminal they found was scanned and stored for later analysis. Another room set up like a barracks of sort with odd style beds that almost reminded him of operating tables.They’d seen similar furniture on Habitat 7 and Eos’s kett base.

Gunfire was exchanged each time they found one of the kett and they were able to overwhelm the kett forces easily as they were disorganize and slow in response. Over comms, he heard confirmation of Commander Heckt’s team taking the main entrance and Cora’s response as she began attacking another one of the service tunnel entrances.

Coming to a crossroads in the tunnels, Scott called back to Jaal. “Jaal? Any idea which way?”

There was a growl from behind him. “This way,” Jaal said as he passed Scott, shooting a kett that popped up in front of him as he led the way to the right.

Cora appeared seemingly out of nowhere, Peebee stumbling into her as she haunted upon seeing Scott. “Fancy meeting you here,” she sad in good humor.

“Jaal says that way,” Scott said with a wave of his gun.

“Age before beauty,” Cora insisted and he rolled his eyes at her as he jogged after Jaal, hearing multiple pairs of footsteps behind him.He knew Cora wasn’t going to sit this out like Tann had insisted they start doing.

“I’m curious what language you’re going to use in your report....” Scott teased Cora as he squeezed off a shot and took down a kett that stepped into the tunnel.

Cora coughed delicately into her comm. “It was noted that several kett were approaching the rear of your position sir and I merely provided the appropriate cover.After that there was no point in returning to our position as we were too far in.”

“Funny that,” Scott grumbled as he continued to trail after Jaal who seemed to be picking random directions to go each time they came to a split in the tunnels.They were much deeper underneath the base but it began to slope upwards. Jaal was tussling with a kett ahead of him and he used SAM to take the kett out with one, carefully placed shot.

“Thanks,” Jaal grunted.

Noise from ahead of them made them both look up.The tunnel widened and came to an elevated walkway around a large room with multiple entrances over it. Commander Heckt’s team was engaged with a team of kett and their wraiths. There were stacks of equipment all over the place making the room below them into a crazy maze of containers. Scott put his M3 back on his hip and gripped his new sniper rifle, setting the barrel on the railing and sighting down the scope.

Quickly taking aim, he took out three kett in quick succession as Jaal jumped down to join the fray. Cora threw herself after him with a war cry, her biotics surrounding her as she let loose. Liam, stopped long enough to give Scott a look before using his jump jets to propel himself half away across the room and drop down in the center of it. Scott could hear Drack using his shotgun behind him as he fired on another two kett that came up the tunnel after them, taking them out with one shot. Peebee kneeled next to him in a gap between the railing and set up a turret that SAM accessed and began targeting each Kett that appeared as a target on his HUD monitor.

Five long minutes later, the gunfire had quieted and all the kett markers were down. Peebee packed up the turret so she could redeploy it later. Scott put his sniper rifle back over his shoulder and drew his M3.They’d seen a lot of kett so far but no prisoners. “Commander Heckt,” Scott called. “Any sign of the Moshe.”

“No,” was the rumbling response. “My team will take the route up. You go deeper.”

“Wilco,” Scott replied, motioning for his team to follow him. Cora and her team fell in beside them. Jaal on his left, Vetra on his right.Drack Peebee and Liam behind him.There were two doors on the lower level—one leading deeper into the mountain and the other going back the way they came. Scott examined the lock on the one that led away from the entrance. He could hear Jaal exclaiming that the crates contained possessions of the angarans that had been captured.Cora murmured to him that they hadn’t found any Angara so far other than those they’d come with.

Studying the lock with SAM, Scott instinctively put his hand on the electronic lock and watched mentally as SAM fiddled with it. _SAM, this way,_ he thought and mentally pushed the lock and it cycled, the indicator light turning white and the door audibly unlatching. Huh... it’d worked. Not having time to further think about it, Scott shoved the door open and saw a hallway ramping upwards and briskly trotted up it, hearing his team and Cora’s falling in behind them.

Rising steadily, about fifteen yards from the door the corridor opened into a huge room the same size as the previous one. Along the wall opposite them was an opaque glass wall.One of the higher ranking kett—a Destined—worked at a terminal in the center of it. Many chosen worked also in the room and one of them noticed their entrance, raising the alarm. Scott took a shot at the one who’d noticed but he did something and suddenly a loud clunk was heard and the unmistakable hunting howls of wraiths was heard with what sounded like something heavy running right for them.

Drack gave a roar and unloaded two blasts of his shotgun, momentarily disrupting the charge of a pack of wraiths, recognizable only by the odd ripple that their intrinsic shielding created when they took damage. Drack didn’t give them time to recover, chairing into the fray with Liam right behind him. Scott threw himself forward to hide behind some equipment and began popping up to take shots with his M3.The rest of the team dispersed through the room to take cover with Peebee setting up her turret in the tunnel so they wouldn’t be taken from behind before joining Scott and taking fairly accurate shots every so often. 

The Destined was a crappy shot.Switching to his sniper rifle, Scott watched in his HUD as the kett directed those around him. Most of the kett in the room were basic grunts but the Destined was smart, if not a good shot. Tracking him, Scott braced the end of his rifle on the railing and waited until a moment before the Destined would be in a gap before smoothly aiming and taking the bastard out with a shot directly to the center of the forehead, right between the eyes. The kett appeared surprised in the scope as blood exited the back of his head in a fountain and he was thrown backwards into the terminals as he died. Scott dove back for cover as the bank of terminals he was hiding behind shook with the impact of bullets. 

Hearing Cora let loose with a biotic nova, the room shook with the impact, pieces of ceiling tile falling to create a small cloud of dust. Using the distraction, Scott took out another three kett with his rifle. Peebee had left him in the confusion and was screaming something at Vetra before there was another small explosion that Scott recognized as being a grenade. Liam’s war cry was a loud whoop as his assault rifle continually rattled with fire and the whoosh of jump jets firing—he was using the ceiling as a jump off point to zoom from one end of the room to the other. The angarans who’d come with them were contributing as well, Jaal giving them orders in Shelesh as they took over the right hand side of the room. Vetra ran past him to the left side of the room, giving Cora backup as her asari sword sizzled through bodies and sang in the air with each swing.

In all the chaos, one of the terminals caught fire and the fire suppression system came on, water soaking everything creating slick spots. An interminable amount of time later, all the kett were dead and Scott as well as his team was mostly fine.

Reaching the terminal the Destined had been thrown back onto, he shoved the body off to take a look. _SAM?_

 _One moment,_ SAM said.

Wiping greenish blood off the alien keyboard, Scott held his hand out and the opaque screen before him cleared to reveal the room beyond. While the room that he stood in was large, the room beyond was simply cavernous. A statue of the Archon, hands upraised in a supplicating manner like an idol praying to some god filled the far reaches of the room.A kett in a flowing red tailed coat that forked and twirled in an unseen breeze stood before the statue, arms upraised as it prayed like a priest at an alter.Arrayed behind the kett priest were other kett soldiers, mostly of low rank.In the center directly behind the priest were several Angarans. They were unrestrained but unnaturally still. There was a small amount of space between them and the rest of the kett.

Pods shaped and the same size as coffins lined the walls with small windows at approximately head height. Scott could see faces in those windows. Angaran faces.

What.

The.

Fuck.

Hearing Jaal step up beside him, Scott heard the sharp intake of breath as well as the cry of fury as the priest turned and gestured. Some sort of capsule like devices opened to each side of the priest, their interiors dark within. The angarans who’d been standing before the priest walked as one to the open capsules and stepped into them calmly, saying nothing and acknowledging no one.Their movements were robotic, unnatural looking. The capsules closed around them, a hum going up from the gathered kett.

Unable to take his eyes off what was going on, Scott watched as minutes later the door reopened and newly born kett soldiers stumbled out to join their brethren, noise from the gathered kett welcoming the newly created ones. The Priest then gestured and another four angarans were brought to the front from one of the side doors, their gait unnatural and eyes unfocused with slack faces that were expressionless—they appeared drugged or hypnotized was the only explanation Scott could think of.

“How.....” was Jaal’s broken sob. “How can they do this?”

Raising his M3, Scott asked SAM which way. This was going to be stopped. No more baby kett today. When SAM indicated the door to their right, Scott pushed Jaal away from the window he’d been raging at. “This way. We’re going to stop this Jaal. Focus on making them stop this.”

Jaal’s enraged growled reply wasn’t something his translator could find the equivalent of but Scott got the idea. “Everyone this way!” He ordered as he unlocked the door.

There was a decontamination chamber that cycled automatically once they stepped in and began running it’s protocols. After verifying with SAM that there wasn’t anything they could do to rush it, Scott calmly checked his clip for ammunition and reloaded. Jaal snarled and tried to use his claws to break the field but was rebuffed. The other angarans appeared in shock and said nothing, merely observing as they checked their own guns and followed Scott’s example. “Jaal,” he said in warning, pulling him back to business in 3....2....1 and the door opened.

Entering the temple like room, Scott didn’t bother being subtle and threw a grenade right at the feet of the priest who stared at them in shock and fell backwards as it staggered from the explosion that followed. A hologram of the Archon appeared and shouted orders, the only thing Scott got out of the guttural speech without time to wait for SAM’s translation was that the Moshae was mentioned. Evidently receiving orders, the priest gave a brief bow and ran out the far end of the room, several other kett following them. Which left Scott in a room with approximately thirty or so hostile kett.

Drack didn’t wait for them to figure out what to do and roared, him and Liam throwing themselves like a bowling ball at pins, assault riffles firing. Cora followed only steps behind throwing a nova at the far end as she raised her sword in a powerful swing and decapitated easily the nearest kett who didn’t move out of her way quick enough with one swing. The angarans who’d been brought for the ceremony stood unmoved at the center as Scott and his team fired around them. Peebee and one of the Angarans tackled them so they wouldn’t get hit, pushing them to the ground without resistance.

Feeling Vetra flanking him protectively, Scott worked the room activating his tactical cloak and using his omniblade almost as freely as his M3. When his cloak fell, charge depleted, he began throwing novas and shockwaves to supplement his gunfire as the room sizzled from his and Cora’s combined attacks. Vetra worked alongside him, anticipating as he turned to provide cover and taking out any kett that approached him from the back. Several turrets appeared as if by magic, Peebee trash talking the kett as she set them up. 

Scott would have to tell her later that he loved her style.

Tackled from behind by Vetra, he narrowly escaped being thrown by a grenade blowing up where he’d just been standing. Vetra, recovering first, twisted and fired into the kett who’d thrown the grenade to drop it. Scott gasped out his thanks as they both rolled to get back on their feet and back into the fray.The angarans who’d come with him were mainly focusing on protecting the four who were defenseless on the floor. It took more time than Scott liked to make it to his next objective.

Fighting his way to the door the priest had left by, Scott smashed the electronic lock, forcing the door open with SAM’s help. A hallway was beyond the door, running parallel stretching left and right without any evidence of which way to go.Gunfire continued behind him and his team as the angarans protected their found people from the few kett left.

“Fuck!” Scott hissed, checking if SAM had any idea which way.

“I’ll take right, you go left?” Cora asked him as she joined him, her armor blackened on one side from where she’d gotten a little too close to one of the fires earlier.

“Works for me,” he told her taking the right and hearing Vetra and Jaal right behind him with Peebee a few steps behind them.

***

2819 CE April 15th

Combined Collective/Resistance Base, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective, aka the Charlatan

Status:Making promises he intends to keep

Reyes and Keema were in the office talking with Evfra, discussing what they’d learned from their rescued bodyguards... which was not a lot. Evfra was pacing back and forth in front of them, snarling as he tried to synthesize all the information he’d received from different sources. Reyes could understand his frustration—he’d been present when Keema had slowly drawn the information out of the barely aware guard named Aavri De Qjagad. Aavri had been the second one to awaken but was nominally the head bodyguard for the Moshae as he was the most experienced fighter. The other two guards that hadn’t awakened?One was dead, the other barely alive and surrounded by grow lights, too unstable to be moved further.Every angaran with connections to the Resistance on Kadara had passed through the base on a regular rotation, spending hours laying their hands and sharing energy with the bodyguards to try and help them. The first one to awaken, Qassa Se, had suffered neurological damage and was unable to communicate above the level of a small child. She’d been loaded on a transport and sent to Aya for recovery—the healers there might have more options than they did on Kadara.

This had been devastating for his Angaran friends and Reyes struggled to support them as he could.The Collective had taken over many duties the Resistance had been providing—he’d stepped up raids on any kett activity and it was at an all time low on Kadara and in Govorkam—no kett ships passed through unchallenged or untracked. Unfortunately this had allowed a slight uptick in outlaw activity but he continued to prioritize any coordinated Outcast activity as priority targets to prevent them from gaining any advantage. It was exhausting but his people were stepping up... and recruiting more every day.

“...skuut.... So it was an inside job?” Evfra snarled as he turned on his heel, his arms flailing in agitation as he paced back and forth in front of the communications array.

Reyes cleared his throat. “The name that we were given was Vehn Terev. Aavri wasn’t able to give us why he did it but said that Vehn let them in and had turned off the proximity alarm on his shift.... that he spoke to them of a promise made.”

“And what was this promise?” Evfra snapped in agitation.

“Aavri did not know this or does not currently recall. He is very weak....” Keema said, her usual confidence missing in her soft, withdrawn tone. She was leaning slightly into Reyes as they both stood in front of the comms and he’d put his arm around her shoulders to give her a one-armed hug.

“But he did confirm that the Kett have taken her?” Evfra paused to frown at them both.

“Yes he did. Aavri said it was one of the Cardinals leading the kett and they had to subdue the Moshae to take her. Aavri said they tried to protect her but they were overtaken and put in stasis pods before... “ Reyes paused and swallowed heavily, trying to think of how to describe what had happened. What Aavri had described had made Keema keen and cry, clutching him as Aavri described being forced to go dark and how it felt. “Before they were put in the dark.They had not seen light until we found them.Aavri did not know why they were taken here.”

Evfra was silent staring at Reyes, his facial features showing his anger and anguish at what had been done to his people. “And what became of Vehn Terev? Where is he? He was not with the others.”

“No he was not.I had my team go through all the information stored on the terminals we found—which wasn’t much,” Reyes kept going as Evfra’s expression darkened even further. “From what we can piece together, Vehn came with the kett to Kadara. There was some sort of disagreement with what to do with the other bodyguards... and then nothing on Vehn.We’ve had our contacts at the docks running through the records on departures.... which aren’t very thorough.”

“So he was last known to be on Kadara....” Evfra resumed his pacing.“You have heard nothing through our resources about him?”

“No.None of our people have seen Terev,” Keema said, rejoining the conversation and straightening enough so that Reyes’ arm fell from her shoulders. Reyes could see her putting distance between herself and the topic, by using Vehn’s family name, by steeling herself. “We need to find him. He may have more answers.”

“Possibly... Kjaan has analyzed the information obtained from the convoy. The sensors on the ship were active even though the alarms had been deactivated. The direction the kett ship left... the most likely destination would have been Voeld,” Evfra had a low rumbling growl underneath his speech that made the hairs on the back of Reyes’ neck prickle from the implied impending violence.

“Voeld would make sense given the amount of Kett activity there,” Reyes added neutrally, trying to calm both Evfra and Keema who now had her arms crossed over her chest, her fingers gripping her arms tightly enough to bruise.

“It would,” Keema agreed.

Evfra stopped and turned to face them directly, his eyes gleaming with fury. “I want to ask both of you to do everything you can to find Terev. Find him and bring him to Aya for justice.I will organize our efforts on Voeld.” Evfra paused, thinking before continuing, his voice breaking. “If you find anything else to help us... find her.... please....”

“We will do everything we can to find her and Terev,” Reyes assured Evfra and Keema who clutched at his elbow, a steady pulse of feeling of family and determination coming from her fingers as her other hand found his to grasp it in thanks.

“While this is not the news I hoped for... it is more than we had,” Evfra ended the conversation shortly thereafter, giving Reyes and Keema further charges regarding their activities to suppress any kett movements before finally signing off.

As the communication equipment signed off, Reyes stared at where Evfra’s hologram had just been, his jaw clenched tight. To be betrayed by those closest to you... loyalty was important. “Reyes?” Was Keema’s soft call of his name.

Looking at her, Reyes purposefully relaxed his shoulders and jaw. “We need to get word out through all our contacts.”

Keema gave him a sad smilie. “Sholaon... you did not need to promise us this.”

Reyes cleared his throat and shifted his weight. “No.I did need to.Your people gave me a chance... have made me a part of your family.I do not know the Moshae personally, but she is important to you, important to Evfra. That makes her important to me.”

Keema gave a chuckle that didn’t sound amused. “Oh Sholaon, when you found us I don’t think any of us thought you would be like this. Evfra tells me that having family, having connections is a weakness. After Tefa died, he told me that Tefa’s death confirmed it to him. Too close meant too much pain.” She gently cradled Reyes jaw, the touch warm and loving, he leaned into it before thinking. “Tefa was right that you are family to us, perhaps as my underlings suggest to me you are one of the tavetara.... although you are perhaps the strangest one we’ve ever had.”

“Tavetara?” Reyes had heard the term but as it’d never been relevant he hadn’t asked.

“A reborn one. A soul that has lived it’s life once and returned to us,” Keema’s smile brightened slightly, not completely loosing its sadness.—some even suggest maybe you are one of the Heskaarl...”

“Ah. We call that reincarnation... not something my family believed in but it was common enough back in the Milky Way.” He deflected. It was a nice thought, that he was meant to come here. But that would take believing in fate... and well, he’d decided a long time ago he was going to make his own path.

“Re... in... car.. nation... an interesting word,” Keema said as she tried out the syllables. “You do not believe?”

“I’m not sure anymore what I believe in,” Reyes smiled at her. “Except for my friends.”

This got a genuine laugh out of her. “You are a charmer,” she said with a happier tone. “Always a charmer.”

“I do try,” he admitted as he started to guide her out of the office. They needed to have a drink or several before deciding how they were going to start the hunt for Terev.

***

Two weeks later and they’d spread Vehn Terev’s name around Kadara and the Port. There wasn’t anyone that wasn’t aware that the angara were on the hunt for a traitor and that whoever brought him to justice would earn a lot of credits as well as the gratitude of the Resistance. Additionally, Reyes had made it known through the Collective that the goal was to bring him back alive to Aya for justice. This had, understandably, turned the gossip mill of the port on it’s head. Even the Outcasts were looking for Terev on the side.

What Reyes had been able to verify through his network was that no one had given Terev a ride off planet—or at least no one who would admit to it. He had been seen around the port maybe two weeks ago trying to secure a ride off planet but hadn’t had the credits and had disappeared back through the gates into the badlands before the Collective was aware to be on the lookout for him. Reyes had been meaning to start working on clearing the outlaw raiders that lived in every abandoned shack and settlement that the Angara had left standing when they were overrun by the Kett years ago. It seemed that task had been moved up on the priority list.

Walking through the slums, he could see that both the medical clinic and the soup kitchen had steady appearing business. Nakamoto had recruited a young asari to work as his nurse. Kian had told Reyes that she wanted to gain medical training and was willing to work for her education. Reyes had appropriately increased the contributions to the clinic to make sure that she was being supported. Nakamoto had been in Tartarus trying to figure out who the funds were coming from almost immediately—the man was giving Reyes lessons in paranoia and he’d had to purposefully make it appear like the funds weren’t coming from him to appease the reformed doctor.

Filan had converted his stall from a food cart into a full blown soup kitchen, providing two meals a day to any who came.He did have a policy of paying as much as you could spare and the residents of the slums silently enforced a fair policy.No Outcasts were served without payment and after a few attempts to shake Filan down, they’d given up at least for now.

Going towards Tartarus, he didn’t say anything as Colton fell into step alongside him opposite Kenax who was loping along on his right. “Nice night, you looking for company?” Colton said, using his usual indication that he needed to speak.

Reyes cocked his head towards the prostitute. “I’ve got time for you.”

Colton gave him a grin and motioned towards his usual place of business. Reyes diverted into the alleyway that was outside Tartarus. The far corner was dark and where Colton commonly did his business but they didn’t move into it, just going in far enough to hide from the casual passerby, Kenax pausing at the entrance after making sure there was nobody in the alley to guard it.

“You have something for me” Reyes asked.

“Your ex is alive and mostly well. And she’s pissed at you,” Colton informed him. “One of the regulars was present when she was brought before Sloane Kelly. She pleaded her case.”

“Fuck,” Reyes said, pinching his nose. This wasn’t a complication he needed. “When was this?”

“Two days ago.Evidently Sloane Kelly didn’t have a lot of sympathy for her other than to say she owed them a shipment. Told Zia that it was up to her to make up what she owed them.Whatever business that existed between her and you was up to Zia to collect on, no skin off Kelly’s nose since you kept your own business deals with her.She was pretty rough looking—Zia.Supposedly came in on one of the other smuggler’s ships. I checked with the docks and they said she was covering her transportation fees with her body, no sign of her ship or her crew.”Colton relayed his report like the professional he was, tone nonjudgmental.Reyes had been walking around for two days both topside in the market as well as the slums. None of the Outcasts had hassled him and there’d been no change in the brief business he’d had with them. 

“Any idea where she went after that?” Reyes asked.

“No.She was last seen at the gate, headed out into the badlands with just the clothes on her back yesterday.I spoke with the guards and best guess is that she’d contacted someone as they had a few freelancers head out about the same time. None of them were overly friendly with her.” Colton shook his head before continuing. “Not sure what went down between the two of you but she looked mean.Everyone who saw her said she was asking about you and it wasn’t out of love.”

Reyes sighed in frustration. He knew that somehow this was going to blow up in his face, probably at the most destructive possible moment. “Spread word that if she’s seen that we need to know where she’s going, with who and what. Notify me with highest priority.”

Colton looked at him in concern. “How much trouble is this going to be boss?”

He shook his head before meeting Colton’s concerned eyes. “I don’t know. I have the suspicion that we’re going to find out though. Keep a look out.”

“Yes boss,” Colton replied with a mock salute. “Just watch your back boss.”

“He’ll watch it,” Kenax said coldly from where he’d overheard.“If Zia knows what’s good for her she’ll leave well enough alone.”

Reyes debated telling Kenax to knock of the homicidal urges but it was rather reassuring. He probably shouldn’t let him get away with it but he might need his protection in the future. “It’ll be okay,” he told Kenax with more confidence than he felt.Kenax’s look promised that Reyes wasn’t going to be left alone any time in the near future.

“Let’s get into Tartarus. No more lingering in alleyways for a while,” Kenax told him as he carefully herded Reyes towards the entrance to the club.

Reyes made a token protest but went along with Kenax’s urging. He wanted to get out of the dead end alley too now.

***

Later that night, Keema had joined him in the back room at Tartarus. She seemed to have been clued into the news about Zia somehow by Kenax who hadn’t left Reyes alone for even one second until she’d arrived.Reyes had no idea how he’d gotten word to Keema. She’d shown up and been plying him with his preferred whiskey now for almost two hours and he was finally beginning to relax, his spine liquefying as his limbs sprawled bonelessly over the couch with his head propped up on the arm, small pillow behind him so he wouldn’t completely ruin his back.Keema was snuggled into the far corner, her own legs propped up on the coffee table as she regarded Reyes and regaled him about the latest gossip from her new recruits that had just arrived yesterday.

He was trying to put the news about Zia out of his mind and focus on the social drama that was every Angaran’s life. Keema had shushed him when he tried to give her an update on the search for Terev and he let her, loosing himself in the rhythm of her gossip. Evfra continued to be frustrated in his own search for the Moshae according to the recruits, his mood more taciturn as of late than usual. When she moved on to their mutual acquaintances—Kjaan, Yaansa, Maiko’s frequent collaborators in the workshops.... he felt a twinge of sadness and found he missed them all.

Things had seemed a lot simpler back when he’d been in training to become a member of the Resistance. Running the Collective? Being the Charlatan? It took a lot of time and energy but he wouldn’t give it up at this point. He could see his goals getting closer. But the risks were real.

A knock at the door interrupted them, both Reyes and Keema staring at it before Reyes called for whoever it was to enter.

Vestus entered closing the door behind him.He looked troubled. “I’ve got bad news,” he began.

Reyes straightened up, feet falling to touch the floor. “That doesn’t sound good,” he said as he drained his glass, the whiskey burning pleasantly as it went down his throat.

“Vehn Terev was picked up by an Outcast raiding party out in Varren’s Scalp. They’re bringing him in,” Vestus said, mandibles flared in consternation.

Reyes coughed as the last few drips of whiskey went into his lungs instead of down his throat. “What?”

“He was practically gift wrapped from the sounds of things. He ran out of water, couldn’t ask for any help due to us looking for him. Thought he might get some sympathy from the Outcasts,” Vests grumbled as he sat on the chair next to Reyes, pulling out a bottle of the mead he preferred and taking a pull off it.

“I take it they’re more interested in credits than in helping out a random stray who’s no friend to the Collective?” Reyes asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Got it in one.Those raids we’ve been doing have cut into the budget. Kelly’s been having her people buy their own ammunition and guns for the last couple of weeks,” Kenax admitted as he joined his mate, sitting on the arm of Vestus’ chair.

“Any possibility we could take out this convoy before it gets here?” Reyes thought of which resource team he could reassign. It was a sucky time to be reassigning them as they’d just redeployed with new assignments yesterday. Nobody was in the right position for a high stakes ambush between Varren’s Scalp and the port.

Vestus pulled a face that said he didn’t like their odds either. “Not without leaving some pretty big holes elsewhere. We’d probably be better off waiting for them to bring him to us.”

Reyes poured himself another glass, taking a sip to try and calm his cough. “You think Kelly will hold him for a bit before claiming the reward?”

Keema interrupted.“Vehn Terev belongs to us.He should face Angaran justice,” she hissed the last part. The last week had been hard on her and her teams, their extensive searches turning up empty time after time. To have Terev now show up in Outcast custody was galling and Reyes understood her frustration and anger.

Holding up a hand to placate her, Reyes tried to de-escalate. “I know Keema. But that doesn’t mean I want to ambush the convoy that has him and accidentally kill him or let him loose.It would be a more controlled situation to wait until he’s in port. There’s no way that Sloane Kelly doesn’t take this as an opportunity to try and have some good PR.We will get him and deliver him to the Resistance.”

“She won’t kill him right away. She’s going to parade him about and make sure we all know who caught the one we’re all looking for,” Kenax agreed.

Keema didn’t seem willing to calm down but when she saw the look Reyes was giving her she just stopped, her eyes losing none of their fire even as her body folded into the corner of the couch she’d been sitting in, a marionette whose strings had just been severed. “Reyes.... he belongs to us....”

Setting his glass down, he moved to take her hands in his and squeezed gently, eyes sincere, trying to imagine he was sending her the same reassurance through touch that she often sent him. “I made you a promise Keema. A promise to you and Evfra—I intend to keep it but we need to wait for the right time or we’re just going to make a bigger mess of this. Vestus?What else do we know?”

“I’ve already got several contacts among the Outcasts working on it. They’re all currently busy trying to figure out where to stash Terev. The assumption is that they’re probably going to use the storage rooms in Kelly’s headquarters... but we’ll know shortly after he gets here.Kelly has already announced one of her parties to celebrate the capture.”Vestus looked annoyed at the last bit, finding it in bad taste to celebrate before you had everything in hand. A lot of things could go wrong while transporting Terev.

“Seems a bit presumptuous to celebrate a victory before you’ve secured it,” Reyes murmured as Keema pulled back from him and clutched her glass of liquor before throwing it back. He watched her concernedly but didn’t say anything as she lit up a cigarette and he gave her some room.

“Her victory will be short lived,” Keema announced to the room. “I have faith in you Sholaon.”

Reyes gave her a wry smile, picking his whiskey back up but not drinking. “I have faith in all of us,” Reyes said with a gesture to the occupants of the room. “I’m sure we’ll think of something to get to Terev.”

Vestus snorted but didn’t disagree. “We’re already working on it Keema. We just need to wait for the opportune moment and then slip in and away with the prize before Kelly can get her claws into us.”

“Vestus... if you were not already spoken for I might kiss you,” Keema told him with a laugh. Reyes found himself chuckling as well. Kenax was a lucky turian and so was Vetra.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE May 17th_

_So we may have caused more problems then we solved today—and I’ll admit right now things are not looking good. Jaal is.... well, saying he’s angry would be an understatement. SAM has had time to go through some of the data we captured from the kett facility and it’s explained a few mysteries that Jaal is now wishing we didn’t know the answers to._

_The Disappeared... they’re all most likely now kett. It seems that the way that the Kett reproduce is by genetically altering other species into being... well them. Those really disorganized troops that I’ve been going through are all newly converted kett—most from angaran—who haven't had time to develop into more skilled kett. This is why the numbers never matched—more going in than coming out of kett troops and why they’re mostly grunts.Neither the angarans or I ever thought that they were making more kett out of angarans._

_It’s really a horrible thing._

_I mean.... I don’t think anyone would willingly step in there—into the exaltation chamber. The priest that was leading the conversion ceremony—they call it being exalted—is well, the equivalent name would be a Cardinal. The Archon is their equivalent of the Pope or the Dali Lama—their whole race is tied to this genetic religious structure. The ones who they exalt... they do something to them first to make them more susceptible to the change. That’s why the angarans willingly walked in—their minds and bodies are weakened to the point where they can’t resist._

_In my wildest dreams I don’t think I could have dreamed up this. The Cardinal told me that I couldn’t resist, that I would eventually be one of them. My immediate feelings was revulsion and pity. I may not have wanted all the changes that have been made to my body, but I don’t think I want to be anything other than myself despite those changes. This exalting.... it’s not... well I was going to say natural but besides that I don’t think that genetic diversity is a bad thing. Historically it’s worked out in humanity’s favor to have a varied genetic pool and I want to maintain my status as an individual. But I’m rambling._

_SAM says their genetics show evidence of being manipulated and standardized—which is not in and of itself bad. However... designer bodies will have flaws just like the rest of us. There’s always trade offs for every advantage. I like my freedoms and I like being me—even if I didn’t choose to be me. The kett are just.... weird. And I think Jaal is insulted that they felt his people were not good enough by themselves but needed to be integrated into them._

_The kett see this as an honor, the highest privilege._

_I think it’s just another way to get stuck in the rat race and be unhappy with yourself.They’re really just chasing power like a lot of others before them and a lot of others after. They just have a side of genocide to their goals._

_It’s not like they’re the first invading army ever to do this. I’m sure they’re not going to be the last either. Andromeda was supposed to be a fresh start, a new beginning. I’m now convinced that some things are going to be the same everywhere. Megalomaniacs after power, people struggling to survive, good people, bad people. It’s all the same. I don’t know why I thought it might be different._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments loved, kudos adored. Thanks for reading.


	39. Chapter Thirty-Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning this chapter for descriptions of violence.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

2819 CE May 16th

Kett Facility, Voeld (aka Habitat 6), Nol System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: working on meeting a deadline

This place was a fucking maze. Running down the corridor, Scott listened as SAM tried to direct them and as Cora’s team relayed their position relative to him. He’d been going deeper and deeper into the base and the walls around them vibrated with the sound of machinery that they couldn’t see. It’d also gotten progressively warmer.

There is some large room, perhaps a landing or cargo area up ahead, SAM informed him as they stepped into another decontamination chamber as the tunnel twisted sharply left and ending in a small vestibule-type room that had a heavy duty door on the other end from where they entered.As soon as they cleared some invisible line, the decontamination protocol and field sprung to life trapping them there.

“Fuck,” Scott breathed into his mic. SAM asked him to put his hand on the wall that wasn’t covered by the containment field and he could feel the AI searching for something. “SAM?”

_One moment. I am attempting to access the base’s systems. Do not drop your hand._

“Okay....” Scott said, curious as to how the fuck SAM could do this but unable to begin to fathom an explanation that didn’t make him sound like an idiot.Peebee was looking at him weird as he didn’t move his hand.

“What is SAM doing?” She asked him.Both Vetra and and Jaal seemed to figure out that something weird was happeningand also were looking at him now.

“I honestly have absolutely no fucking clue.He just told me to leave my hand on the wall,” Scott told her with a shrug. Hacking was not his specialty nor was computer systems. He’d have to take SAM’s word for it what he was doing. 

Peebee had a frown on her face but seemed to realize she was asking the wrong person to get details on this, simply raising her scanner and focusing it’s beam on Scott as SAM worked. “Well that’s interesting....” she murmured as she looked at the readouts.

Before Scott could ask her what she was referring to the decontamination procedure abruptly stopped with an electronic low pitched whine, the force field dropping and the door at the end opening. SAM informed him he could proceed and he dropped his arm back to his side, gripping his M3 as he sharply inclined his head and began walking through the door. On the other side was what appeared to be a staging area/dock.

There were few ships but kett ran here and there between huge exhaust vents in the floor that opened in a regular pattern to discharge heated air amongst parked ships and cargo stashed here and there. He could see the priest’s red coat fluttering on the far side of the room where there was several of the coffin-shaped stasis pods, several hundred meters away on a raised platform.There was a small protective detail around them and they had their weapons pointed outwards from the priest as he opened one of the pods.From this distance, an angaran figure slid free from the pod to land unsteadily on their feet.

The identity of the slender figure was confirmed by Jaal’s roar of outrage and fear as he charged towards the priest screaming the Moshae’s name.Scott gestured for Peebee and Vetra to follow him as he tried to catch Jaal to give him backup. The kett guards saw them almost immediately and very shortly they were in the midst of a gunfight.

Yanking Jaal down into cover behind the raised vent outlet, Scott threw a stasis field around the Moshae so the kett couldn’t move her without getting caught in it themselves. SAM identified on his HUD so many moving targets that Scott just focused on making sure nobody was flanking them.From another doorway he heard an explosion and through his comm he heard Cora announce they’d reached them by another route. “Scott we’re here too!” She called, her breathing labored and he could hear another explosion from a shockwave.

“That’s the Moshae. We have eyes on the Moshae in the stasis field. We need to get to her,” he ordered, his shield flickering as the vent he was crouched behind belched a discharge of heated gas that pulsed against his shield to eat at it.Fuck, they couldn’t stay here. They needed to get to that priest and protect the Moshae.

Pushing Jaal out towards the next cluster of crates, Scott simultaneous used a biotic charge while firing his M3 into the kett guarding the priest. As the charge fizzled out with his attention divided between maintaining the stasis field protectively around the Moshae it didn’t propel him quite far enough and he hit his jump jets to push them fully into cover. Jaal recovered enough to start using his assault rifle to scatter the bravest of the kett who’d been trying to approach their position.

Vaguely hearing a turret beginning to fire, Scott realized Peebee was hard at work when he heard her give a war cry of her own and Vetra snapping at her to be careful.This caused Peebee to laugh manically and Vetra to start swearing. He couldn’t see them from his position but assumed they were giving their own contribution to the ongoing gunfight. He could also hear the sizzling hum of Cora’s sword from further away as well as Drack’s roar and the firing of jump jets with Liam’s enthusiastic “yippie kay yay!” That he’d picked up from one of his movies.

Focusing on the identified enemies on his HUD, Scott began to methodically target them, ducking out from cover for brief periods of time and emptying a clip into alien bodies before pulling back long enough to reload. As the number of active aliens died down on his HUD, he could feel the pull of maintaining the stasis field getting worse. “Cora, I’m not going to be able to hold that protective field forever. Get to the Moshae!” He ordered even as he left cover to dodge and zigzag his way to behind a railing around the perimeter as he worked his way closer to the priest who was frantically ordering his troops to attack Scott’s team and the angarans.

From his new position, Scott could see the Moshae floating in his stasis field, weakly struggling against it.Stasis fields felt weird to be stuck in and even if you were completely calm, the instinct to struggle against it would make you move at least a little. It felt like being surrounded by heavy water and pulled at your muscles as you tried to swim in it. The Moshae looked mildly distressed but alive. The priest hovered around the edges of the field, arms flailing as it gave increasingly frantic orders, unwilling to get stuck in the field with the Moshae.

There were only a few kett soldiers arrayed around the Moshae, most haven been taken out. Targeting them, Scott quickly eliminated three of them, leaving two with the priest. The priest shrieked for his soldiers to kill Scott, sending some sort of energy towards Scott that exploded against the crate he was currently behind, pushing it back and making his boots slip on the smooth flooring. Swearing, Scott took his last grenade—one of the sticky ones that would cling to whatever it hit—and lobbed it at one of the guards. It stuck right in the center of the chest, the alien frantically trying to get it off as the grenade activated and the alien became a cloud of blue green mist as it exploded, killing the other soldier it was next to as well.

Which just left the priest who kept throwing these blasts of energy towards Scott, the crate he was crouched behind starting to look pretty creaky—like one more hit and it was going to disintegrate on him. Jaal snarled and ran straight for the priest as it swung to face him, a ball of the energy gathering on it’s gauntlet. Scott didn’t hesitate and emptied his clip into the gauntlet. The first three shots hit a protective field but the fourth and fifth made it past the field as it weakened and the gauntlet shattered, bits of electronics raining around the priest as it stumbled backwards from the force of the shots before tumbling to the floor and scrambling away from Jaal who now stood between it and the Moshae.

Stepping out from cover fully, Scott jogged over to stand next to Jaal, not taking his eyes off the priest who stared back fearfully. He automatically reloaded as he approached and raised his gun to point it directly at the priest but didn’t pull the trigger.

“Please do not do this.... my temple.... why have you done this?” The priest pleaded in a surprisingly feminine voice. The kett had no secondary sex characteristics that he could tell but maybe this one was female?“You interrupted our ceremony—why? Exaltation is to be cherished, to be remade into something better!”

Jaal snarled at the priestess before Scott could reply, angrily gesturing with his assault rifle. “You kidnap my people and force us to become.... this!”

The priestess gave Jaal a superior and pitying look, almost a sneer, and slowly stood but was still poised for flight. “They are taking the next step and they do so willingly. To become one of the kett, to become more.It is the final step. It is what will happen to you all eventually. Why would you stop exaltation?”

“Maybe because we’re fine how we are,” Scott interrupted. SAM alerted him that they had multiple kett ships on approach and that there was a direct entrance that the ships could use to this staging area above them. A few scattered gunshots echoed around as his team cleaned up the remaining kett alive here, Commander Heckt’s team having joined Cora as they hunted amongst the cargo and parked ships. The sound of engines made the priestess appear more confident. Scott released the stasis field and it fizzled out, the Moshae slumping to the floor with Jaal kneeling by her side, speaking to her quietly as they both watched Scott to see what he would do.

“SAM?Any way to level this place?” Scott asked aloud, gun still pointed at the priestess who looked furious at the suggestion.He didn’t spare a glance for the Moshae or Jaal.

“Yes.Would you like me to begin the process?” SAM asked aloud through his omnitool speaker, picking up on Scott’s intention.

“No! No! You can not do this!” The priestess shrieked. “My temple is a holy place. You cannot do this!”

Jaal didn’t wait for Scott to reply. “You cannot do this Scott. My people—they are still alive. We must get them out of here.”

The priestess’ eyes darted to Jaal and then back to Scott. “I can release those in the stasis pods... if you leave and let my temple stand.”

“You cannot,” was the deep, almost raspy female angaran voice from behind Scott—the Moshae—spoke. “If you allow this place to stand you are only delaying the destruction of our people. They will resume exaltation as soon as we leave.”Jaal let out a wounded sound at this, trying to beg in shelesh for the Moshae to not tell Scott to leave their people to die.Scott understood both of their positions but he didn’t really answer to either of them. The decision, oddly, was his to make seemingly.

Scott didn’t look at either of the angarans as they continued to argue, watching the priestess whose face was apoplectic but focusing on Scott who still held his gun pointed center mass. The whine of engines approaching was louder. “You will release all of them?” He clarified, tilting his head as he questioned the priest.SAM informed him he had less than five minutes before they’d be ass deep in kett soldiers from the approaching ships.

“I can.In return you will leave my temple intact,” the priestess said, an anticipatory look given to Scott but not before a look of disdain thrown at the Moshae. “The Moshae Sjefa is short sighted to deny exaltation.It is inevitable.”

Scott silently debated the pros and cons before stating his decision. “Let them go,” he said, lowering his gun. Jaal gave a sob of relief as the priestess gave a satisfied look to Scott, reaching for the undamaged gauntlet on her other arm, the priestess did something to the gauntlet which seemed to function much like an omnitool.

“I am releasing all the captured ones from their stasis pods. You must get them out yourself.” She said with a bored tone, SAM verifying that the stasis pods were opening all over the facility. “And get out of my temple.We will meet again and you will understand the beauty of exaltation.”

Scott waited until she was done and had begun to walk away before he raised his M3 and shot her directly in the back of her head.That had been stupid of her to turn her back on him and he watched dispassionately as she slumped lifeless to the deck. “SAM?Five minutes until the reinforcements arrive?” He asked, ignoring the stunned looks from Jaal and the coldly assessing one from the Moshae. Heckt, Cora and their teams finally approached, Cora giving a curious look to the priestess who now was missing half of her face from the exit wound. 

“ETA is less than five minutes for kett reinforcements,” SAM announced. “Would you like me to begin the self destruct sequence?”

“No,” Scott said. “Cora, Jaal. You need to get as many of the freed angarans out of here as you can. I’m going to stay here and hold them off. Take them out through the tunnels—SAM? Please send directions on how to get out as quickly as possible to everyone. Drack, Vetra I’m going to ask you to stay with me. Everyone else get as many out as possible.”

“Heh kid. You did promise me a good fight. Good to see you’re keeping your promises,” Drack said with a laugh that sounded like a small rockslide.

“Point me where you want me,” Vetra said, picking up a kett gun and slinging it across on shoulder while rifling through the bodies for extra ammunition.

“Scott.... how are you getting out of here?” Cora asked, hesitating.

“Don’t worry about us.SAM will send you where to pick us up ad when. Get going lieutenant!” Cora stiffened at the cold order and called for the rest of the team to follow her.

Jaal looked at the Moshae who was now standing and at Scott. “What are you waiting for Jaal? Get going,” Scott told him as he joined Vetra in scavenging extra ammunition and guns.

Jaal looked like he wanted to say something more but nodded at the order. “I cannot thank you enough Pathfinder. My people will tell tales of you for millennia.”

“Don’t count us out yet,” Scott called after him. He was hopefully not going to die. Hopefully.

The Moshae didn’t go with Jaal but knelt next to Scott and picked up one of the kett guns he’d checked that still worked. “I do not know who you are but you should have blown this facility when you had the chance.”

“I still have the ability to,” Scott informed her dryly as he handed her a clip of ammunition. “I’m going to buy them time. You should go with them—I’m told you’re important to a lot of angara.”

“My choices are my own,” she told him stiffly, eyes narrowed as she studied him. “Something tells me you are an interesting creature.”

Scott laughed at her which made her give him a vicious looking smile. Something told him that she wasn’t going to be impressed by him anytime soon. SAM said something and he almost missed it but the last part was rocket launcher. “What was that SAM?”

“I said that you may be interested in the content of those crates over there. I am marking them on your HUD.The shipping manifests of the kett are rather thorough,” SAM repeated himself.

Walking over to the crate, Scott used his omniblade to pry open the top which gave way with a groan of metal failure. “Well fuck me,” Scott exclaimed softy as he looked inside. Nestled inside in soft foam packing was a set of handheld missile launchers and about ten missile heads. “Vetra—Christmas came early.”

Vetra came over to see what he was looking at and crowed in delight. “Those are beautiful.”

“What’s in there?” Drack asked with interest, his trusty shotgun cradled lovingly in his arms.

“Missile launchers. Two of them,” Scott informed him. “Want one?”

“You two can have fun with them. I prefer a more up close and personal approach,” Drack said with a chuckle.

“Okay. Vetra you’re going to be where Cora entered and I’m going to go back where I came from—you two can decide which door you want. We’re going to trap them in here as much as possible—buy time for the others. When you’re out of missiles, I’m going to tell SAM to start the countdown for fifteen minutes and to seal the doors out of this room. That gives us fifteen minutes to get clear of the facility before it comes down,” he told his friends and the Moshae.

“And where are we going after those fifteen minutes—assuming we get out,” Vetra asked.

“The monolith—the one close to here is less than five kilometers or so. You and Drack do well with the cold as did Jaal so I’m assuming the Moshae will be okay.We’ll ask for evac from there.”

Vetra gave him a concerned look. “It’s pretty cold out—are you sure you’re going to be okay doing a five kilometer hike in the storm?Humans don’t usually like cold like this.”

“SAM tells me I’ll be fine,” he told her as he ignored SAM’s silent vocalization of his concerns for Scott with this plan. He knew he would get there... what condition he’d be in would be another question but he’d make it. “Get in position everyone.”

***

The next three minutes were the longest three minutes of Scott’s life. He’d given the missile launcher to the Moshae and asked her to aim it directly at the entrance above them as stashed as much ammunition (five missiles) as he could in a bag that had originally held tools that he then used the handles as a backpack so he could carry it all.SAM was more in the computer systems than Scott had originally guessed, having gained control over the exhaust vents as well as most of the doors in the facility. A steady stream of numbers on the corner of his HUD told Scott how well Jaal and the others were doing on getting the Disappeared out of the facility and the number made him feel slightly better about what they were doing. He’d also given orders to Cora to use the ships they’d come in to get out the most weak as well as herself, Liam and Peebee who wouldn’t do well with prolonged cold exposure with the plan for his own evac tomorrow from the monolith. The angaran who were able to walk were headed into a set of tunnels that had been there for millennia and would come out on the northern side of the range. They’d failed to mention these tunnels earlier but Scott didn’t Jaal anything as it wasn’t worth it. 

Cora’s worried disapproval hadn’t been explicitly stated but she’d reminded him she intended to earn her position as a pathfinder—not inherit it.He prayed that she followed his orders and didn’t try and double back on him.

The first ship started to enter the room and just as it’s shadow was made visible, the Moshae let loose the first missile and scored a direct hit as the ship came into full view only to be slammed into and explode, raining debris down on the deck. SAM had the comm line up as listen only for the kett communications and relayed that more ships were coming. The second ship to enter was taken out by Vetra as Scott reloaded the Moshae’s launcher and she refocused on the target.

The second ship followed the first, bursting into flame and breaking apart as did the third. The fourth however slipped through and made it to the far side of the room. Scott ignored it and ordered Vetra to focus on the next ship coming through. The Moshae had tracked the ship and from their viewpoint they could see kett beginning to swarm from the ship and she fired, the missile streaking across the room to slam into the kett disembarking and the boom was deafening, explosion throwing the ship back into the wall which caused the entire room to shudder and shake.

“SAM! Now!” Scott ordered as a few Kett got too near the exhaust vents. SAM released the pent up heat and the superheated exhaust caused a cloud of heated gasses to envelope them and they were boiled alive, screams abruptly cut off as they died. Vetra hit another ship and it broke apart to rain more debris down on the kett trying to find them. Peebee’s turrets that she’d left behind started firing as they identified kett targets, adding to the misery.

Another ship slipped past but the angle wasn’t good for them to target it from either entrance. Scott had the Moshae focus on the next ship entering and she took it out. They had one missile left and Vetra had one left as well. “Focus on the roof!Bring it down on them!” He ordered.

The Moshae gave him an exasperated look and took aim at the roof just to the side of the entrance where the heavy load bearing beam was located and took the shot, missile deploying with a whoosh and cutting a trail through the smoke that was beginning to gather in the room due to multiple fires breaking out. As it struck the beam, the resulting explosion was accompanied by the whine of the girders on the roof breaking. A second explosion signaled Vetra had taken out the beam on the other side and the roof began to sag and buckle.

Discarding the missile launcher, Scott pushed a kett gun into the Moshae’s hands. “Time to get going. SAM seal the doors. Fifteen minutes people!”

 

***

Running down the corridors, Scott found himself skidding around corners and firing as they met resistance. The Moshae lagged a bit behind him but mostly kept up—his shields taking the brunt of any returned fire. Multiple booms sounded and the facility shook around them as SAM informed him he was blowing up gas lines and causing chaos above them.

As they reached the lower tunnels, Scott could feel the cold wind creeping out to touch him as they neared the exit. They had two minutes... and they needed to be far enough away so the explosion wouldn’t vaporize them as well—SAM estimated at least several hundred meters to be outside the immediate kill zone, a half kilometer to a kilometer would be better but he couldn’t run that fast even with his jump jets. They came across small squads of kett that had come up from the same entrance they’d used and Scott found himself simply blasting them with shockwaves to get them out of his way making his vision waver from the force of each pull. His hands trembled from both the adrenaline as well as fatigue as he kept going, the Moshae right behind him.

Jumping from the tunnel entrances, he tucked and rolled as he hit the snow, tumbling down the slope and using momentum to get himself away. He could see in the swirling snow that the ships were gone from where they’d left them—so Cora had listened to him. The Moshae landed next to him and she pulled him up and pushed. “We need to run!” She ordered him.

Running to the east in the direction of the monolith, he heard Vetra’s voice up ahead telling him to get his ass in gear. “I’m hauling ass as fast as I can!” He gasped back as the cold penetrated and made his muscles protest at the sharp change. He gripped the Moshae and threw her over his shoulder while firing his jump jets. She protested but held on tightly as they were propelled up and away. Landing he took a few more steps before firing the jump jets again.

Just as the facility blew behind him—the antiaircraft guns having turned on the facility before themselves blowing up as SAM fully overloaded the defense systems—Vetra caught up to him with Drack right alongside her. In the deafening roar, he heard her shout something as the blast wave hit them and knocked them forwards almost thirty meters to land hard and Scott felt something in his shoulder snap as it took the brunt of his body weight, Moshae tumbling further past him as she was dislodged from his grip.

He couldn’t hear anything except ringing as he stumbled to his feet, swaying heavily side to side. He could feel wetness on his face but didn’t know what it was—probably a nose bleed from overusing his biotics given the severity of his migraine. He just stopped himself from pulling off his helmet as he saw Vetra limp up next to him—he’d almost forgotten how cold it was and across his HUD SAM reminded him to keep his helmet on. Drack was huddled up protectively in a ball and uncurled to blink at him and say something that Scott couldn’t hear. “What?” He asked, not hearing anything.

Drack was looking at him concernedly and carefully got to his feet saying something more. “I can’t hear you....” Scott said tapping on the side of his helmet over his ear and immediately regretting it as nausea made him fall to his knees and hands bracing himself from falling face first into the snowbank he’d landed in, left shoulder screaming at him that something wasn’t right. Okay... no touching the head. Throwing up in his helmet would be a really bad idea.

A strong grip on his injured shoulder made him scream before he managed to contain it, biting his lower lip almost through to stop it. The hand had released him when he’d made noise and he did fall into the snow as he tried not scream again. The hands returned and gently turned him over so he could see Vetra. She said something to Drack and then held out a hand. He took it with his right and she pulled him to standing, saying something to him and he minimally shook his head and repeated that he couldn’t hear her. Behind her, smoke poured from the facility that was now a smoking ruin, flames covering the base and a thick column of smoke billowing from it to disappear into the storm clouds that still were dropping heavy snow around them. Several kett ships could be glanced fighting through the smoke before leaving, giving up the fight as lost.

Vetra pulled Scott’s good arm over her shoulder and put an arm around his waist, turning him to start walking towards the monolith. Drack had picked up the Moshae and was similarly helping her.

And they began walking. It took minutes for his body to become numb—first the pins and needles before the agonizing nerve pain that told him he was still moving despite the severe subzero temperatures. The only part of his body that felt warm was his shoulder and it felt like it was on fire—a hot poker of pain that SAM couldn’t completely make him ignore as it kept him awake. SAM had done something so he’d still be able to move but he couldn’t hear anything over the loud ringing in his ears.

All he could do was put one foot in front of the other and trust that Vetra was leading him in the right direction. The world around him quickly became a white grey blur of snow and the occasional exposed rock face, soft fresh snow on top of a hard compacted ice layer that every so often broke underneath his boots causing him to stagger but never fall due to Vetra’s grip on his midsection.

Time slipped away and the light started to fade even as the snow began to fall slower but still was accumulating.Just putting his left foot in front of his right, then his right in front of his left. Over and over. Gradually the ringing began to fade and he could hear indistinct noises that he guessed were his friends talking but he couldn’t understand it.

The snow finally stopped but it was night, the sky clearing enough to show a starry sky that was breathtaking in it’s beauty. When they finally reached the monolith, Scott knew that it’d taken them much longer than it should have... but they’d made it. Vetra guided him to a corner where the wind didn’t touch him and the numbness that had slowly developed receded just enough for his limbs to begin to prickle again as the increased air temperature allowed his suit to catch up a bit better. Curling into the corner, Scott pulled his limbs to him, putting his hands over his chest. What he wouldn’t give to feel warm again.

Vetra said his name and he smiled at her, not realizing she couldn’t see it. “I’ll live Vetra. I’ll be okay.”

Vetra gave him a worried, doubtful look. “You can hear me?” She said carefully, enunciating each word but still sounding like she was shouting from far away, the ringing in his ears intensifying as he tried to focus on her words.

“I can hear you but my head hurts.... tinnitus....” he told her.

Her mandibles flared and her look of concern deepened. “Stay here Scott. Cora will pick us up as soon as she can.”

Scott gave her a thumbs up, hand shaking terribly. The Moshae, who’d been standing behind Vetra also looked at Scott in concern, saying something to Vetra that he couldn’t hear. Vetra turned to reply to her and he only got one word “helmet” from what she said. The Moshae said something else and Vetra appeared to be thinking for a moment before she carefully nodded. Vetra then crouched down to eye level with him and carefully reached out and removed his helmet.

The air temperature was just slightly above zero since they were within the towers of the monolith and it felt good to feel fresh air on his face even though it was chilled. The Moshae took Vetra’s place and carefully placed her hand on Scott’s exposed cheek, her thumb stroking the left side of his nose as her other fingers cupped around to his ear. Warmth spread from her hand and he began shivering violently as the feeling spread like liquid fire to awaken his flesh that had gone numb from exposure.

“Sleep. We will watch over you ongaan,” she told him as his eyes closed.

Sleep sounded good. Someone else could take point for now.

***

2819 CE May 6th

Tartarus, Kadara Port Slums, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective, aka the Charlatan

Status: Engaging in risky behavior

Vestus and Kenax had been busy trading off stalking duty as Reyes was now calling it. Neither of them felt comfortable leaving him alone for any length of time because of Zia.Reyes initially felt okay with their overprotective act but it was quickly becoming old. There’d been no sign of Zia and he really needed them both to focus on working their contacts to figure out how they’d get Vehn Terev out of Outcast custody and into theirs.

So Reyes was sitting, safe and sound, in Tartarus nursing his favorite whiskey, reading reports that were coming in from various Collective teams. Maiko’s report in particular was amusing as she’d been experimenting with ways to start plants off of cuttings and the small fruit trees that they’d planted were starting to sprout. It’d be a long time before they had apples and citrus but Reyes found himself missing certain fresh produce like a missing limb.

Alzik’s report on the first generation of adhi pups was less exciting—two of his assistants had been treated for bites in the last week and he was requesting that Reyes send him new recruits that had some experience with wild animals. Reyes had put it on the list but responded to Alzik that he’d work on it The intelligence reports and the raiding reports were similar—mixed bags of successes and dead ends. Another Oblivion lab had been successfully destroyed yesterday leaving only a few small batch ones still in existence so there was still a trickle of it making it’s way into port—not enough to keep up with demand so price was up.

The door swished open and Vestus entered, balancing dinner on a tray for both himself and Reyes. “Anything exciting?” He asked.

Sighing, Reyes rubbed his eyes tiredly. He hadn’t been sleeping that well for a while—ever since he’d set Zia up. “Yes and No.Alzik’s pups may be young but their teeth are sharp.”

Vestus winced and gave a nervous sounding laugh. “Ouch. How’s Maiko?”

Reyes smiled softly and saluted Vestus with his whiskey before taking a sip. Vestus hadn’t been out to the base in almost three weeks as Kenax had been the one to go with Reyes for the last run to Elaaden. “She’s good. She’s debating asking Tovrel to marry her. She’s using my mother’s telenovelas to explain human tradition to him.... god help her and him.”

This time Vestus’ laugh was more relaxed as he sat down in the chair and put the tray on the coffee table, picking up the bottle of whiskey that Reyes had set on the floor and filling up Reyes’ glass when he held it out. “Marriage? Already?”

“She told me that she realized that life’s too short. She asked me to help answer any questions that he might have when she started giving him hints,” Reyes said with amusement, the corner of his mouth turned up in a happy smile. He was happy for Maiko and Tovrel but it also made him sad. Keema’s explanation to him about Angaran life bonds—their version of marriage—was a big commitment and not necessarily monogamous as polyamory was fairly common. The topic had been touchy for both of them—Reyes because of Tefa and Keema because of her husband’s death. It wasn’t that Reyes had been thinking long term with Tefa, it was more that the relationship had been different. The contrast recently with his thing with Zia only made him more uncomfortable and he tried not to think about it too much.

“Marriage is a big step,” Vestus agreed. “When Kenax and I.... did I ever tell you I dumped him on his face outside of my rooms the first time he came on to me?”

Reyes sputtered, coughing to clear his throat. “What?”

Vestus had an evil glint in his eye as relaxed back into the chair, crossing one leg over the other. “Thought it was an overdeveloped case of hero worship—he’d worked with me for years at that point as his direct commander.Dumped him out the door and told him to come back when his head was clear.”

Reyes stared. “And he forgave you?”

Vestus’ crest lifted and Reyes could detect a faint rosy tint to his face. He hadn’t known turians could blush. “The little shit dumped me on my face during routine training the next day. Told me he could decide what he wanted for himselfand would I do the honor of allowing him to court me.”

Laughing, Reyes saluted Vestus with his glass and drained it. “Looks like it worked out.” 

Vestus’ grin was knowing. “It did. Some days I’m surprised he stuck with me through it all.When he suggested Vetra... well... I couldn’t say no.”

Swallowing, Reyes was curious. “So.... it was his idea?”

“Both of ours. We’d discussed it back in the Milky Way but when the assignment came up... we agreed that the only way we’d do it is if we had the goal of settling down once this job was done.Six hundred years and change later... well both of us met Vetra and well... you know most of the rest,” Vestus opened his mead and took a pull, sighing in satisfaction.

“So I can send Tovrel your way when I fumble explaining human relationships?” Reyes asked as he pulled the plate of food towards himself and picked up the fork to poke at the salad with adhi steak.

“You’ll do fine—I think you don’t give yourself enough credit.Tefa knew that you were worth it.”Vestus’ tone was encouraging.

“I think you give me too much,” Reyes said before changing the topic of conversation. “You hear anything new about our friend?”

Vestus rolled his eyes, picking at the root vegetables that made up the majority of his meal. “Still being held where he was yesterday. The guard rotation hasn’t changed either. Most likely we’re going to need a third party—probably Keema—to petition for our friend to be released into her custody but that could be tricky.”

“Hmm...” Reyes agreed. “Last I heard from the docks was that she’s not ready to give him up quite yet. Wants to bargain with the Resistance.”

“But she hasn’t sent out an official request yet to Keema?” Vestus asked, one claw stabbed through a cooked vegetable and he nibbled at it.

“No. Keema has been making herself available but no request yet and it’s been a week. She’s getting anxious.”Sloane Kelly had been sitting on Terev for five days since they made the port.She’d made a big point out of greeting her Outcasts down at the gates to the badlands and personally inspecting Terev as he was pushed off the transport and into the mud next to the sulfur pools in front of a large crowd.He’d been restrained and unable to protect himself, landing face first. 

Reyes had been in that crowd and watched as Kelly used the heel ofone boot to viciously kick the angaran in the chest and put him on his back so she could see his face clearly before leaning down and grasping his chin to turn his face this way and that, pulling to the point of pain. Terev had been silent, unsure of what to do when face with the pirate queen of Kadara Port. Kelly’s words had been bone chilling as she proclaimed him hers and said that if the Angarans wanted to give rewards they’d have to go through her first.

She had then snapped her leg out, foot connecting with Terev’s abdomen as she ordered a chain and collar be applied. One of her crew had complied and then handed her the chain leash after it had been snapped around Terev’s neck and yanked him to follow her. Terev had difficult getting on his feet and was drug for several meters before finally getting to his feet leaning forward with his face to try and breathe around the tight metal collar. Kelly had called him her “prize pet” and towed him to the elevator and then through the market to Outcast Headquarters.

Terev had been in an Outcast prison cell ever since.None of Reyes or Vestus’ people had been able to get into the guard rotation but they had been able to keep tabs on his status. He was minimally being fed and wasn’t being slapped around as Kaetus was a professional even if all the Outcasts weren’t. Kelly had been preoccupied with the raids that had continued out in the badlands—not all of which had been Reyes or the Collective. Outlaw raiders were taking advantage of the weaknesses that Reyes had created.

Vestus was tapping his claws against his empty plate, face contemplative. “I’ll bet you a thousand credits she doesn’t give up Terev. She’s going to sit on him for a long while.He gives her back a measure of control.”

Reyes bit into his adhi steak, chewing noisily as he thought which made Vestus give him a gentle kick as a reminder to be polite. “Possibly. She has an impulsive streak though. If we push her... she might do something.”

“So how do we push her enough so she gives Terev up to Keema?” Vestus asked.

“I don’t know. We’ll have to think of something.”

***

The next day, Reyes was making a deal in the market with one of the vendors. He’d received a contract for some parts that he’d obtained on Elaaden and was making the drop off. He’d just concluded business with Vestus hanging around him when there was a commotion towards Outcast Headquarters.

“Reyes,” Vestus said, drawing his attention as Vestus settled a bit closer, putting himself between Reyes and the noise.

Outcast soldiers flooded the market to create a corridor through it to the small platform that Kelly liked to use for statements. All of them were armed to the teeth and were freely applying force to make everyone back up. Reyes faded back into the shadows around the stall as Kaetus went by dragging a human male with one hand around his throat. The man looked rough, both eyes blackening with bruises and his jaw swollen on one side, arms restrained tightly behind his back and he was limping, something wrong with his left knee. Clothing was torn but looked brand new otherwise. Skin was olive toned, dark hair and eyes. He was very thin—obviously hadn’t been well fed in a while but looked defiant out at the crowd, refusing to acknowledge Kaetus who still had his claws fastened like a collar around his throat.

Kaetus paused in front of the platform and then kicked the man behind the knees, making them go out and for him to kneel in front of the platform. Kaetus looked murderously out at the crowd, his crest and mandibles flared in aggression as he studied each and every face looking at him.

Which is when Sloane Kelly made her own entrance. Hips swaying, shotgun cocked over one shoulder she stalked from her headquarters before standing in front of the kneeling man. She reached out and snagged his chin, making him look at her.His eyes could have burned holes in her from the hatred blazing in them. Kelly’s face was frigid, her own eyes furious and her movements tightly controlled with almost a mechanistic quality to them as she face him full on, legs planted firmly as she stretched, shotgun arching up above her head, hands coming to grip it firmly by the stock. He didn’t say anything and she swung the shotgun like a baseball bat and it connected with the side of his head with a sickening crack, Kaetus releasing him just in time to not get hit himself.

The man fell to the ground and his head hit it hard on the other side. His face was covered in blood, skull obviously dented and eyes open. He coughed and blood started to dribble from his mouth, his legs spasming as he tried to get away. Kaetus pulled back and Kelly raised the shotgun over her head a second time and brought it down again and then again.

Nobody said anything as she proceeded to beat the man to death in front of them all, the man’s blood splattering on her and her face as she continued to beat him to a pulp long after he’d stopped breathing or moving. She started screaming obscenities, calling the man an “Initiative Whore!” Repeatedly as her favorite insult.

It took her a good twenty minutes or so to run out of steam before she gave a scream of rage and threw the shotgun to clatter against the wall behind the platform as she stalked to it and climbed up, breathing hard from both rage and exertion. Her face and armor was coated in blood so much that you couldn’t see the blue beneath it anymore.The blood was so extensive it was dripping off the end of her chin and nose, the only part of her face that wasn’t coated in dark red blood was the white of her eyes. “Is there anyone else?” She snarled, spitting slightly as she screamed. “Anyone? Anyone else want to try and take me?”

Silence greeted her. Everyone in the marketplace was holding their breath, waiting for this to be over so they could get the hell out. Reyes could practically smell the fear around him.

Kelly spread her arms out by her side, her hands smeared with blood and other tissue. “This is what happens to fucking traitors, Initiative scumbags who are jealous of my success. Kadara is mine!Does everyone understand that?” 

Nobody said anything which seemed to make her even more furious when she repeated, “Does everyone fucking understand that?”

A murmur of yeses whispered around her, no one wanting to draw her attention to them. Kaetus, who was standing below her with his arms crossed over his chest loomed threateningly, the sound of energy weapons being warmed up from the Outcast soldiers around them. “Does everyone understand?” He repeated. The murmur of yeses was louder this time.

Kelly spoke again. “Kadara and it’s Port belongs to me—not Initiative scum, not the fucking Collective, not the piece of shit Charlatan. It’s mine. Which means everyone here owes me taxes. Taxes just fucking doubled—and you owe them now.Can’t pay? You go over the fucking edge and the scavengers can have you for breakfast in the slums. Line up!”

The Outcasts then entered the crowd and began collecting fees of up to five thousand credits. A good percentage of the market goers were not able to produce their “taxes” and were herded off to stand at the edge of the market next to the elevator to the slums.Reyes paid both his and Vestus’ fees, keeping an eye on who was being separated out. None of his people were in the group nor was Vestus’ but he saw a few that had given him good information in the past or who just wanted to go about their own business.

Fuck.

Reyes sent an emergency message to Keema. He sent a second one when he’d received no reply ten minutes later. She’d told him she’d meet him later in Tartarus.

When they were done collecting, about twelve people were pulled to the side. Three of them were angarans.Vestus had a tight grip on Reyes’ arm to prevent him from doing anything and he had given Vestus a good glare when he refused to let him go. Keema hadn’t replied to the message he’d sent.

Decision made, Reyes shoved Vestus and told him lowly to “Let me go Vestus. I have to do this.”

Vestus gave him a searching look and finally let him go. “Reyes.... don’t do anything stupid.”

Reyes pushed himself to the front, getting the attention of the Outcast guards and causing a murmur to go through the crowd. Several people hissed at him to get back, not to draw attention to himself.“I’d like to pay their taxes...” he said loudly.

This got Sloane Kelly’s attention and she jumped down from the platform and walked directly up to him. The smell of blood wafted from her as she stopped just centimeters from him, her face amused. “You want to pay for them?Aren’t you Zia’s ex?The one who skipped out on her?”

“Then you know I’m good for it,” he said calmly.

She found this funny and began to chuckle which then became full on belly laughs. “You’re fucking good for it?I knew she screwed up but she was right... you are something,” the last part was sharp and she was looking at him much closer. “So do you have the credits?”

Reyes licked his lips, giving her a flirtatious smile. “I just got done with my trades. I can cover them.”

“Then pay up. I’ll even cut you a deal since it’s a bulk purchase—fifty thousand credits,” she said, her eyes not leaving him as he tried not to flinch at the price—that was half the reward for Terev.

Meeting her gaze, he relaxed his body and flirtatiously leaned into her which made her shift as well. He brought up his omnitool and pulled up his funds to start the transfer. He’d just entered the amount and was about to approve it when Keema showed up.

“Reyes.... I asked you to pay for my people—not everyone,” she said calmly as she sidled up to him and put an arm around his shoulders.

“Keema,” he said brightly, laying it on thick. “I promised I’d take care of it for you.”

“No matter, I’m here now.”She turned to Kelly. “Reyes intervened on my people’s behalf but I’ll gladly pay for all of them.”

Sloane Kelly had a sour look on her face as she looked between Reyes and Keema. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?” She asked him.

Reyes shrugged, doing his best innocent act. “Keema’s good business.”

Kelly snorted. “And Zia was just business as well—that’s what she said you said at least.”

He shrugged again. “I keep my business commitments. Zia’s offer was unfortunately lower than the other one I received.”

Kelly’s face did something complicated that he couldn’t read but she evidently decided to take what he said at face value. “Pay up and they’re all free to go.... but I expect you at my next party Reyes. I want to talk business with you.”

“I’m always open to a good business deal. I’m a free agent that way,” he told her which made Kelly’s eyes soften marginally.

“Whatever,” she said as she walked away.

Reyes made a show of watching her as she walked away, making it look like he was appreciating it. Keema ended the show by pulling him away once she’d performed the transfer of credits with Kaetus and those by the railing were free to go. The angarans who’d been caught up all approached Keema and looked ashamed. She spoke quietly to them in shelesh and they murmured promises of paying her back, several of which side-eyed Reyes who hadn’t moved from her side. The others had all disappeared into the crowd as soon as possible.

Show over, the Outcasts allowed people to leave the marketplace and it was soon deserted except for a few stall owners and the Outcast guards. Kaetus instructed someone to pick up the remains and have them nailed to the wall outside of the gates to the port. It seemed there’d be a new decoration for the Outcast warning wall. Keema, having finished talking to her fellow people, pulled Reyes with her as they stepped into the elevator to the slums.

“Thank you for sending me the message. I am sorry you had to speak up and draw attention to yourself,” she said tiredly. Once they were in the elevator she slumped slightly, the arm around his waist tightening as she drooped in fatigue so he put his own arm around her in support.The tingling sense of family spread from where her hand rested on his hip.

“I couldn’t let them throw your people down to the slums. They didn’t do anything,” he said softly. Vestus snorted but didn’t say anything.

Keema sighed. “It was a big risk you just took. She’s going to be looking at you much more closely now.”

Reyes swallowed heavily, his throat suddenly dry. “I’m sure that her attention is going to be momentary. I’m just a simple smuggler who’s good friends with the angarans.”

“Right sholaon. Just a smuggler,” Keema’s smile was sad but still amused. “Just thank you.The people owe you a favor when you need one for that.”

Reyes raised an eyebrow at her comments, suddenly wondering if she thought they were being recorded. They regularly checked for security and listening devices around the port to know what resources the Outcasts had. It seemed Keema was giving him more cover just in case they’d missed something. The elevator made sense as it was a heavily traveled route for surveillance.

“It’s no problem. I’m happy to help you and yours,” he told her sincerely. He’d wait until they hit his rooms in Tartarus to clarify.

***

Keema didn’t let him start talking until she’d ordered meals as well as refreshments from Kian. Vestus had messaged Kenax and he was going to be there shortly. Vestus hadn’t mentioned what Reyes had did that made him concerned but Kenax’s immediate message that pinged his omnitool after he got off the comms with Vestus told him that Kenax knew Reyes had done something he shouldn’t have.

“Should we wait for Kenax?” Keema asked Vestus in amusement as Reyes began swearing at the message.

“My mate will not hold it against us. He’ll make sure Reyes doesn’t do anything this stupid again,” Vestus had a gleeful, evil gleam to his eyes. Yeah... his stalker patrol just got rabid.

“Ha fucking ha,” Reyes grumbled as he accepted a tray with three meals on it from Kian. Kian gave him an amused look and Reyes shooed him out of the room after grabbing the bottle of water from him, making sure the door closed tightly after. Sitting down in his usual spot at the other end of the couch from Keema, Reyes pulled his usual lunch towards him. “I couldn’t let her just kill them.”

“Yes you could have,” Vestus argued. “You drew a lot of unnecessary attention to yourselfand now you’re going to have to make sure that Kelly confirms that you’re just a smuggler with strong ties to Keema which is what made you speak out.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. I’m going to make sure everyone knows that you’re my preferred vesagara to work with,” Keema said as she lit one of her cigarettes. “And no more heroics Reyes.

“Yeah.... I need to play charming, low life thug. I get it,” he grumbled as he began to eat.

“Charming, unambitious low life thug,” Keema corrected him. “Who is now owed a favor by me.”

He sighed and shrugged, tucking into this meal, refusing to talk more about it. Keema and Vestus exchanged amused looks over his head but he didn’t take the bait. He knew he’d just drawn Kelly’s attention but he could deal with this.

Taking her cues from Reyes, Keema began updating him about her inquires regarding Terev. She’d made herself available but Kelly hadn’t engaged yet. Several other Resistance assets had pushed on Outcast members about wanting Terev to face angaran justice so it wasn’t that the Outcasts weren’t aware of the Resistance interest. Neither had the Outcasts demanded the reward money, but with the increase in taxes the Outcasts would be at least flush with funds for a brief while until they squeezed the port’s population dry.It wouldn’t take long if they kept collecting taxes like they’d just extorted.

Kenax joined them shortly.

And it was obvious he’d heard about the marketplace, his gaze immediately finding Reyes and he pushed his way into Reyes’ personal space to inspect his human to, as he grumbled, “make sure you’re in one piece”. Used to his friend’s antics, Reyes tolerated it for a few minutes before gently pushing Kenax towards Vestus. “I’m fine Kenax. Vestus was there and I got out in one piece.”

Kenax scowled at his mate but didn’t move away from Reyes. “You should have sat on him so he couldn’t move.”

Vestus grimaced. “Have you ever been able to stop Reyes from doing what he wants?”

A complicated nonverbal exchange between the two mates ensued. Reyes ignored them both and went back to finishing his lunch. Kenax didn’t give him space but allowed him to eat. “Why is it you continually can’t keep out of things?” Kenax finally asked him.

Chewing and then swallowing, Reyes shrugged. Kenax was going to murder him if he kept brushing him off. “From what I could tell, none of the ones who couldn’t pay up were ours other than the three angarans. Which means they’re just trying to make a living.”

“So you think they’re non-combatants?Rules of engagement don’t apply in Andromeda Reyes,” Kenax stated plainly, unimpressed but listening.

Reyes set down his fork deliberately and looked at his friend. Kenax was watching him worriedly and he was sorry that he was possibly putting his friends in more danger with what he’d just did... but it had been the right thing to do for a a lot of reasons—only one of which was semi-altruistic. “Did anyone know who the man was she beat to death?He wasn’t one of ours.”

“You’re avoiding the question.... but I did hear rumors as I ducked in here that the man was from the Initiative.” Kenax told them, relaxing somewhat into the couch cushions between Reyes and Keema.

“An assassin?” Keema asked.

“No.I think he was one of their attempts at trade. Not sure how he got this far away from the Nexus.”Kenax looked even more worried.

“We’re due to meet up with Vladimir in two weeks. We can find out then,” Reyes said with false confidence. Vladimir had been regularly keeping them updated via messages in between trading runs but he hadn’t seen him in person in over six weeks now and hadn’t heard from him in almost as long.His not alerting them to Initiative presence on Kadara was concerning.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE May 17th_

_So I’m writing this as a way of keeping awake. Vetra reset my shoulder for me which I dislocated. SAM has been bathing it in medigel and keeping it mostly numb but I can still feel it. We’re all hunkered down at the monolith awaiting evac, tucked into a corner that’s protected from the wind. The storm’s cleared but it’s still lingering between us and the Angaran base. The Moshae... and wow is that weird to say... tells us that the severity of the storm we went through means that they won’t be flying unless they absolutely have to. Her tone indicated that we’re safe here so likely pickup won’t be for a while yet._

_The Moshae.... she’s something. She hasn’t said a lot to me since I woke up this morning other than to check on me. Vetra and Drack are giving her space and she’s not really talking to them either. I’m guessing her first impression of me might not be all that great. I did agree to leave the facility alone and then shot the priestess dead from the back. Not sure what kind of alliance can be built on actions like that. In my defense... I consider the angarans my priority and I’ll do what I can to have the best possible outcome for me and them. The kett are a non factor.It’s not like the priestess is going to be able to report I went back on my word—and I would like to point out that I never promised her I would. I merely asked for her to let the angarans go and she assumed I agreed to the rest of it. Diplomatic doublespeak was something my Dad excelled at. I learned growing up to always get specific agreements before assuming stuff in these situations._

_Sara is never going to believe me when I tell her about yesterday_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ::Sigh:: Reyes has gone off the reservation on his plot lines—that is the only excuse for his parts of this chapter. Possibly no chapter next week depending on my work schedule/covering for ill coworkers. Stay safe out there everyone! Social distancing is a must! 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments loved, kudos adored.


	40. Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight

2819 CE May 16th

Tartarus, Kadara Port Slums, Kadara, Govorkam system, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective, aka the Charlatan

Status: collecting spilled tea

**note interlude between chapter 27 and 28 occurs within the timeline of this chapter and is reposted in this section for clarity in case you forgot how much Reyes likes telenovelas—it has some slight differences so is worth re-reading**

The last week had been tense and he’d been doing his best to appear non-suspicious. There had been several Outcast members who’d randomly checked into Tartarus and Reyes—one going so far as to having a drink with him.Reyes had been amused and happily gotten the man drunk. Kenax had wanted to shiv him on his way back topside but seemed to realize that would make it even more suspicious for Reyes. Reyes simply let them know he knew Kelly was checking up on him and asked if they had any business deals for him.He was quite possibly taunting a pit viper but they were on his turf when they were down in the slums.

Reyes reclined on the couch in the back of Tartarus, sipping and contemplatinghis glass of the Angaran bourbon—which wasn’t that bad but definitely would benefit from some aging in whatever version of oak barrels he could find some day. Keema sat across from him, smoking, occasionally sharing bits of Angaran gossip but mostly asking invasive questions about his ethnic identity and family structure and comparing it to Angaran family traditions.Ever since Keema had been introduced into different cultural differences in humans she had been captivated.While there were some similarities between Chilean culture and Angaran, he didn’t think his family life experience had been a great example to use for Keema.Someone—not him—had made the mistake of letting Keema know about his stash of old earth telenovelas. Keema was now addicted to them and seemed especially obsessed with the South American lifestyles that had gone out of fashion almost a hundred years prior to coming to Andromeda. 

Keema was enamored by the romantic comedies and working class melodramas. She was determined that Reyes was missing his family and in desperate need of a romantic life partner.A true life partner to be his equal, the romance of the ages.Oh how that was the exact opposite but how to tell her without explaining too many embarrassing details.His current pattern of short term, transactional relationships, was evidently not convincing to Keema that he was fine without finding the love of his life.He wasn’t even sure that there would ever be a love of his life, after all it hadn’t worked out so well for his mamá or his tío (but that might be slightly unfair to his poor tío).

“Have you talked with Evfra lately?” Keema asked.

Taking a sip, Reyes replied, “Not in a while. Why?”

“The human Pathfinder landed his ship, the Tempest, on Aya three weeks ago.Evfra was his usual charming self and gave them a mission to prove their usefulness.”

“I’m surprised the Initiative is helping—there has to be a reason.Evfra isn’t someone they would want to make an enemy of but I can’t see him wanting to give them anything for free and I don’t see Evfra helping them out too much anytime soon.The Resistance has enough fights to fight without adding saving the Initiative from starvation”Reyes couldn’t help expressing some surprise at Keema’s news.If there was a Pathfinder involved that meant that one of the arks had finally made it... which meant he needed to know how this was changing things for Vladimir and if this would change their regular delivery schedule or not. It also had the potential to blow up the delicate political balance on the Nexus—which may or may not become Reyes problem.

Keema’s opinion would also potentially be something to keep an eye on as she pointed out that Evfra helping the Initiative would keep their eyes focused on Aya rather than Kadara which was Keema’s priority. Kadara was Keema’s territory and she’d made it Reyes’ too. From what he’d heard of Alec Ryder, from those who knew him somewhat well, he shouldn’t be interested in anything the exiles or a guerrilla group of Angaran rebels were doing unless it directly benefited settlement or supplies for the Initiative. “From what I know of Alec Ryder—and I don’t know much—he has no interest in anything that doesn’t immediately benefit the Initiative.”

Keema’s face did the Angaran equivalent of raising an eyebrow.“But it’s not Alec Ryder who’s been the Pathfinder involved. It’s been a Scott Ryder.”

Choking as he swallowed a larger mouthful than he meant to, the bourbon burned itsway down his windpipe. Coughing to clear his throat, Reyes leaned forward. “Who?”

Laughing as if she’d made a joke, Keema took a pull off her cigarette. Keema offered more information. “Evidently Alec Ryder is dead. Scott Ryder is his son.”

“Evidently I need to check back in with some contacts for better information.What do you know about Ryder the younger?Other than nepotism is evidently alive and well within the Initiative.”

Knowing she had Reyes attention, Keema studied him for a moment, trying to decide how to answer the question.“Young. Idealistic. He somehow is getting things done that I would have thought the Initiative was unable of doing given how they lost a lot of their more ambitious members to the exiles.Evfra even said that he wasn’t completely hopeless.”Keema paused to take another pull off her cigarette and gave a secretive smile. “He’s also quite handsome and single evidently.My sources were not able to find out his preferences for romantic partners.”

Staring at Keema, Reyes couldn’t believe how much she kept needling him over his love life.“I’m not looking to make a long term relationship commitment of the romantic sort. Besides, he’s Initiative and a Pathfinder.While I applaud your desire to strengthen our political stance, I’m not offering a marriage alliance to whatever poor young sap they tapped to be Pathfinder.Given the life expectancy of the Initiatives prior explorers I doubt they’ll even make it this far.”

“So if this Scott Ryder makes it to Kadara I should make sure you—what’s that human phrase—run into him?”

Rolling his eyes, Reyes tried and failed to stop his own sarcasm.“If Scott Ryder makes it to Kadara I’ll happily meet him.But I doubt he will.”Finishing his bourbon. Reyes changed the topic purposefully. “So who gave you access to the telenovelas? Was it Maiko?”

Smiling that she had won her prize, Keema gleefully switched to her current favorite topic other than her human friend’s love life. Now if only Reyes could convince her that Blasto was a better watch so she’d leave him alone about his love life.

***

Having spilled the tea about the new developments in the Initiative, Keema had eagerly set up a call with Evfra the next day.Reyes, the more time he had to think about it, got more upset he hadn’t been told immediately about the intel. The message he’d sent to Vladimir hadn’t been replied to yet but he’d soon have confirmation—hopefully—as they were due another supply exchange. Also, when asked both Vestus and Kenax had gotten cases of ‘I need to be elsewhere’ when he’d asked what Vetra had been up to lately. All he’d wanted was a couple of days to relax given the tension that was roiling the port lately, maybe play with the obvious Outcast spies a bit, enjoy some whiskey. 

The Outcasts had been extra violent the last week and he’d slipped out of port with the excuse that he had a trading run to make, Keema and the turians in tow to the combined base. There’d been no movement on Vehn Terev due to Sloane Kelly’s focus being all on possible enemies within the port itself. It was a good time to be out of town for work.

Landing at the base, Kenax and Vestus immediately decamped the shuttle and made themselves busy. Reyes debated calling them on their actions but decided he’d get his update from Evfra first before cornering them and sorting out whatever they didn’t want to tell him. Maiko came out to greet him and enveloped him in a hug, interrupting his train of thought. “Reyes. I’ve missed you,” she said as she buried her face in his chest.

Curious, Reyes returned the embrace. “Missed you too. Something happen?”

“No,” Maiko answered, looking up at him but not unwinding herself from around him. “Just missed you guys more than usual. You haven’t been out here a lot lately and I missed seeing my friends. Vestus and Kenax have been making me worried with the reports of all the raids and the Outcasts getting violent in port.”

“We’re okay,” he assured her and gave her a light squeeze before letting her go. She walked with him as they headed towards the office. “How’s the farm?”

“Good.Those cuttings I told you about? So far so good. We should be able to increase our plant population rapidly if it works. I can’t believe how useful those indexed libraries you got from the Nexus are. It’s a shame I can’t work on a botany PhD with all this work,” she told him as Tovrel appeared and swung his arm around her, greeting Reyes.

“Tovrel, are you making sure Maiko gets some leisure time?” He teased.

Tovrel chuckled, looking at Maiko with fondness, his hand interlacing with hers as they walked alongside Reyes. “She likes to keep busy but makes time for me. We are content, Reyes.I am told you have not been able to get Vehn Terev free from the Outcasts yet?”

Reyes scowled. “No. Not for lack of trying though. We may finally have gotten one of our people into the guard rotation but it’s still too risky. Kelly hasn’t made a move with him so we haven’t had to push our luck yet.”

“I see,” Tovrel agreed. “I heard that more of your people have arrived.”

Reyes cocked an eyebrow. “How is it you know about this before me?”

Tovrel looked surprised. “You did not know?”

“Not until yesterday. How did you find out?”

“Keema mentioned it as part of our update a few weeks ago....” Tovrel, perhaps sensing that Reyes was now very annoyed as he was glaring at Keema, beat a hasty retreat, pulling Maiko with him. “My love, Sishi asked me to come find you.He found an issue with the hoses for the water tanks.”

Maiko’s protestation of “Reyes!” Was ignored by both Reyes and Tovrel. Glaring at Keema he asked the one thing that had bugging him. “So how long have you known that an Ark had been found?”

Keema, looking slightly abashed, answered his question truthfully. “It was shortly after you began hunting for Terev. Evfra contacted me to let me know that more of your Initiative had shown up on Aya. We were both disinclined to trust them initially and did not feel talking to you would help you in your search—which Evfra felt was more important at the time since we were not sure where the Moshae was.”

Reyes crossed his arms over his chest and his glare sharpened, aware that maybe he should take this into the office so he lowered his voice, trying not to actively scream at Keema. “And after we knew where he was? Why didn’t you mention it then?”

Keema winced at his tone. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention it Sholaon. Perhaps you and I should talk to Evfra about this more...”

She tried to placate him by putting her hand on his which he pulled back before she could do more than send a tingle through the contact. He really didn’t want to be appeased right now. They should have told him. “You should have told me. I thought I was a valuable part of the Resistance.”

“And you are Sholaon!” Keema said, trying to herd him into the nearby office.

He gave her a hurt look and allowed her to move him, aware that they were being observed by several other members of the Resistance. They’d be part of the base’s gossip mill now. Fuck.“We’re discussing this later—after I’ve talked with Evfra.”

“I’m sure we will,” Keema cajoled as she pushed the office door closed.

***

Evfra was not nearly as apologetic as Keema. But he seemed to be upfront with his reasoning. “I did not tell you because I feared it may divide your loyalties...” he finally said when Reyes asked him why he hadn’t been told. Evfra was calm but had a slightly worried look as he watched Reyes for a reaction. “You are one of us Reyes. We did not want to lose you to those that pushed you away to find us.”

Yeah... well that was both an ego stroke and concerning. Pinching his nose, Reyes thought carefully before answering. “The Initiative may have brought me to Heleus... but I don’t owe them anything at this point for this. I have chosen the Resistance and the Collective. You are my friends. I could have... I could have helped,” he said, looking helplessly at Evfra, hands dropping to his side. “Can you at least tell me more? I can help.”

“We did not want you to regret your choices.. make your decisions harder...” Evfra hedged. “Our patrols picked up increased activity of your initiative in late March. We noted a difference in their space station that showed a new larger structure had joined them. A large ship similar to the arks that Maiko had described to us. No other arks have been sighted for sure... but wreckage has been seen on both Havarl as well as Voeld.”

“But no signs of the arks themselves?” Reyes asked, cradling his chin in one hand as he thought, the other across his chest. “Any signs of survivors?”

“I was getting to that,” Evfra chided him to be patient. “A human like yourself, a Scott Ryder—called Pathfinder—landed on Aya.He claimed that he had been able to heal damage caused to planets by the Scourge. We were naturally quite skeptical of this claim.”

Reyes snorted. What did this Ryder have? A magic wand?Sounded like something either naturally occurred or the pathfinder had been lucky and done something or caused something to happen. “I’m not aware of anything special about the Pathfinder—then again last I heard on the promo materials it was his father always mentioned.His father was a disgraced N7 from the Systems Alliance. He was under investigation for illegal AI experiments before we left the Milky Way. That might explain this Scott Ryder’s claims though. If he was involved in his father’s research...” Reyes trailed off, trying to think of some explanation. He was coming up blank however.

“What is an N7?” Evfra asked for clarification.

“They’re a special operations unit of the Systems Alliance back from where I come from. I was a member of the Alliance Navy as a pilot before I joined the Andromeda Initiative right before the Nexus shipped out.N7s were the best spec ops soldiers around—attended a special school called the Interplanetary Combatives Training Program in Rio De Janeiro on Earth. Growing up... my family knew the families of several N-school candidates. I played with some of their children....”. Reyes could vaguely remember playing football with a boy whose mother somehow knew his Tío. There’d been a language barrier and, at that age, he hadn’t had a universal translator available. He cleared his throat and pushed the memories away. “They’d be similar to your Heskaarl.”

“And how much trouble was created by this ‘illegal AI research’?” Evfra was pacing slightly, but more to help him think rather than in agitation.

“Enough that he was arrested... I don’t know all the details because it wasn’t really relevant to me at the time when it was in the news. I know that somehow the Initiative picked him for their premier first contact exploration team and he was the leader of it—it was in the orientation materials we were given when we signed up.I don’t know anything about his son.I did already ask my contacts for more information.”He really didn’t like the fact that he didn’t know what had been going on.By holding back notifying him... so much time lost. Vladimir better fucking contact him soon.A dark thought occurred to him with Vestus’ confessed reason for coming to Andromeda... he wondered what his friends were hiding now and how much they knew about Alec Ryder.

“Hmm.... I have met this Scott Ryder. He is young—younger than you. He reminds me of you in some ways but not in others. He has a team that he works with like you. I gave him a task—to rescue a group of scientists on Havarl that I did not have the resources to spare for.” Evfra stopped his pacing and transmitted the detailed reports that Evfra had been receiving to Reyes, coming up on a second monitor display.“I did send an observer with him—Jaal Ama Darav, one of our newer lieutenants who was part of our Havarl forces until his family issues forced their relocation to Aya.”

“Family issues?” Reyes asked. He’d heard Jaal’s name before somewhere but he’d not met him.

“Three of his siblings joined the Roekaar movement while he was stationed on Havarl. Due to concerns for potential conflict of loyalties I had him reassigned to Aya after you left. His family was also relocated here as it was politically sensitive given their history of contributions to the people.” Evfra frowned slightly. “He is headstrong but reliable. His reports have been thorough albeit somewhat hard to believe.”

Reyes eyebrows raised even further in question. “Such as? And you still sent him back to Havarl with concerns?”

Evfra chuckled in amusement at Reyes. “Jaal is much more paranoid about Milky Way peoples than I am—he has not met you. So far he has kept a very skeptical eye on this Scott Ryder—so much so that I am inclined to believe at least some of his reports of accomplishments. If not Jaal’s reports.... then Kiiran Dals has corroborated much of it. This Scott Ryder was able to restart the monoliths left behind by the Remnant and revealed a Remnant vault. He then activated this vault and it has slowed the environmental problems on Havarl.” Evfra paused for effect before continuing, “Kiiran says he has saved the planet for us.”

This sounded like complete, impossible bullshit... but it was coming from Evfra so Reyes continued to listen. “How?What’s so special about him? He’s human just like me.”

“Jaal says that he has an implant in his head... which is connected to an AI named SAM.”

“So there’s the AI connection with his father,” Reyes murmured.

“Yes.With this implant he is able to interact with the Remnant technology. Jaal said that he reset the vault and they were chased out of it by the remnant guardians. He was told that if they had remained within it, the vault would have killed them.Jaal believed him—what he describes I am uncertain if it could be real other than Jaal said he experienced it.I need you to read Jaal’s reports and tell me what you glean from them that I might not have.” This was Evfra giving an order as the commander of the Resistance.

Reyes scowled at the amount of data he’d need to analyze but nodded. “What else? Keema implied that there’s more.”

Evfra’s lips twitched in a small smile, amused by Reyes’ perception. “Yes.I have sent Scott Ryder to help with rescuing the Moshae.Do Xeel notified me that they were to attempt an attack on the kett facility that has been causing us much trouble on Voeld. She has not reported back on success or failure.”

Reyes stared at the data. He didn’t know what else to say or ask. “What do you want from me?” He finally asked.

“To help us understand and... if we should trust this Scott Ryder. He is a human like you. I know of no one else to trust with this question.” Evfra was cajoling, his body language imploring.

“I’ll see what I can do. I’ll report back as soon as I have something,” Reyes promised him.

“Thank you Sholaon. I value your opinion on this. I am sorry to have worried what you might do when I know you would never turn on your friends.”Evfra seemed to be making a promise to Reyes and he debated, briefly, making a bigger deal out of things but just nodded in reply.

“It seems we have a lot to do Sholaon,” Keema said from beside him, speaking for the first time since she’d greeted Evfra.

“We do,” Reyes agreed, already thinking how to verify as much of Jaal’s reports as possible. “We really, really do.”

***

The remainder of the call with Evfra was spent reviewing their current situation with Terev. Given the amount of violence the Outcasts had been stirring up as of late, Evfra voiced caution to Reyes. Reyes couldn’t decide if this new concern for his wellbeing was a way of saying sorry or just normal. He tabled that internal conflict for later contemplation. Keema was in favor of watchful waiting—Kelly had made no move towards doing anything with Terev and was seemingly otherwise occupied at the moment. Evfra hadn’t been happy when Keema had informed him of Reyes’ stunt to protect Kelly’s victims and added another order for Reyes to “be careful” when interacting with Kelly. Thanks... he already was doing that. Really.

As the equipment cycled down, call ended, Reyes was leaning against the bench, arms crossed and legs crossed at the ankle. Keema was fidgeting slightly next to him but he waited her out.

“I am sorry I kept the news from you.I assumed sooner or later someone else would spill the... what does Maiko call them... beans.”

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, realizing that Keema was genuinely worried about his reaction. “I just want to be able to make my own choices Keema. You are my friends and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget what you and Evfra have done for me. I’m just asking for you to trust me like I trust you.”

“I see,” she said, crossing her own arms over her chest as she studied him before suddenly her expression changed to what Reyes had termed her ‘evil smile’. “I’m afraid I must apologize then for teasing you about your preferences and protestations about sexual partners.Scott Ryder with his abilities to get himself in and out of life threatening situations seems like he will be... what do your shows call it.... a soulmate?You’re taunting of Sloane Kelly seems like you will be a perfect match for him.”

Reyes sputtered, standing up straight and aware he was blushing—why he didn’t know. This was getting ridiculous and was Keema’s way of distracting him. “I’m perfectly fine with finding my own sexual partners. Your obsession with it is... “ he swallowed, “weird.”

Keema’s grin widened to show her canines, aware she had successfully changed the topic of conversation yet again. Why did he keep falling for this bait? He wasn’t some blushing virgin. “I’m just looking out for you Sholaon. You seem to not place value on your own happiness. I am not the only one who feels so.”

His scowl returned. Yeah... Kenax had been tougher than a barnacle to remove as of late.“I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“Then prove it Sholaon,” she said gently, her smile softening. “I suppose you need to talk to Kenax and Vestus. I saw the looks the three of you have been sneaking at each other.”

Sighing, Reyes nodded. “I take it they know?”

“I assumed they did but did not tell them myself. Vetra is part of this Pathfinder’s crew.”

Reyes’ mind went blank for a moment before he caught up to what she’d just admitted. Vetra was a part of the pathfinder team... which mean.....”Vestus! Kenax!” He roared as he stalked out of the room. He was going to kill them both.

***

It took him two hours to figure out where they’d gone. They’d taken one of the overland vehicles and taken a drive up to where they usually went running—Sishi had let him know when he figured out why Reyes was hunting cavern to cavern for his missing turian friends.Sishi also seemed very confused when Reyes asked him about a leaky water hose. 

Did no one trust him with the truth?

Taking one of the one person vehicles that was really just an adapted dirt bike, Reyes took the trail up to the mesa above the caves the base was set into. It was getting late, almost sunset and it’d be interesting getting back down later. Thankfully, he’d had the presence of mind to grab his heavy leather jacket and a helmet along with his ushiors before jumping on the bike. The trail was narrow and switched back and forth several times as it gained in elevation.

Reaching the top, he could see the vehicle the turians had taken off next to the lake that covered the far end before tumbling in a waterfall over the western edge.At sunset, it was absolutely gorgeous, the sun reflecting in the sulfur infused water to set it on fire, mist rising as the temperature dropped. It was romantic and he knew that his friends came out here fairly often to be alone before taking their regular trading runs to Elaaden.

The climb had given him enough time for the worst of his temper to burn out but it left a lot of hurt behind, He could easily understand Keema’s and Evfra’s reasons for holding back on telling him of new developments with the arrival of the human ark... but why hadn’t they told him?He was sure they regularly chatted with Vetra—at least once a week, often more. They often told him of small hijinks that Vetra or her sister Sid got up to, what Vetra had told them about this and that on the Nexus.

But they’d left out a huge detail. Something that they should have told him given that so much of what they did relied on accurate intel. They’d chosen to not tell him... but why?

Driving up to where the large all-terrain vehicle was parked, he could see both the Turians watching him from a large boulder they’d perched themselves upon, blanket spread out like a picnic, two bottles of mead on the side that they preferred. Taking off his helmet, Reyes put the kickstand down and put the helmet on the handlebars before getting off and approaching them. They didn’t say anything but both had serious looks on their faces.

Sitting to the side, he looked at both of them. They both at least looked somewhat nervous and guilty. “So when were you going to tell me that an ark had made it?”

Kenax and Vestus exchanged one of those looks that couples have that contained an entire conversation in seconds, the micro expressions on their faces hard for Reyes to figure out what they were saying to each other. Finally, Vestus growled at his mate and his crest flared slightly. Kenax’s response was to look away from both of them over the lake. “We held off when Evfra didn’t tell you,” Vestus started.

“Why?” Reyes interrupted sharply, his tone betraying how hurt he was.

Vestus sighed, his crest drooping and he looked frustrated at his mate. “We hadn’t heard from Vladimir either other than a short note that he was being watched a lot closer after the arrival of the ark. Vetra told us she’d been assigned to the pathfinder’s ship—put on the ground team. Initially I thought there was no way the kid that got named pathfinder would accomplish anything other than get himself killed, possibly taking his entire crew with him. He’s pretty young and wasn’t originally supposed to be anywhere near the pathfinder position.”

“He obviously hasn’t.... why didn’t you tell me then?” His tone was slightly less accusatory but the hurt was still leaking out.

Kenax gave a hysterical sounding short laugh that burst out of him, drawing Reyes’ and Vestus’ attention. “Because I couldn’t figure out how to tell you when we hadn’t told you a month later.”

Reyes cocked his head, willing to listen. “Did you think it wasn’t important?”

“No... it wasn’t that. I thought maybe you’d think you could help but Vetra was pretty adamant that she could look after herself,” Kenax admitted. “I told Vestus it was going to be me that told you since I was of the opinion not to tell you when we first found out.”

“Again... why didn’t you tell me sooner?” He watched as Kenax grimaced at his question, Vestus just watched his mate.

“It didn’t seem relevant so it wasn’t brought up in regular conversation... and once I’d held it back i didn’t know how to bring it up. I thought sooner or later Keema or Evfra would bring you in once the Tempest landed on Aya.”Vestus made a snorting sound which got him a glare from Kenax. “It didn’t start out as us meaning to keep it from you... but we got busy with searching for Terev and with the whole Zia thing... it didn’t seem to be something we needed to prioritize for the Collective.”

Vestus rolled his eyes at his mate but addressed Reyes directly this time. “I know we should have told you.If you’re going to run all our strategies you need all the intel—even the stuff that seems irrelevant at the time.”

Reyes didn’t reply, just stared at the sunset.The sun was now touching the horizon, turning the pool orange and yellow. The clouds in the sky were streaks of the rainbow, the far off rain clouds adding some grey. Vestus’ tendency to wait for someone else to give him marching orders probably hadn’t helped with this—he hadn’t even asked them if they’d heard from Vladimir lately himself as he’d been somewhat preoccupied.Didn’t stop him from feeling hurt and slightly betrayed that they hadn’t told him.It wasn’t like they didn’t know almost every detail of his day due to being his pseudo bodyguards. “I really wish you’d told me. I let you guys in close to me, I trust you. It should go both ways.”

Kenax made an almost keening sound in the back of his throat, he crouched like he wanted to touch Reyes but was holding himself back. “I really didn’t know how to tell you. It didn’t seem... it didn’t seem like it should matter.”

Reyes looked at Kenax who genuinely appeared distressed, Vestus looked sad. He looked away and back over the lake. The sun was almost below the horizon, just a small sliver of it visible as the sky darkened towards twilight. “Here’s the deal—break it and I’m going to send you back to the Nexus to help out Vladimir. All intel goes through me—even the stuff that doesn’t seem relevant. I can’t make decisions unless I know details. Vetra may be your mate but she needs to know that for the Collective you answer to me.”

“I can live with that,” Vestus said.

Kenax took a moment longer before agreeing, following his mate’s lead somewhat reluctantly. “Same.”

“That’s not all.... I need some space. I get that you’re worried about Kelly and the Outcasts and Zia... but I need some time. You didn’t trust me...” Reyes continued, aware his voice got a little husky as he swallowed against a dry throat.

“No absolutely not. If we aren’t with you... you don’t have any other bodyguards,” Kenax protested.

Vestus added his own objections, “Reyes... now is the absolutely worst possible time for you to go without one of us guarding your back. We can be less clingy—don’t argue Kenax—but you still need us to watch your back.”

“But he’s my human Vestus!” Kenax whined making both Vestus and Reyes wince.

Vestus’ eyes slid to make contact with Reyes who pulled a face at him before looking back at his mate. “Kenax... Reyes is family but he’s not a possession. He needs to be able to make his own choices and, occasionally, some privacy.”

Kenax looked defeated and sad, his eyes pleading with Reyes to change his mind which was somewhat effective as Reyes found himself relenting slightly to his best friend’s unhappiness. “I’m not saying you can’t play bodyguard... but I need some space from you always being next to me. When I’m not working or in my office alone... I want some space to breathe. I’m not saying this is forever. I just... I want to regain the trust I had in you Kenax.”

“We can live with that,” Vestus said, speaking for the both of him as he placed his hand on his mate’s shoulder. “We can,” he emphasized to Kenax.

“I suppose,” Kenax muttered mulishly, obviously not completely happy with Reyes’ request for space. “Does this mean we’re not going on trades with you? We’re your known crew.”

The sun had now slipped completely below the horizon and it was rapidly getting dark. “I’m not changing that,” Reyes admitted finally. “But I meant what I said. No more cuddling for now. You’re going to wait until I say it’s okay and if tell you I want space you’re going to respect the request.”

Kenax grumbled at this but seemed to realize this was the best he was getting. Vestus seemed much happier with the outcome than his mate—which didn’t surprise Reyes.

They had just gotten back to their vehicles when Reyes’ omnitool chirped with a message. Vladimir had replied. “Hey guys?We better get back and packed. Vladimir is asking for a meet up as soon as possible on Eos.He says to bring you two since he doesn’t have a secure way to send intel.”

***

2819 CE May 17th

Monolith #3, Voeld, Nol System, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: feels like cryo all over again

Waking up with the morning light hitting him in the face, Scott’s first thought was that he was waking up out of cryo again so severe was the chill. His body protested mightily how cold it was and his nose hairs were frozen to the dried blood on his face which hurt when he sneezed as he woke up. His shoulder, which had felt on fire, felt better but he could tell that SAM was working on it—the vague sense in the back of his brain that he mentally associated with SAM seemed focused on repairing his body. Vetra had used his suit’s inbuilt medic functionality to apply medigel in a thin layer to his muscles which protested but didn’t make him fall flat on his face when he stood up.

Seeing that he was awake, Vetra greeted him. “How are you feeling?”

Scott tried to give her a wry grin but suspected it looked more like a grimace as it pulled on the dried blood. “I’ve been better. Any sign of kett?”

“No,” she said as she held out a small ration bar that she pulled from a pocket on her armor. “I know you don’t particularly love this flavor but it’s all I have.”

Taking the bar from her, he noticed it was butterscotch flavored but he figured it was kind of her to carry something she couldn’t eat. “Thanks. I’ll take just about anything right now,” he said as his stomach growled audibly, making him feel embarrassed.

“Woah tiger,” Vetra smiled. “Sounds like you’ve got an angry animal hidden somewhere in there.”

“Ha ha,” he grumbled as he bit into the bar which was also pretty damn frozen so he had to gum at it to wet and melt it a bit before biting off a small corner. It really didn’t taste like anything—being frozen had somehow improved the flavor. “Thanks.”

“Cora commed us.Weather is breaking up and they should be here in a few hours. No signs of kett either for the last few hours. They were roving around for a while but gave up,” Vetra informed him.

“How are you doing kid?” Drack’s gravely voice echoed off the stone walls of the monoliths as he approached, the Moshae just behind him.

“I’ve been better but at least I can hear you now,” Scott said, taking another bit of frozen protein bar into his mouth and rolling it with his tongue to melt it.

“Heh. Good.You went flying pretty good when the place blew,” Drack stood next to Vetra but the Moshae walked past him to get close to Scott, her hands coming up to cup his face with both of her thumbs bracketing his nose.

“Um hi,” he stammered, wondering if it’d be rude to back away but not really able to since the monolith was a wall against his back. Her eyes were searching as she tilted his head up and down looking at his nose—which he was pretty sure wasn’t broken. Then a bone-melting warmth spread from her hands that made his lingering headache vanish and his legs tremble underneath him in a renewed threat to collapse.

What the fuck?His eyes almost rolled back up into his head as the energy wave seemed to be searching out each little part of him that was not fully functional and bolster it. It was the weirdest combination of hot sauna and massage he’d ever had outside of spa days with his mom when he was too young to tell her tough special forces guys didn’t do that (they totally did).

Yanking himself back, he braced himself against the wall with his hands spread out to prevent himself from slipping down.“What was that?!?”

The Moshae looked at him in amusement, hip cocked and arms across her chest with what could only be a smirk on her face. “Interesting. You’re receptive but cannot reciprocate. Very interesting.”

Goggling at her, Scott was aware his mouth was open. Vetra had her hand on her gun as did Drack but neither of them had pulled them from their holsters. “What?” He asked dumbly, still not firing on all cylinders.

“You are electroreceptive.We had received reports that some of your species was capable of sensing us and benefiting from our gifts. The turian has too thick of plates except for combat techniques and the overgrown lizard has been too irradiated for his nerve endings to receive more than motor shocks,” she explained before her eyes became contemplative as she studied Scott. “You are very receptive... more so than I was told your species was.”

“And that’s a good thing or a bad thing?” Scott was really confused. He could feel SAM was still analyzing whatever she’d just done and when asked, SAM didn’t provide any analysis except to indicate he needed more time.

She cocked her head, expression smoothing to be less interested scientist with a specimen. “My people generally feel it is a good thing... but as you cannot reciprocate it is a potential weakness.”

“Okay?” Scott said, voice still uncertain as he relaxed a little bit.

“For your injuries you are remarkably resilient. I would not have guessed after examining you last evening that you would look as well as you are. I can only assume it is because of your foreign body enhancements,” she remarked offhandedly.

Well that was interesting.. she could sense the implants and maybe SAM. Maybe he needed to find time to have that long overdue conversation with SAM about what exactly all the alterations his dad had signed him up for did and how much control SAM really had over his physiology. “What do you mean?” He asked her nervously, licking his lips and tasting the dried blood there. He really needed to find something to wash his face with.

“You show signs of advanced healing. There is no way that the being I examined only hours ago should be doing as well as you are. It’s remarkable really. It is good that we fixed your shoulder or you would have a lot of problems with it healing wrong,’ she said as she adopted a neutral lecturing tone. “Which means you will be able to get back to work sooner. It makes sense from a command standpoint to have your high ranking military assets be enhanced to be able to survive more servers environments and trauma that would put other, less adapted, assets out of commission.”

Well that was a really cold and dispassionate assessment of Scott’s value.She sounded just like his Dad when he was discussing tactical decisions or one of Scott’s old professors. He couldn’t even find anything to disagree with in her statement. “Makes sense,” he agreed. “But what did you do?That wasn’t just a scan, whatever that was.”

She looked at him with a pleased look, the way you’d look at a pet that performed a command correctly. “No it wasn’t. I gave you a boost—which is helpful to you but perhaps not necessarily needed. It will speed up your recovery. I suspect by this time tomorrow you will be almost back to where you were. Two days for certain with that shoulder injury.”

He stared at her. He’d seen others with dislocated shoulders out for weeks—he’d assumed even with whatever medical wizardry Lexi had he was going to be on light duty for at least a week but probably two. Maybe he could... yeah Lexi was going to find her largest needle and stab him with it in his sensitive parts if he didn’t let her check him out first before going on to their next objective. “Well lucky me then.”

“Us Angara have increased bioelectric nodes in our nervous systems that allow for enhanced communication as well as other methods of sharing energy—both for good purposes as well as protective. For instance, if you were to try and restrain me without some method of protection, I would be able to drop you by causing your muscles to seize given the way your motor system works.” She purposefully slowly reached out a hand and paused just above his, “take off your gauntlet and I will show you what I mean.”

Scott debated whether or not to take her up on it but decided he’d already survived it twice. He stood up straighter and hit the release catch on his left gauntlet using his dominant right hand. The gauntlet depressurized and he rotated the cuff to disengage it and pulled his hand free, shoulder twinging minimally as he rotated his arm to pull it free. The Moshae gently took his hand when he held it out to her. Drack and Vetra were both watching with fascinated interest. _SAM, make sure you record this_ , he ordered.

Taking his hand in her warm hands, she sandwiched his between both of hers. She stroked her thumbs down the bones in his hand in a light caress and the feeling of warmth and comfort spread from the contact points of her hands on his to spread up his arm and shoulder. “This is how we use it tactically,” she murmured and he felt his wrist and fingers go limp in hers, still able to feel but it felt tingly like the blood flow had been cut off,hand still pink.

“Do you actually cut off the blood flow or just the nerve output?” He asked her.

Another twitch of her lips indicting she was pleased by him. “I am capable of doing both but I have spent years refining my control. Most of my people would only be able to do this in an extreme manner unless they have spent time working on intricacy.” Motor tone returned as he felt her change the output flow.

“But your people use this as part of how they communicate?”This might explain why Jaal seemed sometimes unable to understand body language and when he did pick it up he gave movements like exaggerated head nods. He was picking up behaviors like fist bumps from Liam.

“We do. It is part of how we communicate with family members and friends. When someone is ill or injured, we give them strength and encouragement.It is used in lovemaking, used to help alleviate the grief of those left behind when one of us die,” she paused looking him up and down and releasing his hand. “You are very receptive to this but unfortunately you cannot reciprocate. It is like seeing without being able to describe what you see. If you were angara we would consider you damaged but it is likely just the way your species is built.Only able to know but not to give back.”

Scott pulled back at the damaged comment. She likely didn’t mean it that way but it was still rude. “Very interesting but not sure what that means for me,” he muttered before clearing his throat and changing the conversation topic and including his team in it. “So when is our pick up?”

“Cora said a couple of hours about an hour ago,” Vetra said smoothly. “Said that from her end they were able to save a lot of the prisoners—may a couple hundred.”

“That’s good news,” he agreed with a nod, pushing himself off the wall as he replaced his gauntlet. Was it his imagination or did his arm feel a lot better than it did minutes ago? 

“You did good kid,” Drack said with a gentle pat to his good shoulder. “You made the best of a bad situation and we got the Moshae out as requested.”

Before Scott could say anything, the Moshae interrupted. “Yes you did get me out. I’m not sure what your motives are given you did not listen to me initially about destroying the facility,” she paused before her tone became colder, “and shot the Cardinal in the back. You are a very interesting vesagara.”

Vesagara... he’d gotten the impression that wasn’t a positive term for referring to him but he let it slide. “I was tasked by Evfra de Tershaav with rescuing you. Which we accomplished. I felt that the decisions I made were were for the best possible outcomes. I made no promise to the... Cardinal was it?”

She was watching him very closely as she replied. “You are very clever. You never agreed to anything but merely told her to open the stasis pods... I see how you work.”

He shrugged. “I made no promises that I broke. Jaal asked me to save his people and you asked me to destroy the facility. My only interest is the same as Angaran interests given that I would like to ally with your people. The kett are your enemy and they have done nothing to earn my friendship.”

She didn’t immediately reply, head cocked as she thought about what he’d said. “I have heard there are those of your people that are worth extending friendship to.It remains to be seen if you are one of those or one of the skkut who take from us and do not allow us to have our homes.”

“My only desire is friendship between the angarans and myself. The kett take, I do not.”She was making some reference to someone else the angara had encountered previously—his ghost or someone else? It didn’t seem to be someone she personally had met so maybe he could still persuade her that he had the best of intentions.”I am only asking to be allowed to make a home here in Heleus.”

“We will see if you continue to only wish for that or shelesh,” she replied. “We will await your transport and discuss this further once I have seen and talked with my people.”

Well hopefully Jaal still was happy with him.

***

Cora hopped off the transport barely an hour later, striding directly up to Scott and yanking him into a hug. Startled, Scott had gingerly hugged back. “I’m okay Cora,” he told her.

“You asshole.... did you know that your telemetry shorted out when you blew the place?We thought you were dead until SAM informed me you weren’t. I lost years of my life seeing your life signs stop,” she said directly into her comm.

He squeezed her back a little more firmly as the explanation hit. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you guys. I’m fine.”

Cora stepped back just enough to pull her helmet off, her skin reddening immediately in the chill, eyes blazing with held back tears underneath the sharp cut of her hair. “Just don’t do it again, okay?”

“I’ll try not to,” he assured her.

Moments later he was almost bowled over by Peebee catching him around the waist and Liam dragging him into a one armed hug. “I’m okay,” he told them, trying to hug both his teammates at the same time. Peebee refused to look at him and hung tight like a limpet around him, burying her face in his chest.

Liam didn’t have his helmet on and gave him a look that showed how much he doubted Scott’s promise. “Bro... don’t.Give us a minute to let it sink in that you’re still in one piece and then we’ll talk about how okay you’re not. SAM already tattled to Lexi about your injuries.”

Jaal approached at a more sedate pace and spoke first with the Moshae in a low tone that Scott didn’t make any effort to hear. Scott spent a few more minutes placating his team and managed to eventually detangle himself from them. “Everyone ready?” He asked as he stepped towards the ship.

“Yes,” Jaal said helping the Moshae step up onto the ship although she didn’t seem to need any help, his arm carefully around her shoulder which she pushed off as soon as she was within the ship.“I wanted to thank you Pathfinder,” Jaal started.

Scott waved him off. “We found and rescued her Jaal, as asked.”

Jaal looked nonplussed and continued, “you have done our people a great service.You have answered a question that has plagued us ever since the Kett appeared in Heleus. I... I am disturbed by the answer but you did not ask for that to be the answer.You saved many of my people yesterday and have given us hope.”

Stepping into the transport, Scott tried to deflect the praise. “I just did what I thought was the right thing at the time. I’m glad that your people were able to get away.”

“I still thank you for what you did,” Jaal insisted, face serious as he took the bench seat across from Scott, Moshae sitting next to him. “And I feel I must ask another favor for my people... do you think you can do for Voeld what you did for Havarl?”

Scott raised an eyebrow. “You mean the vault?”

“I do.Voeld used to be one of our home worlds with large cities spanning across it. The glaciers and the cold have hidden many of these places from us. I understand this is because of the Scourge that altered Voeld’s position around it’s sun.After you activated those monoliths a vault has appeared... and you asked about Aya’s vault as well,” Jaal said, including the Moshae in the conversation as everyone took their seats and the cargo door began to close.

The Moshae looked very interested at the mention of the vault. “You search for Aya’s vault? Why?”

Scott swallowed nervously. “I’ve been in two...no three vaults since I came to Heleus. When they were reset it helped... tame the environment to make it more friendly to habitation. The most recent one was on Havarl and when we reset it, we fixed the genetic mutation problem they were having there.”

The Moshae’s expression was disbelieving. “You found the forgotten monolith and were able to interact with the vault?It has been generations since one of the people could work the old ones technology enough to cause changes.”

Scott hedged. “I’m able to reset the vaults and activate the monoliths... more than that we’ll have to see.But,” he said with a wave of his hand, “activating the vaults seemed to create a positive change for each planet where there was one. I understand that Aya has a lot more volcanic activity than it should... and Voeld is colder than it should. Activating their vaults could help.”

“And you think you can do this for Voeld.... “ the Moshae’s expression was cold and calculating. She then stood up and walked to the pilot cradle that was separated from the main hold where they were sitting. Scott’s translator told him what she said next. “Change of destination—take us to the vault.”

There was more chatter from the pilots and Scott didn’t say anything. Vetra groaned and informed him that she’d told the Moshae about the appearance of the vault while Scott had been out of it. Cora confirmed that they’d flown over it and verified it’s location. Scott just sat back and gripped the handrails when the ship abruptly changed direction to circle sharply to the west. “I guess we’re going to go check out the vault then.”

“You’re not okay to do this,” Vetra insisted.

“I’m okay. I promise to let you all do the shooting. I’ll just be the tech support,” he tried to reassure her.

“Bro.... are you sure you didn’t hit your head? Cause you’re talking crazy,” Liam exclaimed.

Scott opened his mouth to talk but Cora, who’d not left his side, talked first. “The only way you’re walking into that vault is if you promise to leave your guns holstered and no biotics. None. Otherwise I’m going to personally put you in a stasis field and we’ll figure out if I can reset one of those things without you.”

Cora was looking directly at him, dead serious. Scott knew she was only humoring him.“I’m okay Cora... but I’ll promise to try and let you guys do all the shooting. I only need to run to avoid the reset precautions... and I’m sure one of you would be perfectly happy to sling my slow ass over a shoulder and haul me out if I can’t do it myself.”

Cora didn’t drop her gaze from his. “Drack? That work for you?”

“As long as someone covers us I can get him out in a hurry,” Drack promised Cora.

Scott gave her a long suffering look.“I’m good for this if they want us to do it now Cora. I really am. I have a bum shoulder but my legs work fine.”

“And the fact that you’re actually admitting to that is what worries me,” she snarked right back. “You promise Scott. I’m dead serious about that stasis field.”

“Do you want me to pinky swear or is my word good enough,” he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Cora’s lips quirked in a smile before she managed to smooth her expression back into seriousness and she held out her hand, pinky extended. “I’ll take that pinky swear. I’ve been told bad things happen to those who break them,” she told him with fake sweetness.

“I keep my promises,” he told her as he linked his pinky with hers and shook them.

“And I braid my hair but no one’s asking,” Liam grouched, his expression saying he didn’t believe a word of Scott’s promise to look out for himself.

“Such confidence in me my team has,” Scott said under his breath as he leaned back into the wall of the ship behind him. Drack must have heard him because his heavy laughs filled the air. Nobody else laughed but several vicious looking grins were thrown Scott’s way. He pretended not to see them.

Peebee, who’d been remarkably quiet, pushed in to sit next to him and gave him a worried once over. Her question was barely audible but he picked it up, “Are you sure this is a good idea?You’re hurt.”

Scott paused, ignoring the others who’d gone back to talking back and forth about his ability to get out of ugly situations. “I’m okay... I promise to just work with the consoles. I’ll let the rest of you take care of the bots.”

Peebee didn’t look like she believed him but gave a small nod. “Just be careful.”

“I will,” he promised her.The shuttle gave a lurching bump as it settled on the ground then the snow packed down underneath it’s weight to descend almost another meter.

The Moshae rejoined them. “I assume that you are able enough to show me what you are able to do with vaults?” She asked, her tone implying that she was waiting for him to try and get out of it.

Scott sat up straighter and then stood, looking the Moshae directly in the eyes as he responded, trying to project confidence. “I’m ready if everyone else is.”

“Then let’s go,” the Moshae said as she grabbed a gun from where they were stored in the bulkheads and slung it over her shoulder by the carry strap.

Giving nods to his team, Scott grabbed his helmet and put it on, hearing both Cora and Liam do the same as well as Peebee. The cargo door opened and they could see a small, squat Remnant structure about fifty meters from the ship. It was in the middle of the valley caused by the surrounding mountain ranges and the wall to the east. Wind whipped across the flats, picking up small ice crystals that swirled in the sunlight making the air sparkle like diamonds due to all the ice hanging in it. It was also very, very cold.The outside temperature was almost -40C. They wouldn’t be able to stand outside very long without the life support systems in their suits being unable to keep up. “Let’s go,” Scott said into his comms and took off at a jog across the snow, his feet sinking into the lightly packed fresh snow which made the going slow.

Making the entrance to the vault, it was similar to the one he’d seen on Eos. The structure covered a sloping ramp that went down into a chamber with a gravity well in the center that was active according to SAM’s sensors. Stepping forward, Scott slowly walked down the ramp which was slightly slick due to the warmer temperature of the structure causing the ice and snow to stick to it and melt to create an icy slide. The Moshae kept pace with him, the rest of his team picking their way behind him.

Stepping forward to the gravity well, Scott opened his mouth to explain it but the Moshae beat him to it. “One of the old one’s vertical tunnels,” she said, eyes narrowed to slits as she walked around it to examine it from each side. “I have only found these to work in Mithrava... yet this one is active.”

Scott shrugged and stepped into the well saying “We call them gravity wells.”he could feel the familiar feeling of pressure as the well’s special gravity sucked him into the center and pulled him down into the vault. This was a longer gravity well and it took a few minutes to reach the bottom of it, depositing him in a large room with a massive console at one end that was inert and a second, smaller one that was next to the door that covered the forward facing wall. It was maybe slightly warmer down here, a brisk -20C but the life support systems in Cora, Liam and Peebee’s suits would be able to handle it for a while.

Moving to the side, he watched and waited for the rest of the team to make it down the well. The Moshae was next followed by Cora, Liam, Peebee, Drack, Vetra and then Jaal. “You guys want to take point?” He asked them as he stepped up to the smaller console but didn’t yet unlock it.

Cora pulled her assault gun out of it’s holster and stepped up to the door. “Open it,” she said as Liam and Drack followed her, bracing themselves on either side of her and ready to shoot anything that came through the door when it would open.

“Okay,” Scott said and he held out his arm. The Moshae had followed him and was watching as he did his usual interaction with the console, the dancing twists of code following his suggestions to fall into a smoother shape which caused the door to given an audible snick as it began to slide back into the walls and the air pressure changed as it opened.

“Interesting,” the Moshae said as she watched the door open before her eyes flicked back to him, a new expression in them that he couldn’t name. “You are very interesting.”

He was beginning to get sick of that word. Pulling his hand back, he joined his team who had already gone through the door, exploring the platform that lay beyond. They stood on a large platform overlooking a sea of ferrofluid maybe fifty meters below them. In the distance they could see the huge energy flow cascade that signaled the heart of the vault where he’d find the reset console almost straight ahead. Off to both sides he could see other platforms but they were too far away to reach with his jump jets and getting out of the ferrofluid would be tough given how deep the pool looked. The huge cavern all of this was in echoed with the sound of the electric cascade and the mechanical groans and clicks of bots hidden somewhere. Two of the small consoles were on either side of the platform facing towards the others.

Scott waited patiently until Cora indicated he could examine both consoles which he did. From what SAM and he could tell, if activated, both consoles would bring up columns they could use to jump from one platform to the other—one left one right. “If I activate them they should give us a way to get to the other platforms.... but which one?” He asked himself aloud and Cora who was shadowing him almost as closely as the Moshae. Jaal was just steps behind the Moshae but the rest of the team was spread out and alert, monitoring for any murderbots.

Cora, uncertain, asked “Any idea which one’s the right one?”

“Nope,” Scott said. “I’m thinking we do both and split the team in two.I’ll wait here with Drack for you guys to check it out... and you can let me know where we should go.”

“Works for me,” Cora agreed.

“Jaal, Vetra and Peebee check out the platform to the left, Liam Cora to the right,” Scott gave everyone their marching orders as he lifted his hand to activate the left sided console. Peebee had co-opted a scanner from him so she could scan things just as well as Cora almost. Hopefully they’d figure out which way was best quickly. As the console activated, he watched as columns arose from the ferrofluid pool to create enough of a path towards the left platform. Peebee was the first to use her jump jets to propel herself to the first column with an exhilarated yell and a bit more flailing than Scott had expected. He’d forgotten that she hadn’t used the jump jets before since she was wearing Lexi’s armor as she’d promised him.“You alright?” He asked her as she landed on all fours on the nearest column.

“I’m okay,” she said, her voice breathless and excited. “That was awesome. How are you guys not jumping around everywhere all the time!”

“Now you get why I love me some jump jets,” Liam told her. “I told you they were awesome.”

Now standing, Peebee gave a running leap and activated the jets to propel herself to the next column and she landed a bit better, this time only on her feet but she still wobbled a bit. Her excited chatter continued as she then jumped to the next one and then the next, her landings improving each time. Vetra and Jaal followed her. Scott was chuckling over her enthusiasm as he went to the right sided console and activated it, causing another set of columns to rise that led to the right.

Cora gave him a jaunty salute before taking a running leap into the air, hitting her jets at the peak to extend her airtime and landing lightly on the first column, taking three steps and jumping again effortlessly with her own call of enjoyment to Peebee. Liam was laughing as he followed her.Scott watched them make progress from the center of the platform, the Moshae next to him. Drack just watched them both silently, observing.

“Your team seems very young,” the Moshae observed as they began exploring both of the other platforms. Peebee had almost run face first into several assemblers and there was a mini-gunfight that erupted that was over quickly. Cora and Liam hadn’t yet found any of the bots but Scott was sure that they would, given time. A small explosion sent a plume of smoke up from where Vetra had used a grenade on an assembler made the Moshae chuckle. “They seem capable.”

“Yes they are,” Scott agreed with her. He was proud of his team.

He listened as SAM began to map out each console and the energy conduit directionality it controlled that his team was identifying which quickly became a complicated puzzle. Whoever had built this vault seemed to like mazes. Between Peebee’s and Cora’s scanner, he identified almost fifteen consoles that would need to be activated in a particular order to get the energy to conduct right to raise a set of columns that would lead to the center console. It took almost two hours for all the consoles to be mapped out on both sides and for SAM to work out the correct order.

Determining that he would need to activate those on the left side while Cora attempted to do so on the right, Scott used his own jump jets to make his way to the left handed platform. Unfortunately there was a lot more vertical climbing on this side than the other but it had more consoles.There were also those weird, ancient trees that reminded him of squat palm trees that were gigantic scattered about but mostly on the right sided platform. Approaching the first console to be activated, he was aware of the Moshae just silently following him but didn’t ask her what she thought. She’d said she wanted to see what they could do... so he’d show her.

Hand out, he activated the first console easily, then the next three which required him to do some climbing. His shoulder twinged a bit but it was more irritating than a problem as he still had close to full muscle strength but his range of motion was a bit limited. SAM informed him that he’d need to see Lexi when this was all over with as he couldn’t do everything without her assistance. Which meant he was totally going to end up strapped to a biobed and drugged to the gills... but that’d be later. He had a job to do in the meantime.Stepping up to the next console, he quickly activated it and informed Cora that it was now time for her to activate her first one. “Cora, you’re up.”

“Roger,” Cora responded. He could see her white armor from across the cavern in the dim light and she had her hand outstretched. The tickling in the back of his brain that he associated with SAM was active and it was more irritating than usual but he just leaned back into an available wall and watched.

Cora’s hand was outstretched over the console. The itch increased.

And noting happened. Cora was quiet over the comms but he could see Liam was anxiously shifting side to side.

Nobody said anything as they waited for Cora to activate the console.

Five minutes later, the itching had progressed to the point where he was getting another headache.... but nothing had happened with the console.

“Scott?” Came Cora’s reluctant call as her hand dropped back to her side.

“Yeah?” He responded.

“No luck.You’re probably going to need to do it,” she admitted, her tone defeated. The itch in the back of his head had faded back to it’s usual level of annoyance, headache improving.

“I’ll be right there,” he told her, not pushing. She’d tried and it hadn’t worked. They’d have to examine why later. As he’d been on the lowest level of the platform, it took minimal time to make his way from one platform to the other. The Moshae trailed him, watching intently but seemingly uninterested in helping or interfering.

Cora moved out of the way as he reached the console in question. He held out his hand and could instantly see the dancing columns of code that were so familiar. Thirty seconds later, the console activated. Cora’s sigh of frustration and her body language—arms crossed, legs splayed in parade rest, back rigid—told him she was frustrated with herself.He’d have to discuss it later though as they had things to do. “Where’s the next one?” He asked her rather than getting into it now.

“This way,” she said as she turned and walked away.

He followed her and activated another console before having to make his way back to the other side again. Three more consoles over there and then back to Cora’s side where he activated the final one in the sequence. The whole team had followed him this time and they watched as the bridge of columns rose out of the ferrofluid to make a pathway for them to cross.

“Only three people are going with me.I want the rest of you making your way back to the entrance and be ready to go up the gravity well if this doesn’t work,” he ordered as he stepped up to the edge of the platform.

“I’m going with you kid in case you need assistance,” Drack said implacably.

Cora started speaking but the Moshae shut them all down. “I will be going with you.”

“Then I’m going as well,” Cora insisted.

“No Cora—you’re my second. You take everyone else out,” Scott ordered. Cora looked for a moment like she’d argue but she seemed to realize he was serious and reluctantly started back towards the entrance.

Peebee, as she brushed past Scott, told him “Be careful.We scanned this place pretty thoroughly but there might still be some bots out there.”

“I will be,” he murmured after her.

Waiting until everyone was back on the initial platform, Scott then took a running leap and made his way to the other platform in multiple jumps. This platform was a lot louder than the others with the wild cataract of energy in the center with multiple channels filled with ferrofluid in the floor. He was careful not to trip or step into those channels as he made his way to a familiar looking console. Drack rumbling voice told the Moshae to give Scott space as he held his arm out and began the interface.

Like the previous one he’d encountered, he saw so many twisting strands of code that were bent out of shape and hard to control. As he slipped one into place where it belonged he found himself wrestling with another that wanted to spring loose. Gradually, the shape tamed as it took the form he wanted, smoothing out and becoming a complicated helical structure that was and wasn’t similar to DNA—it was so much more complex.

He could hear the change in the flow of energy as he completed his work—a brief slowing of the power flow before it changed becoming more brisk but weirdly more controlled. Behind it, he could feel the rumble in the surface under his feet as the vault protection roared to life. “It’s done. Everyone out!” He ordered into his comm, grabbing the Moshae’s hand and pulling her back towards the way they’d come.

Making her jump first, he followed just seconds behind as Drack urged him to haul ass. The Moshae made it to side platform and turned back to look, her eyes huge as she took in the changes. Landing on the platform, Scott didn’t look at the cloud of dark energy he could see reflected in her eyes, just grabbed her around the waist and flung her over his uninjured shoulder and picking up his pace. Drack’s shotgun made several retorts and he could hear the crash and whine of dying robots.

Reaching the columns back to the original platform, the Moshae slapped at his ass enough for him to deposit her back on her feet with more roughness than he usually would have used. “I can run myself!” She growled at him.

“Well then fucking move it!” He told her as he gestured for her to start crossing the gap.

Giving him an imperious look, she delicately pivoted and leapt gracefully across the distance to the first column, not looking back and proceeding to the next.

Rolling his eyes, he gathered himself and jumped while firing his own jets. He landed and felt a shove as Drack also landed right next to him with a shove to get him moving faster. “Move it kid. That cloud is eating things!”

Not bothering to reply, Scott focused on jumping and running. Making it through the door, he raced to the large console that had been inert but now was active. He slammed his right hand down onto the interface and began frantically twisting the code into order, trying to close the door. The angry, wailing hurricane of dark energy reached the edge of the platform through the door and it began to close.As the door closed, there were a few tendrils of the dark energy cloud that had made it through and they slowly dissipated, causing the air to crackle around the door. You could still hear the force of the vault defense as it scoured where they had just been.

“You know,” Scott said as he pulled his arm back, “I always worry that we’re going to get stuck on the other side with that again.”

“Again?” The Moshae asked, her tone disbelieving. “That cloud vaporized those old plants we passed on our way out.”

“Yes again,” Cora admitted, stepping up to Scott’s side. “The first vault we did this in—on Eos—we got stuck on the other side. Barely survived it.”

“How?” Jaal asked. “How could you survive that.... storm?”

Scott let his biotics glow briefly and held up his hand before letting them fade after he made his next point, “Using this?It was pretty close call but we made it.”

“I see,” Jaal said with his usual disbelief whenever Scott did something that he didn’t really understand.

“Let’s get back to base.We’re done here for now,” Scott said, indicating for someone else to take the gravity well back up first.

“Yeah... and you’re going to Lexi first thing,” Cora snarked at him. “I see you’re not moving your left arm.”

Scott gulped. He was totally a dead man walking.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE May 18th_

_Lexi’s needles fucking hurt._

_And bruise._

_And I may totally deserve her wrath._

_I’m stuck her in a biobed with one of her machines attached to my left shoulder which feels numb. She had to reset it since it wasn’t put back into place just right. Evidently SAM was blocking a lot more pain than I originally thought._

_She’s threatening me with bedrest... and I have two iv’s—one in each arm. Vitamin supplements with nutrients in one and fluids in the other.She’s also threatening to force feed me through a tube from my nose into my stomach... which thankfully I haven’t yet qualified for but it’s closer than I’d like._

_I’ve been told that if I listen to her and follow her orders she won’t exercise her medical powers and ground me for a month._

_A month...._

_Please. Whoever’s reading this please send help. I’m terrified of my doctor and she won’t let me leave._

_Just kidding. Lexi really does seem to have my best interests in mind. It’s not her fault I’m a crappy patient at the best of times. Nor does it help that SAM has made my physiology not exactly standard and what one finds in the medical textbooks._

_We’re on our way back to Aya, providing security and transport for the Moshae. Jaal is trying to make her comfortable in my quarters since I’m stuck in medbay. Lexi already looked the Moshae over but she ended up consulting with her over my care instead—the Moshae is considered a great healer amongst her people._

_She also did that weird touch thing on me again that makes your bones melt in relief._

_And she made Jaal do it too._

_They were both bizarrely kind about it. I’m kind of glad it isn’t a sexual touch because frankly neither of them are my type. I don’t need to have inappropriate bodily reactions to add to my weirdness._

_Anyways, we’re on our way to Aya. Jaal has sent word to Evfra and the only thing he had to pass along to me was to make sure we got the Moshae and Jaal back safe and sound. Which Lexi thinks the crew can do without my help so I’m passing my time down here in the medbay while Cora runs the bridge._

_Biobeds are not as comfortable as my bed... but I’m letting the VIP use it anyways so this is somewhat better than the bunk room._

_I’ve been putting off having that chat with SAM regarding the changes my Dad had made to me. I need to have it soon. Lexi was talking about my metabolic rate being changed as well as the efficiency of all my muscles and nerve conduction affecting my reflexes and coordination. I should theoretically have been exhausted with everything I’ve done since we landed in Heleus only two months ago._

_Instead I feel like I’m about to bounce off the walls from being confined here in medbay._

_I can’t decide if that’s because of whatever the angarans did or if it’s the implants... but I’m kind of afraid to ask._

_What’s the difference between species?_

_What makes us human?_

_What makes someone inhuman?_

_I don’t really want to know... I think I’m going to put off that conversation for at least another day. My psyche is fragile enough without adding more stress to it._

_I have things to do, reports to write, administrators to please, colonies to found, arks to find._

_On second thought.... please do send help.I need it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re almost there.... hope to have these two idiots meeting in person in two chapters... as long as everybody follows their plot outline. 
> 
> Comments loved, kudos adored. 
> 
>  
> 
> Stay safe out there everyone!


	41. Chapter Thirty-nine

Chapter Thirty-nine

2819 CE May 20th

Aya, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: Clearing up a misunderstanding

Landing on Aya, Scott found himself breathing a sigh of relief. They’d accomplished the task that Evfra has set for them... and hopefully he’d now be open to discussions about a formal alliance. Scott had spent the entire trip to Aya in medbay with regular visits from his crew and from the Moshae. Jaal had followed her like a lost puppy and had not said much to Scott other than to wish him a fast recovery.

As for recovery... Scott felt better than he had in a long while. He’d gotten some sleep, some food and had time to work on the mountain of paperwork that was threatening to bury him. Tann had even been happy with his reports—or so Scott was taking it since his critique of his performance hadn’t included words like ‘jeopardizing’ or ‘risky behavior’.He’d gotten out of a verbal report due to Lexi not allowing him out of medbay other than to shower. Tann was wanting to send a formal diplomatic team but Jaal and the Moshae had both demurred giving permission, stating that they would need to speak with Evfra first.

So, paperwork sorta caught up, he was ready to get released from medbay just in time for them to land on Aya. Maybe he’d even be able to catch a few waves before they had to ship out again. Liam had been by and told him that he was planning a crew night in the tavetaan if they got the chance. Scott had thought it sounded like a good idea as long as everyone was on their best behavior. Cora had holed herself up in the science labs and had been working her way through the dossiers that they’d only gotten maybe halfway through, making notations for him or her to follow up on when they got the chance.

The rest of the crew had taken the last couple of days to do maintenance on gear and relax.

Lexi was doing one last exam before she’d spring him—she’d been examining and adjusting her treatment plan at least once a day since she’d gotten her clutches on him (Scott’s term for being confined to medbay). Scott was impatiently waiting for her to finish but knew that if he rushed her he’d probably just spend more time in medbay, possibly in restraints if he got too mouthy and attempted to leave without permission—Lexi meant business when she told you no. Lexi’s eyebrows were furrowed as she examined the output on the telemetry. “You look like you’re back to your baseline...” Lexi said as she tapped on the scream. She didn’t sound particularly happy about that.

Scott cleared his throat when she didn’t say anything but just kept tapping on the screen. “So I’m cleared for duty?”

Lexi looked up at him, scowled, then turned her eyes back to the telemetry readout. “You need to take better care of your body Scott. While the implants do make you able to tolerate a lot more than a normal human... you’re still able to get injured.”

Scott put on his best innocent, clueless face which made Lexi give him an unimpressed look. Scott sighed, his shoulders hunching as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not taking unnecessary risks. I’m able to take more so I’m taking the jobs that require more risk.So far I’d like to point out that I’ve been able to get everyone out of there and obtain our primary objectives without significant damage.”

“Depends on what you mean by significant,” Lexi snipped back.

“Nobody has died. No injuries requiring permanent reassignment. Everyone has been fine,” Scott said, his tone defensive.

Lexi gave him a furious look, eyes blazing and her movements as she continued to jab at the screen were agitated and sharp. “Except you Scott!Nobody except you!Vetra and Peebee both got shot but I can fix those things.The amount and number of injuries I can tell from your body... I can’t believe you actually made it back to the ship by yourself!Anyone else would have been unconscious or would have died from the amount of concussive damage you took from blowing that facility—armor or no armor. SAM has been working on you but you don’t eat enough—healing takes energy!” 

“I’m fine!” He shot back, mind skittering away from talking directly about his enhancements. He really didn’t want to discuss how abnormal he was, how freaky his body had become.

“You’re not fine!”Lexi looked like she was about to cry, her cheeks trembling as she looked at him, eyes sad and her voice losing it’s anger, becoming sad. “You’re.... Scott... I should be grounding you. The stress fractures in your spine.. the damage to your shoulder. My scans tell me you’re almost back to your baseline and that’s... that’s not.... When I agreed to do the surgeries with Harry that you had signed off on... I wondered what exactly we were preparing you for. The implants, the gene therapies... they would have been considered illegal body modification back in the Milky Way and for good reasons...”

Scott cut her off, “I in no way agreed to this,” he argued with her as he gestured to his body. The only consent I remember signing was the one for the SAM implant.”

Lexi looked at him in puzzlement. “You signed the consents. They were part of your intake paperwork.”

Scott was beyond exasperated and his tone shifted to anger. “I, in no way, ever signed a consent for body modification beyond the SAM implant. I signed my Initiative paperwork but it was boilerplate unknown risk denial, agreement of employment as the Pathfinder team recon specialist and I verified that yesterday when I was stuck here unable to do anything other than paperwork!”

Lexi looked at him like he’d struck her.She twisted to grab a datapad off her desk and tapped on it for several seconds before handing it to him, pointing to a section of it. “Scott, this is your medical records. It has the consents there.”

Scott took the datapad from her. He could see his name, date of birth and general vitals and statistics about him. The part where Lexi had pointed to showed multiple entries labeled consent for procedure. Tapping on the first one, it was the SAM implant consent he’d signed when he’d first stepped on the Hyperion. Looking it over, it was the same consent with his signature and attached video as remembered. Backing out, he selected the second consent record. This one was for bone weave, musculoskeletal augmentation and nerve remodeling. What the fuck.... he could see his signature on it. The video attached showed him signing it but it was identical to the first video recording but instead of in the medbay... it showed him in some other setting and his father was present, narrating what the augmentations would do. Scott made no reply but signed the paperwork... “Lexi... I never signed these... I’m not sure.... SAM I need you to run an analysis on these videos... I never signed these...” Scott’s voice trailed off as his throat felt tight.

“Analyzing,” SAM said in his mechanized voice. Scott tapped on the next consent down which was for ‘vascular enhancement’ whatever the fuck that was. Lexi looked like she wanted to say something else but they both waited for SAM to finish his analysis. “The videos show evidence of tampering,” SAM finally said. “The movements you make as you sign the datapad is identical in each video and the metadata shows signs of heavy editing. I am unable to determine who edited the video with a high degree of certainty.”

“But you can make a guess,” Scott asked, his arms gripping tight as he hugged himself. He’d pace but Lexi hadn’t moved away so he could get off the biobed.

“Your father’s speech is different in each video,” SAM admitted. “And the background appears to be his office on the Hyperion.”

Yeah. That’s what Scott thought. “Do you have any idea why he would have falsified my records? You’ve been in his head SAM,” he could be businesslike and objective about this. There was no other way he could have this conversation without punching something. He still might, later.

“I can only speculate that it was for your own protection Scott. Your father was happy to have both you and your sister on his team but he was not immune to a parent’s worry for their children. As you were assigned to a possible role that would have a lot of risk compared to your sister’s science position... “ SAM seemed to realize that Scott was beyond angry... he just... how... how could Dad have done this?Why bother covering it up?

“Why would he bother with the coverup SAM?” Scott asked. He needed to hit something. Badly.

“Because otherwise neither Harry or I would have done it,” Lexi said, her voice thick with unshed tears. “I... I wouldn’t have done it Scott. If I’d known....”

Scott looked at her, not realizing he’d been trying to burn a hole in the floor with his stare. She looked pale, her hands trembling, like she was about to faint on him. He sprang to his feet and guided her to her chair, making her put her head between her knees—he couldn’t help relying on his basic medic training. “Lexi... it’s not your fault. What do you need?” He told her repetitively.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, her hands gripping his. “I wouldn’t have done the surgeries...Harry was so excited to be able to use Lawson’s work and I had the skills to be his assistant so.... I’m so sorry.”

Scott was half kneeling on the floor so he was looking directly at Lexi’s face. He searched his feelings and realized he didn’t blame her for doing her job.... but maybe she could explain what exactly they’d done... or he could ask Harry... but Harry likely had a stronger sense of loyalty to his father and would be more likely to lie or cover up things. Sighing, Scott tried to think what to say. “Lexi... what exactly did you guys do to me. Everyone assumes I know what enhancements I was given... but since I didn’t sign these consents... I... I’ve avoided asking but maybe I should be.”

Lexi visibly pulled herself together. Scott grabbed two bottles of water from his ignored lunch tray and handed her one while breaking the seal on the second one and taking a sip to try and give her time to think of how to respond.

“The enhancements are... layered and mostly considered military grade. Dr. Miranda Lawson is... was... a specialist that Harry and your father regularly were in contact with before we left the Milky Way. I had my suspicions about why I was never in direct contact with her but she also implemented most of the enhancements we gave you on another patient.We used her notes on the outcome for her patient to direct us. Whoever her patient was... they were very severely injured and made a miraculous recovery. When i first saw Harry’s notes... I thought the person she’d worked on had been dead.”

“You mean someone else had the same stuff done to them?” Scott asked. “Were they brought to Andromeda with us?”

“No.I had suspicions... Dr. Lawson... they never had me talk to her because I’m not human,” Lexi confessed.

“Why would that matter?” Scott asked, genuinely puzzled.

“I think she was with Cerberus,” Lexi said, tone hushed and she looked around as if to check that nobody else was listening.

“Cerberus? Like the xenophobic, humans first terrorist group?” Scott said, sitting back on his heels.

“Yes. I... I only suspected it though. I never knew for sure,” Lexi tried to assuage him.

“But they also had been tied to illegal AI research and human experimentation to push us to the next evolutionary step... or so the intel briefing said,” Scott murmured, trying to remember all the details that he’d gotten during the intel briefing six hundred and change years ago when it’d been his business to be aware of potential high priority targets. The name Miranda Lawson... sounded familiar but he couldn’t place it with a face.And Cerberus had been rumored to be heavily into AI research... which given his father’s area of expertise....damnit.

Lexi’s smile was tremulous. “Yes. Harry was very careful... as was Alec that I didn’t have direct contact with her. I... the procedures were cutting edge using some of your mother’s research as a basis. I did have come concerns about safety,” Lexi paused, seemingly realizing that what she was saying wasn’t reassuring.She licked her lips and chose her words a bit more carefully as she continued. “However the assurances that the other patient had only positive outcomes and the experimental data so convincing that I was willing to proceed.”

Scott tried to give her a small, encouraging smile but it was probably more of a grimace as he indicated for her to continue. “The basics of everything we did was on the assumption that you would need to be in severe, austere environments and be able to survive them. Increased gravity resistance meant reconstructing your bone density and muscle mass, more efficient tissue metabolism to deal with hypoxia and increase your endurance levels beyond what would kill anyone else, vascular beds designed to deal with blood loss and to generate after loss. Enhanced reflexes and neural plasticity.... with SAM integration. And that was before we added the gene therapies to make your biotics stronger, more like an asari’s than a humans.”

“Anything else?” Scott asked after a moment, not really processing what she’d just told him.

“The neural plasticity treatments mean that your integration with SAM... we had to use an atypical implant so that when we did the additional work after cryo induction... it was safer to do all those surgeries with you in a state of suspended animation like cryo. But I speculated that without training it would take time for all of the enhancements to become useful to you.”

“What does that mean?”The buzzing noise in the back of his brain was getting louder and Lexi sounded father away but he still needed to know... he could ask SAM for more technical details later.

“Cora said that she couldn’t use the consoles...” Lexi began.

“And it’s because she has a standard implant,” Scott finished for her. “Does Sara have the same implant as me?”

Lexi shook her head. “No. She has an earlier model that is almost identical to Cora’s. Yours was the last design and was adapted to work with your other implants and changes... the design was updated and until you signed on it was only a theoretical design. It was designed so SAM would be able to work more tightly with the recipient.It’s only a guess... but the more you work with the Remnant technology... the easier it’ll get as your brain rewires itself to what you need.”

“That sounds like science fiction....” Scott muttered, pushing his hands into his eyes as he tried to wrap his brain around what Lexi was telling him.

“It’s cutting edge technology.... this was taking your mother’s work and your father’s work years if not decades into the future without further testing and research.Lawson took their work and applied other’s work, disregarding intellectual property rights and coming up with... well.... I guess saying the next evolutionary step would be a bit too hyperbolic but to some... it would seem so.” Lexi’s voice was sad but contemplative. “When I heard what we were going to do... I thought it was extreme but made sense for what you might need to do.I thought of it as an insurance policy for you... but you still need to take care of yourself Scott.”

Scott’s mouth twisted and he ignored everything she’d said up until the last part. “I am taking care of myself Lexi... I know it doesn’t seem like it sometimes... but I know what I’m doing at least some of the time.”

Lexi sighed, appearing exhausted and older than she was. “I’ll clear you for light duty—meaning talking with the angarans. I’m not clearing you for storming kett ships at least today.”

“Thanks Lexi.I’ll take it as easy as I can for a while,” Scott told her.

Lexi snorted. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

Scott tried to lighten things up, “The amount of trust i get around here....”

Lexi let out a giggle. “We trust you Scot... we just worry. You scare us all some times.”

He sighed. “I really will try and follow your advice Lexi. I promise.”

Leaving medbay a few minutes later, Scott tried to shove everything Lexi had told him to the side—mentally. He’d have time to think about things later. He had angarans to schmooze so Tann could get his diplomatic alliance.

***

Stepping off the Tempest and onto the space port in the late afternoon sun, Scott took a deep inhale. Aya’s perfumed air smelled like rainforest and the damp warmth enfolded him like a warm blanket, his skin instantly wet with sweat and his Initiative uniform began to stick to his back. It was needless to say, but, he really, really loved Aya’s climate more than Voeld’s. Better than Havarl’s as he knew there was an ocean that he could hear the gentle roar of the waves if he strained his ears enough. Fuck.... he could taste the salt on his lips. He’d need to check if the surfboard was still available that he’d used last time if he got the chance. Surfing counted as light duty right?His crew followed him off the ship, eager for a few days on Aya with it’s mild climate and beach.

The Moshae followed Scott closely, Jaal trailing after her. Jaal had been subdued ever since the Moshae had been rescued and he hadn’t willingly responded when Scott tried to strike up a conversation. Scott got the impression Jaal was conflicted about something but unwilling to discuss it with a non-angaran. The Moshae was an aloof yet inquisitive,grandmother-like figure that could take them all out with one hand tied behind her back. She treated arriving on Aya like just another day and seemed amused at all the angarans that seemed eager to see her yet would pause a few steps from her and grow nervous in their excitement to see her. Evfra was there to greet them and awaited them at the edge of the field next to two of the transport vehicles.

“Evfra,” the Moshae greeted him warmly, embracing the taciturn angaran who gave her a small smile that looked pained.“I am glad to see you again.’

“Moshae Sjefa... it has taken longer than originally planned but I am glad to again have you on Aya. Our people have missed you greatly in your absence,” Evfra announced as they clasped forearms. SAM made an observation to Scott that they were using their bioelectric feedback to exchange a greeting that seemed much more complex than their verbal words.

Scott hung back and waited until he was acknowledged. “Pathfinder Ryder. We of the Resistance thank you for your service in retrieving the Moshae. You have our gratitude and, as I understand it, a party has been planned to welcome you all back,” Evfra said to him as he held out a hand for Scott to take like the Moshae had.

Taking Evfra’s forearm in the same clasp that the Moshae had, Scott had a sense that Evfra was politely greeting him but also sensing his current state. The touch felt very similar to the one the Moshae had given him when she was in the infirmary checking in on him, but weaker as if Evfra was either not good at doing this sort of check or the Moshae was just exceptionally powerful. “Evfra,” Scott greeted him. “We are happy to have helped you and your people. The Moshae is a very interesting person and I feel we have both learned a lot about the other’s respective peoples in the last week.” Ha. Take that for being an ‘interesting’ person Moshae!

Evfra quirked his head to the side, seemingly getting that Scott was implying something he didn’t get. However, the Resistance leader was diplomatic and gestured towards the awaiting vehicles. “We will be late for your party. If you would not mind I will take you there myself.”

“Lead the way,” Scott agreed, releasing his grip and letting his arm fall back.

He ended up in the vehicle with Evfra, Jaal and the Moshae.Peebee snuck in to sit next to him in the small space that was left. Everyone else was in the other vehicle that was driven by an angaran in resistance armor. Jaal sat rigidly next to the Moshae as she and Evfra exchanged small talk about mutual acquaintances that Scott didn’t know. Evidently someone had just had twins who used to be a student of the Moshae’s and she needed to visit them when able. “Aya’s beautiful,” Peebee said to him in a lull in conversation.

“It is,” he agreed neutrally. Evfra looked pleased at Peebee’s assessment and started explaining the different trees that they were skimming across. This piqued Peebee’s interest even though she was more into alien technology than ecology or botany and she was soon inquiring about the different types of flowers they could see amongst the tree canopy as well as the flying creatures they could see around sunrise and sunset here on Aya as well as on other planets.

Scott let their chatter wash over him as he was still unsettled from his discussion with Lexi earlier.He was also watching Jaal who wasn’t really saying anything. Jaal’s behavior was pinging on his radar as weird since the angaran had been curious about everything since he’d joined them as their observer. This was making Scott wonder if Jaal would be coming with them when they left Aya for their next mission.

When they arrive back at the village, Evfra guided them through the main marketplace and past the governor’s office to the resistance headquarters. Tables had been set up in small groupings and it appeared that the entire population of the town had shown up to celebrate the Moshae’s rescue. The party was already underway and music could be heard from a small stage that was enthusiastic yet alien sounding. Scott fell into step behind Evfra and the Moshae as they were greeted by Paaran Shie and several other angarans. He recognized Yaansa the tailor was there with two male angarans who seemed to be attending her.

Greetings were exchanged and he found himself being seated at the head table between Jaal and Paaran Shie, the remained of his team scattered in pairs to different tables.Evfra stood and called for attention, the sudden silence as everyone turned to him startling but the excitement and joy of the gathered people was palpable. “My people. Today we celebrate the rescue of our Moshae and her return to Aya which was much delayed. We are happy to have her back amongst our people, her guidance and wisdom has been much missed.”Evfra paused as there was a loud rush of agreement and celebratory shouts from some of the younger warriors who appeared to have been drinking for a while and were slightly inebriated. 

Gesturing for silence again which took a bit more time for everyone to settle down, Evfra turned to Scott and raised a glass in his honor. “We thank the Pathfinder, Scott Ryder, and his team for their assistance to us.Without them, many of our brothers and sisters would still be prisoners of the Kett. We thank you Scott Ryder,” Evfra said, raising his glass even higher. There was a loud cacophony of agreement at this and Scott found himself taking his own glass of water (Lexi had threatened she’d ground him back in medbay if he imbibed any alcohol before the concussion he’d had was undetectable on her scans—which was going to take another couple of days even though he felt fine) and saluting Evfra back.

“It was our pleasure to assist,” Scott said.

A roar of agreement came from the party.

Smiling, Evfra laughed. “Let us celebrate the return of our Moshae.... and to new friendships!” 

The toast was then drunk. Evidently some traditions were universal. The party then settled down as everyone began socializing at their own tables and the music began again. Food appeared on huge platters carried by resistance warriors who set it down in the center of each table.

Scott found himself plied with food from all sides. Paaran Shie asked him to recount their rescue of the Moshae which he found himself retelling with Jaal’s help. She asked good questions and he found himself explaining his choice to rescue as many as he could while blowing up the facility. Jaal, who’d been so quiet, began piping up with details of how the escapees had made it out and into the secret caves—which evidently Paaran Shie knew about as she agreed that he’d made a correct choice.

“So Jaal,” Paaran said, changing the direction of the conversation. “Will you be continuing on with the Pathfinder when he leaves us?”

Good question, Scott thought, eyes sliding to Jaal.

Jaal looked at his food, playing with it slightly as he frowned in thought. “I would like to continue with your team but it is up to Evfra,” he finally said to Scott, eyes flicking up to meet Scott’s.

“You’re always welcome on my team at any time,” Scott assured him, diplomatically taking a drink from his water goblet.

This seemed to greatly reassure Jaal. “I am glad to hear this. I was afraid that now we had completed the mission Evfra gave you that I would no longer be welcome.”

Shaking his head to deny the suggestion that Jaal wasn’t welcome, Scott tried to put the angaran at ease. “Jaal—you’re a great asset and we’re all friends. We’d be more than happy to have you with us.”

Jaal visibly brightened at Scott’s answer. “Yes. You do very interesting things as my teacher says. I would like to continue on with you for some time—if Evfra is agreeable.”

“You are always welcome,” Scott continued before looking at Paaran Shie who had been listening in. “What happens now for the vault here now that the Moshae has returned?

Evfra, who hadn’t been listening in from his position on Shie’s other side but heard mention of the vault, opened his mouth to reply but was over spoken by the Moshae who sat across from him. “We will discuss the vault in a few days. In the meantime, you should enjoy the beauty of Aya. Not many see these shores.”

Evfra coughed, giving a slight annoyed glance at the Moshae. “Yes. A few days and we will discuss the vault. For tonight, let us just celebrate.”

Obvious that politics were tabled for the night, Scott relaxed slightly into his chair and let their conversation flow around him. He minimally contributed but listened to them and let them know he was listening as the daylight faded into twilight and then the starry night sky above them.

It really was beautiful here, he thought as he saw the stars above them. He wondered if the angarans told stories about pictures in the stars like humans did. He’d have to ask Jaal.

***

The next two days were spent relaxing and being shuffled from one part of Aya to another. Evfra remained effusive about the vault and the Moshae and he were shuttered in with Paaran Shie for much of the day—Scott was gently excluded from these discussions and he found himself spending most of each day on the borrowed surfboard that had been right where he’d left it—maybe his ghost hadn’t been back to Aya?The thought that whoever his ghost was hadn’t been back made him frown... he refused to think that they were dead and he made another mental note to track down his ghost some day.

Yaansa had briefly visited with him the first morning and produced two sets of board shorts that fit him perfectly—one a silver blue that matched his eyes with a wave like pattern to it and another in a bright bottle green. She’d told him she knew he’d be back and had made them for him. She’d also outfitted the rest of his team similarly. The brief touch to his forearm as he thanked her had felt warmer than either the Moshae’s or Evfra’s and Yaansa had given him a huge, bright smile after. He liked Yaansa as she reminded him of his own mother.

So they’d spent a short holiday on the beach but Scott could find himself getting anxious to get moving again despite the respite. His brief—meaning less than an hour—updates to Tann each day had been devoid of additional intel from his side and he still hadn’t gotten permission to have an Initiative embassy on Aya yet which was a huge failing in Tann’s and Addison’s eyes. Addison had demanded one verbal report but hadn’t listened to him and instead had berated him for not having the embassy established yet.

Today, Tann had started making oblique inferences that Scott needed to move on, that the Initiative had other, better, tasks to put him to if he wasn’t making any headway with Evfra at the moment.What he wasn’t sure, but he kept a tab on the reports out of Eos about the colony development there and the small cadre of scientists that were now stationed on Havarl.There had been several requests for his assistance that were not urgent—mostly they needed him for extra protection or to use his SAM to interface with Remnant technology that was found—which was all indexed and cataloged but not a priority at the moment.

So he was sitting on his borrowed surf board and enjoying the wave break as the afternoon slid away. He’d already slightly burned his skin yesterday before Cora had noticed and then set alarms on everyone’s omnitool to remind Scott to apply sunscreen like an errant two year old. He was making an effort not to grumble too much as the team seemed to enjoy haranguing him to take care of himself. It probably didn’t help that he knew SAM could repair his skin in hours if he wanted to—which it had by the morning. Liam was sunning himself on the beach, lying prone with his feet dug into the sand so he wouldn’t burn the soles. Peebee was building sandcastles with several angaran children as was Cora. Suvi was parked underneath a huge umbrella and covered with one of the flowing capes so her pale Irish skin wouldn’t crisp up. Gil was attempting a version of beach volleyball somewhere on the far end of the shore with a gang of adventurous angaran teenagers. Vetra and Drack had both wandered away somewhere—in Vetra’s case she was trying to get supplies. Scott had no idea what Drack was doing. 

Jaal had told them that he was going to spend some time with his family and had invited them all for dinner later tonight. Scott had agreed readily and the crew seemed excited to experience an angaran family meal.

Feeling the water beneath him move, Scott began to paddle to catch the wave that was swelling behind him and pushing him forward. As the water picked up speed and began to crest, he popped up and found his balance as the board tipped down the slope of the wave while gaining speed. Soon he was within the barrel of the wave, his hand slicing through the wall of water around him as he shot through the tight, collapsing funnel of seawater to twist up into the air and land back on the wave, riding it halfway to shore and across most of the beach before he wiped out, tumbling off the board and into the water.

As the wave crashed over him, he opened his eyes underwater and was spun about, the leash on his leg tugging as the board pulled him over the reef below. It was a narrow margin of safety and he almost hit the sharp coral below. Bright, multicolored fish darted around him as he disturbed their home and he found himself accidentally touching several of them as they slid past him in the water, their bodies smooth as the swam against him.

Released finally from the undertow, he broke the surface clutching his board to him and he gasped for air. He could see the next wave coming and he ducked under it just in time to not be rolled again. Surfacing a second time, he began paddling for shore. He could see Evfra standing at the water line with Jaal and they were trying to get his attention, watching him paddle towards the shore, taking advantage of the waves to push him faster towards his goal. When he reached knee deep water, he got off the board and drug it up and out of the water, ankle leash trailing behind.

Cora, who’d been side-eying Evfra, joined him at the water’s edge, throwing him a towel which he used to dry off his face as he used his hands to slick back his hair, flinging water droplets everywhere. He was overdue for a haircut. Cora and Jaal followed as Evfra indicated for Scott to walk with him.

“I see you have been enjoying yourselves,” Evfra observed, his tone calm and friendly.

“Yes. I can see why many of your people wish to spend time on Aya,” Scott agreed. “How was your conference with the Moshae?”

Evfra laughed, amused with Scott’s directness even as his tone slid towards serious as he answered Scott. “It has been... both interesting and frustrating to hear of the Moshae’s experience since she was taken from us. The information you have brought to us about the Disappeared... is disheartening but we now know where they have gone.”

Scott inclined his head. “I’m sorry that it isn’t better news,” he offered.

“Yes,” Evfra said, tone contemplative. “I am sorry we have put off talking since you have returned to Aya. I wanted to make sure I discussed our next steps with the Moshae before discussing them with you. Moshae Sjefa is willing to take you to Aya’s vault tomorrow at my request.”

“Yeah?” Scott said, hope creeping into his voice.

“Yes. You have shown a willingness to abide by our wishes and help out the Resistance when asked. If you do this.... I may have another task for you,” Evfra confided, his body language closing out the rest of the beach goers who were far enough away that they could no longer overhear their private conversation.

“What sort of task?” Scott asked.

“I can give you the details after you return from the vault. I... “ Evfra looked out over the water as he paused, seeming to search for his next words before staring them carefully, eyes sliding to watch Scott’s response. “I hope that we will have a long and fruitful relationship, Scott Ryder. We have heard things, seen things of your people that originally made us doubt your ability to honor your word. It seems we were wrong to doubt you.”

“Yet you don’t want to give me more details?” Scott prodded. “I cannot speak for the others that you interacted with but I will keep my promises as much as I am able to.”

Evfra looked slightly abashed, folding his arms at his sides. “It is more I await confirmation of the task I wish to send you upon. I would not ask something of you if I had not verified the information first... and it is good to hear that you share a sense of honor like others I have met.”

“I see,” Scott murmured—who exactly was it that Evfra was referring to? An Initiative member? An exile? Someone else?The odds were it was the same ghost that Scott could find traces of, discarded clues that didn’t really answer any of his questions and just spawned more. The fact that Evfra was admitting to having come into contact with other travelers from the Milky Way... he decided not to press his luck at the moment. “Then I’ll await further details tomorrow after we return from the vault.”

Evfra looked pleased. “Jaal has requested to continue accompanying you and I see no reason to deny his request.”

“Jaal is always welcome on my team,” Scott agreed.

“So I have been told. As his commander, it is my responsibility to make sure he is placed where he would be most helpful. I agree that an angaran presence on your team is mutually beneficial.”He’d somehow amused Evfra again.

“My family is looking forward to hosting you for dinner tonight,” Jaal said to break the silence.

Scott gave him a smile and Evfra excused himself as he had other things to do. “We’re all looking forward to it.Do we need to bring anything?” Scott asked, remembering the manners his mother had often reminded him about.

“No.Just yourselves,” Jaal assured him. “I see you are enjoying the warm weather.”

Scott laughed. “Yes. Whoever’s surf board this is... I’d like to thank them.”

Jaal gave the board a slightly puzzled look. “Your... surfing... is something another group of the Resistance does. The boards belong to them. I can ask whose it is that you are using.”

So Jaal didn’t know his ghost personally. He’d suspected as much but at least his answers were consistent.If the board belonged to someone the Resistance had rotated off Aya... where would they have sent them? “If it’s not a bother. I’d just like to thank them.”

“I will ask, but no thanks are necessary. They have rotated off Aya to another Resistance base. It is tradition that if you are not using something it is shared among the community here.There are few places that such a plaything would be useful that the Resistance would send someone.”Jaal accompanied Scott as he went to where the surfboards were stowed. Cora gave Scott a glance and inclined her head back to where Liam and she had been sitting and he gave her a nod, communicating via SAM that they should probably start getting cleaned up to go to dinner since the sun was starting to slide lower on the horizon.

The other, larger, surfboards also sat unused for the most part but he’d seen several sharp eyed teenagers watching him closely. Scott had the feeling that there’d be others attempting surfing soon. They hadn’t, however, been brave enough to ask him to teach them yet. “Do you want to learn,” Scott asked Jaal.

“Perhaps some other time. I have been busy,” he confessed. “There have been many questions about you and your team, your people, your Nexus.”

“I hope you have nothing but good things to tell them,” Scott offered.

“Oh yes. My truemother—who you will meet tonight—is very interested in meeting you. She is from one of the larger political families on Havarl. She is very curious about your people and what you have done for Havarl. In fact, my family plans on returning to Havarl now that you have reactivated it’s vault.” Jaal waited patiently as Scott put his board back in it’s slot.

Cora came up from the beach, Liam with her and they were carrying their gear.Before Scott could reply to Jaal, Cora spoke. “We’re ready to call it a day and get cleaned up for meeting your family Jaal.”

Jaal blushed slightly as he spoke with Cora, which was a new observation for Scott. “It is not a formal event. Please do not feel like you must be... what is the word... fancy for tonight. It is a family dinner with friends.”

Scott clapped him on the back, watching with interest as Cora also dropped her eyes a bit and blushed as well. Somehow he’d missed this development and he couldn’t help but wonder how recent this was. “We want to make a good impression on your family Jaal. You’re part of our team officially now since Evfra has agreed.”

“Yes. I am glad that he had no objection,” Jaal insisted.

Cora, cheeks still with a stain of pink to them, congratulated Jaal. “It’s great to have you with us.”

“Yeah bro,” Liam agreed with a loud laugh and fist bump that Jaal scrambled to return, seemingly not realizing how much Jaal and Cora kept sneaking glances at each other. “It’s great to officially consider you a teammate—not that you weren’t already.”

Jaal accompanied them back to their rooms before excusing himself to make sure his mother was ready for them. Scott raised an eyebrow at Cora behind Jaal’s back and she emphatically shook her head, face scarlet and eyes pleading with him to not ask when everyone else was around. He’d let them work it out between themselves for now without pushing.

***

Meeting Jaal’s family made for a fun night. Jaal’s truemother was called Sahuna Ama Darav and she was absolutely delighted to meet the foreigners her son had taken up with. Scott had gotten the impression that Jaal’s being a member of the Resistance was a point of pride for Sahuna. She welcomed them into her home, introducing them to a myriad of family members that Scott was not able to keep straight and relying on SAM to remember names.Cora had insisted on helping prepare the meal the moment they were in the door and Sahuna had coyly taken her back into the kitchen area where some of the family was working. Jaal introduced Scott and Liam to his other fathers, another mother, as well as a gaggle of sisters, brothers, cousins aunts and uncles. Scott was pretty unclear who actually was blood related to who but everyone seemed happy and welcoming.

His team had dispersed to be entertained by various family members while dinner was being placed on a deck that overlooked the forest. The family abode here on Aya was slightly further away from the center of the village and a running trail ran beneath it, headed deeper into the forest and away from the space port. Scott found himself deep in discussion explainingthe motives of the Andromeda Initiative (or at least the official ones) to two of Jaal’s uncles and a very inquisitive woman that Scott couldn’t remember how she was related to everyone else.

“So you decided to come here why?” She asked him.“I understand the reasons for your Initiative but why did you join them? Surely there is a reason.”

Taking a drink that was offered to him by one of the younger males that Scott thought might be a half brother or so to Jaal, Scott sipped at it before replying. “My father was one of the original planners of the Initiative—Alec Ryder. My sister was also going. They’re all the family I have so I wanted to go with them.It would have been sad to have been left behind.”

“So you came to be with your family?” Was the next question, her face inquisitive and friendly.

“Yes,” Scott answered simply. He really didn’t want to go into the complicated reasons why he’d agreed to come to Andromeda.

Smiling, this seemed to please her—Manni was her name according to SAM. “See Naaj—I told you that they were not so different from us!”

Naaj, an uncle probably, snorted at Manni. “They do not seem very kett like.”

“No. We’re not like the kett at all,” Scott said with a chuckle. “We’re a diverse lot, we brought several different species as we live together to form an alliance in the Milky Way of our peoples. We came to explore and make friends, not war.”

“That is reassuring,” Naaj allowed. “Manni has been very excited to meet you—especially humans. Her friends have met others like you and she wanted to see for herself what you were like.”

“Oh?” Scott asked, wondering who it was Manni’s friends had met. “How did Manni’s friends meet us?”

Before Naaj could reply, there was a loud call for everyone to get seated for dinner. Naaj gave Scott an apologetic look before Manni pulled him to their seats. Scott, as an honored guest, would be sitting with his team and Jaal’s closest family. the extended family and friends present were sitting around the periphery of the crowded deck. Soon platters of food that Scott didn’t recognize was being placed in front of them all. Jaal prompted them to take a little bit of every dish to try it out. “I verified with SAM that all of the ingredients should be okay for humans except for those with the red pottery,” he said with pride then added when he saw Vetra just watching as each dish was passed by her and didn’t take any, “The dishes in the red platters should be more to your taste Vetra.”

Perking up at the possibility of dextro protein dishes, Vetra happily took a portion from the next red platter that passed her by.

“Thanks for thinking of her,” Scott told Jaal who was sitting between him and Cora on the large round table. He’d purposefully maneuvered Cora to sit between Jaal and his mother.

“It is my pleasure,” Jaal smiled and moved to help Cora try to wrangle a slippery noodle dish onto her plate. “That dish is made with paripo noodles and toh sauce,” he told her. “One of my favorites.”

Sahuna chuckled and took the dish from Cora when she had taken a small portion, expertly putting more on Cora’s plate. “Here. It is Jaal’s favorite. You will love it.”

Scott found himself laughing as Cora tried to diplomatically fend off the angaran mother who was determined to see her well fed. “Cora, just try it and see if you like it before she fills your plate with it,” he told her.

Shooting Scott a deadly glare which softened when she realized Jaal was waiting with anticipation to see what she thought, Cora sighed. “Fine,” she said before taking a utensil that was similar to a fork and twirling the vegetable noodles in the sauce that was bright orange then sniffing it and taking a delicate bite.

Everyone was watching Cora as she chewed, face thoughtful but not seeming to dislike the taste of the noodles. She reached for her water glass and took a sip before saying what she thought. “It’s very good,” she told Sahuna who promptly piled a large helping onto Cora’s plate making her exclaim that it was too much.

Laughing, Scott asked for a portion himself, smaller than Cora’s please he told Jaal before saying louder, “I’d like to try it then please. If Cora likes it, it must be very good.”

Beaming in pride, Sahuna pushed the dish into Jaal’s hands so he could put some on Scott’s plate. “See your Pathfinder thinks you need to eat. You are all too skinny!” Sahuna exclaimed. Sahuna was now Scott’s new favorite angaran—sorry Jaal.

Ears turning bright red, Cora demurred and tried to decline when Sahuna picked up another dish and started explaining what it was as she put a large helping on Cora’s plate. This was comedic gold—for once nobody was shoving food at Scott. It was great to be on the other end of the stick.“Cora, just try it,” he urged her.

Obviously on to his game, Cora said in a poisonously sweet voice, “You first Scott,” as she took the dish from Sahuna and passed it over Jaal to Scott.

Taking the dish, Scott just gave her a big smile and spooned some of the mashed purple colored dish onto his plate next to the orange noodles. They both smelled great and neither bore any similarity to butterscotch. He’d eat just about anything at this point and he was sure that SAM could compensate for any upset stomach he’d suffer. Liam, who was two angarans down from Scott asked, “Hey pass me some. I want to try it too!”

Cora glared at Liam briefly before rolling her eyes and smiling, relaxing in her seat as her arm brushed against Jaal’s. “Eat up guys,” she said with a light tone, her gaze landing on Jaal. “The food’s great.” Peebee also exclaimed for them to get passing as she wanted some. Drack was seated at the far end of Vetra and was calmly plowing his way through a helping of the noddle dish, slurping happily while Gil watched him with a jaundiced eye, avoiding any sauce splatters. Suvi and Kallo were seated even further down but appeared engaged in conversation with their seat mates.

Amused, Scott passed the dish Liam’s way. The angara were very welcoming and hospitable. Jaal’s family kept him engaged in discussion throughout the meal and he felt stuffed by the time the food stopped being piled on his plate by the angaran seated on either side of him. Members of the family took turns making music and entertainment for everyone, using a wooden stringed instrument and small wooden flutes.

As the night wound down, the younger angarans were sent off to bed and the elders relaxed even further. Stories that struck Scott as the mythology of the angaran people were shared by Naaj—who apparently was some sort of story collector or the angaran version of an anthropologist. After dinner aperitifs were shared after the dishes were cleared away and several of the older Angaran’s were smoking a type of cigarette that definitely wasn’t tobacco. SAM identified it as dream weed—having anxiolytic properties similar to low concentrations of THC. Scott was offered a cigarette but declined as he didn’t like smoking of any sort.He’d been accused in the past of being a control freak and it probably fit in this case.

Cora had gradually moved closer to Jaal and was almost cuddled up to him as they talked softly, Sahuna occasionally adding to their conversation.

It had been a great night.

***

The next morning came early and Scott was bleary eyed when the Moshae showed up at his door. He’d managed to get himself up and moving and washed up and into a light set of armor he’d smuggled off the Tempest before Lexi had noticed. He’d told Cora to sleep in given that she’d had a bit more than him to drink last night and had looked like she wanted to take Jaal up on that romantic stroll along the beach. Peebee and Vetra were coming with him. Peebee due to curiosity as usual but he wasn’t sure why Vetrahad volunteered before anyone else could.

Stepping out into the slightly humid air, Scott asked, “Do I need any weapons? How active is this vault with robots?”

The Moshae shook her head. “You should not need them but if you feel safer with them you may bring one.”

Peebee and Vetra who had come out of the apartment with him were both armed so he kept his M3 on his hip. If it came down to stronger firepower, he always had his biotics. “Lead on.”

“We’ll need to take transport there,” the Moshae told them as she led them to the transport cars Evfra had shuttled them around in earlier. “And then a shuttle. The vault is not close to here.”

“Do we need a pilot?” Scott asked.

“No. I am able to pilot a small shuttle myself without assistance.”

“Okay,” Scott said simply as he allowed the Moshae to concentrate on the controls as the transport rose into the air, engines humming as they increased the force of the lift. When they were above tree height, the Moshae guided the ship quickly to the space port where they transferred to a small shuttle. She didn’t say much other than to make sure they were properly strapped into the four forward facing seats in the small cockpit before taking off. The shuttle was tiny compared to all the others they’d used recently, reminding Scott of the small shuttles the Initiative used but this one had almost no cargo room in order to keep it small. This would be able to go into much smaller crevices and caves.

Soon they were over water and turned north. The Moshae was mostly silent but occasionally answered Peebee’s questions as she asked them. “So you can interact with the consoles like Scott?” Peebee asked.

The Moshae’s lips quirked in a slight frown. “What you did on Voeld is not something that has ever been attempted by my people in living memory. I am able to activate doors and the gravity wells at Mithrava but I have never attempted what you did on Voeld. I suspect there are parts of the vault here on Aya that have been hidden to my eyes.”

“So you’ve been in the vault before?” Scott asked, Peebee was eagerly leaning forward and echoed his question.

“I have been inside it. When Aya was first discovered it was found and I explored it as a youngling during my studies of the old one’s technology. However, it was never my focus as Aya was recently settled and not one of our home worlds. Most of my time was spent on Havarl and Mithrava,” the Moshae explained. “The old stories say that our original home world was Havarl... but the forests have overtaken so much there that it is hard to continue to study our origins. It is my hope that someday we will discover another one of our forgotten home worlds.”

“Wait,” Peebee interrupted. “You forgot your home worlds?”

Scott knew the answer to this from talking with Jaal but was curious on the Moshae’s take. “When the kett arrived they initially were welcomed by us, much as you are. Once they had gotten close to us they turned and the war began. This lasted for many years and much of our technology was lost. You have seen Havarl and it’s decline... this happened on all our worlds. We lost our ability to travel between planets so severe were our losses.”

“That’s horrible,” Scott said, imagining what Angaran civilization could have been before the war. Those canyons on Havarl that were covered by the forest.... a huge city just covered and gone from sight. How many people could have lived there?

“The war still is ongoing. The old stories... they say we lost so many but it is unfathomable to count. So isolated we were... that when we regained the ability to travel beyond the atmosphere of Havarl, of Voeld... we had to relearn our common language shelesh to speak to one another.”She paused, waiting to see if Peebee had questions but she didn’t ask any just waited for the Moshae to continue. “Of course... that was when the kett realized that we had not all been eliminated. We have been fighting them ever since. The Resistance was founded by Evfra... and he has done much for our people.”

“How long ago was the Resistance founded?” Vetra asked from her seat behind the Moshae.

“Twenty of your years,” the Moshae answered. “Evfra has been in charge of it for the last five.”

A war that had been going on for more than twenty years.... and before that for how many years? No wonder they were holding them at arms length and required him to prove himself before allowing him closer. Scott could understand their situation objectively but emotionally.... that was a devastating thing. He wondered how many angarans had died because of the kett, how many had been captured and ‘exalted’.A shiver of dread went down Scott’s spine. “That’s a really long time to be at war.”

The Moshae looked at him out of the corner of her eye as she adjusted their course. “What other choice do we have? Heleus is our home.”

The remainder of the two hour shuttle ride was silent. Scott found his thoughts echoing hers... Heleus was their home now, they’d have to defend it.

***

Setting down on a rocky island near the equator, the heat of the day was cloying as they stepped out of the shuttle. A large cave was built into the rock face as it rose from the shoreline, the interior of the cave dark but he could see that the uneven floor sloped downward from the entrance. The Moshae advanced without looking away, calling for them to follow as her armor began to give off bioluminescent light that allowed her to see where she was going. Scott activated the lights on his armor and put on a visor that allowed him to see in the dark interior, Peebee and Vetra doing the same.

Within the cave, the air temperature cooled rapidly to a more comfortable temperature but it made the humid air feel damp and he could see what appeared to be lichens and mosses growing on the walls of the large room they were in. As the Moshae approached, another door opened to allow them deeper with a a steep slant to the floor that became a spiral ramp that took them down deep. The sound of water dripping could be heard as they descended, minimal light reaching this deep.

At the bottom of the ramp, they were in a large room. Ferrofluid channels spiraled in a pattern out from a center console that was active, a holographic alien output visible next to the console. Stepping up to it, the Moshae held her hand over the console and the faint hologram brightened. Scott could see the energy output awaken at her touch and the strands of code respond in an orderly fashion but sluggishly.

The hologram was a representation of the Heleus cluster, the black hole at it’s center with faint silver wispy clouds stretched around it that represented the Scourge. “Haranj—the fisher’s lure,” the Moshae said as she pointed to the black hole.

“We called it Ardat Hekas, the demon’s maw” Peebee offered. When Scott looked at her with a raised eyebrow she defensively said, “What?That’s what the original surveys called it.”

“The asari ones,” he agreed listening to SAM explain a bit more detail about the black hole at the center of the Heleus cluster. “The more formal name was H-102 Ketos, a Kerr class black hole.”

“Nerd,” Vetra teased him and he shrugged it off.

Realizing that they were done, the Moshae then followed one of the faint lines to Aya which pulsed a warm golden color with lines going from it to a center point on the other side of Haranj where multiple faint lines intersected creating a network that looked like old constellation drawings that connected each one. “This is Aya,” she paused then pointed to Voeld which was even brighter than Aya, “and this is Voeld. The last time I was in here, the only one of these planets that was golden colored was Aya. Now there are five of them.”

Locating each point, Scott quickly identified them. “Eos, Havarl, Voeld, Aya... and Habitat 7.”

“Yes.The other points,” she gestured to the silver ones that were scattered around the black hole in different systems, “I now suspect have vaults just like this one and the others that you have activated.”

Scott moved so he could point to the place where all the lines intersected. “Where’s this?”

“Meridian... it is what he asked about,” she whispered.

“He who?”

“The Archon. He hungers to.... to control it and all the vaults connected to it.” Her face was fearful, her tone barely audible. “If he were to control it... my people would eventually all be his or dead.”

Scott frowned. “But he hasn’t found it yet?”

“He talked as if he had,” she allowed. “He tried so hard to persuade me... for me to become one of them. That my knowledge would become his to use. I resisted for so long,” her eyes were unfocused as if she was seeing something far away. “I had almost given up when you arrived.”

Scott stared hard at the map of planets and possible vault locations. SAM quietly verified that the map was very similar to the one he’d seen on Eos. “Is any of your people able to use the vaults like me? Are you?”

“Not that I know of,” the Moshae admitted. “You are truly unique.”

The Archon probably thought that the Moshae could manipulate the vaults like he could, that she could interact with Meridian and control the entire network of terraforming vaults... that was a lot of power in one person’s hands. Nodding before moving to the console, Scott held out his arm to interface. The dancing code was almost right but not quite. There were a few strands that had escaped the complex pattern and needed to be tucked back into place, giving him the idea that this was like performing long overdue maintenance. As his mind locked onto the console, he quickly manipulated it and the pattern strengthened.The golden dot that represented Aya brightened to match the others and the thread that tied it to Meridian brightened. The ground underneath his feet rumbled slightly as something around them settled and there was a pressure change in the room that made his ears pop. 

“What was that?” Peebee exclaimed, trying to keep her balance as the floor shifted under them and then settled like a rolling wave, leaving the room just as it had been.

Under Scott’s hand, one of the parts of the keyboard popped out. A relic similar to the one he’d picked up on Eos. When he picked it up off the keyboard the map winked out of existence to leave the room just lit by the ferrofluid channels. “Well that answers that question,” Scott muttered.

“Just like the one on Eos,” Vetra said as she plucked the relic out of his hand, examining it.

“Yeah. Must be what triggers the map. Didn’t see one in Havarl, Voeld or Habitat 7.”

The Moshae moved forward at Scott’s answer to Vetra. “You have one of these?”

“Yes?” Scott said, not sure if he was asking or answering her question.

The Moshae snatched it out of Vetra’s hand and began walking back towards the ramp and entrance. “Then you will not mind if I keep this one.”

“I suppose not,” he drawled. Vetra and Peebee both were looking at him. “What?”

“Let’s not get stranded here,” Vetra said as she walked past, headed the same way.

“Good point,” Scott said as Peebee walked past him to join Vetra, calling for her to wait up.

***

2819 CE May 20th

Mesa above Fairwinds Basin, Eos, Pytheas, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Reyes Vidal, Resistance Member, codename Shena, smuggler, also known as Anubis to the Collective, aka the Charlatan

Status: fact finding

So the reports that were too unbelievable to be true were, in fact, true. Setting down on Eos, Reyes had followed the markers that Vladimir had sent them to the top of a mesa that wasabove a broad valley—the Fairwinds basin. Reyes had flown over this area before but it’d been nothing but an empty, irradiated desert. It wasn’t now. Below them, a small colony sat with approximately twenty buildings, solar panels, wind turbines and water pumps. A small lake and creek went through the valley creating a picturesque little hamlet right out of the promotional materials for the Initiative. There was even the outline of fields where you could see that the ground had been plowed and plants were starting to sprout in neat rows.Lights were minimal but it was obvious one building had it’s residents awake and shadows could be seen moving back and forth as shadows on the windows.

The only thing out of place for a regular colony was the turrets that were spaced at regular intervals. Whoever had placed them had thought through all the best approaches for attacking and Reyes would admit to being impressed. He didn’t see a good bombing run approach for a ship from his vantage point.

Reyes wouldn’t have believed it if he wasn’t looking at it with his own eyes. It was very late, almost 0300. Vladimir had specified a nocturnal meet up as he was supposed to be at Prodromos—the name of the colony—for a regular check in. He would meet them at the top of the mesa near the communications array. When he’d stepped out of his ship, he’d done so without the need for a helmet and breathed fresh air and could smell rain on the wind. Kenax and Vestus both stepped out and seemed just as disturbed as him.

How had they done it?

Reyes had read the reports that Evfra had forwarded him. This Scott Ryder had inherited the Pathfinder title from his father after his death—which was mentioned but not how or when. Supposedly he had somehow been able to interact with the ancient alien buildings that dotted the so-called golden worlds and had been able to make them more habitable.

Kenax and Vestus had verified that Vetra had said Alec Ryder had died and made Scott Pathfinder but she had been vague with them on the details, only that as far as they knew it had happened before the Hyperion made it to the Nexus. The email he’d sent Vetra hadn’t yet been replied to but he assumed she might be slightly busy—especially if she was on the pathfinder team she might be hesitant to tell him everything he wanted to know about her commanding officer and he couldn’t blame her.

Either way... what was below him was quite the accomplishment. For all Keema’s teasing, he needed to meet this Scott Ryder for himself. If he could heal Eos’ radiation problem... what could he do for Kadara? Kadara had the same old alien structures that dotted Eos’ landscape.Reyes hadn’t made it a priority to explore these but he would now.

“Reyes?” Vestus asked, having walked the length of the cliff edge and perched with his sniper rifle to keep an eye out.

“Yes?”

“I’ve got movement from below. Someone’s coming.”

“Roger that,” Reyes replied. From his vantage point, he could see a transport leaving the colony and making for the trail that would take it up a winding ramp to the mesa he was on. Reyes had grabbed one of the tactical visors and in the faint light he visually followed the progress of the vehicle. It was slow going on the turns as the large vehicle maneuvered carefully.

Fifteen minutes later, the truck had reached the mesa and it headed directly for the communication array that Reyes had used to hide his ship and himself among. The headlights were purposefully flashed and over the comms he could hear Vladimir’s voice. “Anubis that you?”

Clicking his mic on, Reyes replied. “This is Anubis. You’re late.”

Vladimir’s reply was salty as he parked the transport. “Sorry your majesty. Some of us have been having a bit of difficulty lately.”

Reyes just laughed in response. They’d already unloaded the supplies and stacked them around the communications tower. Reyes watched as Vladimir and another male exited the truck and looked around for him. When nobody else was getting out, Reyes stepped forward for them to notice him, Kenax remained in the shadows to keep an eye on the truck to make sure there were no surprises. “It’s been a long time. I hope you have some information for me.”

Joining Reyes, Vladimir greeted him with a one armed hug. “I am sorry it has been so long. Much has changed since we last spoke.”

“So this is your contact?The smuggler?” The other man asked as he stepped forward. He was dark skinned in the moonlight and spoke with authority.

“Yes—codename Anubis and works with the Collective and Angaran Resistance. He’s been the one supplying us with food and raw materials before the Hyperion made it here,” Vladimir said.

Making the decision to allow his name, Reyes introduced himself. “However you can call me Reyes,” he said as he offered his hand which was clasped with a firm grip.

“August Bradley. I’m the mayor of Prodromos.”

“Mayor Bradley,” Reyes said as he released his hand. “I’ve brought the requested supplies. I’m impressed by your setup.”

“I can’t take credit for it all. Most of what we’ve accomplished so far has been Pathfinder Ryder’s work,” Bradley deflected. “When Vladimir told me you could get us supplies we’re short on... I’ll admit I was suspicious he was blowing smoke up my ass.”

“The Collective is happy to have more trading partners and to set up commerce between us and your colony. We all need trade to live,” Reyes said diplomatically.

“You’re smooth... but I need your trade so you’ve got yourself a deal,” Bradley admitted after a moment. “What did you bring us?”

Eyes flicking to Vladimir who was letting them sort themselves out without any interference, Reyes replied, “I brought everything that was requested. If you need us to increase our food output however we’ll need more seed supplies.”

“Everything?” Bradley said, tone disbelieving.“When I made that list...”

“Our farms output is stable at this time and we’re working on expanding our production output,” Reyes demurred. “Someone has to feed all of us.”

“But still... how?I was told that the exiles were all struggling pirates—no offense!” Bradley added with a wave of his arms.

Reyes cocked his head, amused. “We’re not all just pirates. Some of us actually are interested in creating a home for ourselves—we just didn’t trust the Nexus to do so. The Collective is interested in trade and mutual benefit—having you as a trading partner in between without having to deal with Tann is to our mutual benefit.”

“I see,” Bradley said as he moved towards the boxes. “You really brought us everything on the list?”

“Yes.Did you?” Reyes returned.

“Yeah... I mean Addison gave me shit when I requisitioned some of it but Vladimir was able to smooth it over,” Bradley crouched to look at the labels on the crates, moving among them to see what Reyes had brought.

“Then we should unload your transport and get loading,” Reyes said as he eyed the setting moon. “We don’t want anyone getting too curious and word getting back to the Nexus about where things came from. I can’t imagine they’d be happy you’re getting your supplies from us.”

Bradley snorted. “I’m quickly learning that the more independent we can be the better.”

“A lesson learned by us all,” Reyes agreed. “Kenax? Want to help load up?”

Kenax melted out of the shadows making Bradley jump when he saw him. “Happy to help,” Kenax said as he picked up two crates and moved towards the transport. The click on their comms told them that Vestus was checking in and no other movement was noted.

Reyes grabbed two of the lighter crates and took them to the rear of the transport truck. Bradley had set his own boxes down and had opened up the rear door. Inside the transport were the medical supplies and chemicals that Maiko had requested along with a few pieces of equipment that would make life a bit easier on Kadara. There was also the starter seed sets as well as the most important piece, an artificial womb that could be used to grow anything from a dog to human babies. Reyes mainly wanted to use it to boost their fish stocks but it had a genetic library it came with that was vast and would allow them to eventually have livestock. Chickens were high on the list of priorities as well for fresh eggs instead of the vat grown stuff.

They loaded quickly and soon were almost finished. Bradley and Reyes exchanged addresses for further communication and Reyes taught him one of the encryption algorithms Theo had made just for this sort of trade.

As Kenax and Bradley finished up the exchange, Reyes stepped off to the side with Vladimir. Once they were far enough away to not be easily overheard, Reyes turned to Vladimir. “You have a reason for the radio silence?”

Vladimir sighed. “The Hyperion’s arrival means a lot more people are awake... and I’m pretty sure someone is watching me. My digging into Jien Garson’s death hasn’t helped and Ryder accidentally tripped someone’s alarm. I’m having to be much more careful.”

“Yes this Ryder. When were you planing on telling me about him?” Reyes tried to be calm as he asked but he really did feel everyone needed to stop holding back information. The travel to Eos had been a bit more strained than usual with his friends so they’d made it in record time.

“To be fair I wasn’t expecting him and thought that I’d catch you up like we had been. The increased surveillance was not something I really thought I’d have to deal with. Spender is into something—he’s Addison’s assistant. I haven’t verified it but I’m not sure who’s pulling his strings or if he’s acting independently. There’s been a lot of sabotage on the Nexus—things not working right, things breaking at the worst possible moment. It’s gotten worse since the Hyperion arrived.”

“And the Pathfinder?” Reyes prompted.

“Scott Ryder—he’s the son of the original pathfinder. His twin sister was in some sort of accident when they were taking her out of cryo so she’s still on ice. So far he’s been doing a better job of pathfinding than anyone thought he would. For instance here,” Vladimir opened his arms to gesture to the environment around them. “Tann’s been riding his ass and Addison is, well, Addison.”

Vladimir had scowled at his bosses’ name. “And Addison is what?”

“Been both hands on and at arms length about everything. She’s not an effective administrator and she’s been riding Bradley’s ass just as much as Tann rides Ryder’s. Addison is unhappy with our progress but she’s been hyper focused ever since we got this first colony and it hasn’t immediately collapsed. Scott knows that something is fishy about Jien Garson and I clued him into my investigation.He’s picked up that he has to be careful around administration. He seems legit, honorable. Offered to help me out when and if I need it.”

“So he really is able to work with the alien tech? Remnant tech?” Reyes pushed.

“It seems so. I have copies of all his reports and his team’s for you,” Vladimir admitted. “I’m going to keep giving you intel... but I need to know you’re not going to make things difficult for the colonies Reyes.We need the colonies to succeed or we’re all at risk.”

Reyes looked up at Vladimir sharply as he’d checked his omnitool for the message it’d received with the intel packets. “I have no intention of interfering with the colonies. I was being straight with Bradley when I said I want to create a regular trade agreement with him.I have noproblem with anyone who’s interested in fair trade and mutually beneficial arrangements. However,” Reyes tone darkened, “I won’t stand for my people being attacked.”

Vladimir’s hands came up to wave off Reyes concerns. “Then we’re on the same page still. Can I count on your assistance for my investigation?”

“You have it. Did you need to talk to Vestus or Kenax?”

“I included the intel packets for them with yours,” Vladimir informed him. “Reyes... I’m not sure how to tell you this but be careful if anyone from the Nexus arrives in Kadara that isn’t with Ryder’s team. I came across some communications about sending agents there.. but it wasn’t from Tann and I couldn’t trace it back to it’s source.”

The man Kelly had killed.... maybe this was what that was referring to. “When was this?”

“About three weeks ago was when I intercepted the intel but I let it go on to it’s source. I was hoping to track it but I lost the signal when it bounced too many times,” Vladimir said with curiosity.

“Sloane Kelly beat a man to death in the marketplace over a week ago. Said he’d been sent by the Initiative. From what we could tell he wasn’t an assassin like the other’s that Tann sent but was asking around about the trading practices and port protocols for docking. Could be the agent.”

“Yes but whose?” Vladimir grumbled, running his hands through his short hair in agitation. “I keep getting these small pieces of the puzzle but before I can fit them in place the pattern changes. There’s something trying to work from the shadows and it’s not you or me or Tann... someone else came with us.”

“You’re sure?” Reyes asked, one eyebrow raised.

“I’m almost positive. I just don’t know what their endgame is...” Frustration was evident in Vladimir’s voice and posture as he began to pace in front of Reyes.

“Do you think it’s Cerberus?” Reyes asked, aware that Cerberus was Vestus’ prime suspect when it came to whatever or whoever was behind all the trouble that originated on the Nexus.

Vladimir paused. “Maybe? I don’t know. We were sent here to make sure Cerberus didn’t become a problem but whoever the Benefactor is or was.... I’m not sure they’re human.”

“The Benefactor?” That was a new name.

“Ryder shared with me some intel from his father’s logs. There was a mysterious figure—called the Benefactor—who bankrolled the Initiative when it should have fallen apart financially. Whoever they are, Scott couldn’t find it in his father’s records but there was communications between Alec Ryder and a known Cerberus agent but that wasn’t related to the Benefactor intel and we had confirmation before we left the Milky Way that this specific agent wasn’t onboard one of the arks or the Nexus.”Vladimir turned on his heel and continued to pace. “We’re missing something somewhere.”

“And it couldn’t be that someone has gotten the idea to break off on their own like the exiles have?” Reyes asked.

Vladimir stopped and looked at Reyes. “But who?I still think it’s someone still on the Nexus pulling these strings. Tann’s an ass and a crap administrator... he could do something this stupid but it doesn’t make sense with what he’s done in the past. Addison is too focused on the colonies here and doesn’t have the attention span for more. Kesh is Kesh but she’s going to go with the krogan interests if push comes to shove but she’s not malicious. Kandros.... he’s too busy running the APEX teams on a shoestring budget.”

“Which means it has to be someone lower on the organizational chart,” Reyes pressed.There’d been the man making deliveries of Nexus goods to Zia that she was funneling to the Outcasts. “You mentioned Spender?”

“Bill’s an asshole and not intelligent enough to run something this complex given his screw ups,” Vladimir said, instantly discarding the idea. “I know he’s been stealing supplies and selling them but this is bigger than that.”

“Is it?” Reyes asked. “Or is it a cover?We know he was behind the Krogan disaster.”

Vladimir thought for a moment before denying the idea, “No. Bill’s a troublemaker and an idiot but I don’t think he could come up with this all on his own.”

“I’d still watch yourself around him. He’s involved in a lot of the same stuff as you with working for Addison,” Reyes advised.

Vladimir nodded. “I will. You need to be careful too. Sloane Kelly was dishonorably discharged for more than just the official reasons.”

“Do tell,” Reyes drawled, interest piqued.

“It wasn’t on her official dossier or anything but for those of us in the intelligence community we couldn’t believe it when Garson announced her as head of security for the Initiative. Her psych profile... that man she beat to death? Not the first time she’s done that or snapped under pressure—always with the excuse that she was protecting ‘her people’.Not sure if Garson knew or just didn’t care because she liked her,” Vladimir’s look of disdain spoke even louder than his words.

“I thought she just punched out her senior officer because she didn’t like her orders?” Reyes had heard this story more than once when he’d been on the Nexus. It’d been shared freely among the scientific staff as a reason to trust Kelly.

“Her last promotion got scuttled because she allowed a ship full of colonists bound for the Skyllian Verge to get captured by Batarian’s and half of them died before rescue. She saved most of the colonists after her screw up but... well... she slaughtered three times as many Batarians and she wasn’t clean about it. She also had a high injury and fatality rate in her unit under her leadership. She started collecting everyone else’s misfit toys and problem children since her unit was their last stop before being dishonorably discharged from the service. The discharge and injury rates improved after they removed her to a more normal level.”

Both of Reyes’ eyebrows were raised at this information. “Sometimes I wonder how the Initiative decided on who to accept. So much for the best and brightest in their fields....”

“That’s PR bullshit. I... I’m not sure I should share this or not. Ryder gave it to me in case something were to happen to him.,..” Vladimir’s voice trailed off, his expression grim.

“Well you’ve mentioned it so what’s the harm of telling me now?” Reyes prompted.

Sighing, Vladimir began pacing again, his body language agitated. “We think that someone knew something was coming....”

“Well that’s vague,” Reyes interjected.

Vladimir’s glare told Reyes he wasn’t done. “The Citadel attacks and the Collectors.... Alec Ryder’s intel suggested that they were connected and that a bigger attack was coming.Whatever it was... it scared him enough to make sure both his children were included in the Initiative.”

“What are you implying? An alien invasion? The Collectors were just out on the fringe colonies and nobody was going after them aggressively enough,” Reyes’ own unit had been on standby for deployment before he’d left them in the Milky Way. There’d been a lot of resistance to going after the Collectors from within the Alliance military as there’d been other priorities like the ongoing Batarian issue. However, if they’d focused their attention, the Alliance would have been able to take care of the problem. The Collectors just hadn’t killed anyone important enough yet to get the politicians and the brass on board was Reyes’ own personal opinion from what he’d heard through ship scuttlebutt.

“Maybe,” Vladimir finally said after a pause and then continued to give more of an explanation when he saw Reyes’ skepticism. “Alec Ryder had information from the Normandy itself. Was in communication with an asari on Commander Shepherd’s team. She implied that whatever was coming would be very, very bad.”

“The actual Commander Shepherd?” Reyes verified.

“Yes.So forgive me if I’m inclined to actually believe there was something coming.”

Reyes thought this over. Commander Shepherd’s exploits were legendary within the Alliance as the first human Spectre... but he’d been declared dead in an incident that wasn’t really explained well right before the Nexus had left the Milky Way. And if Commander Shepherd had been concerned given his resources as a Spectre... well Reyes would weigh that information as more likely true than not. There’d been a lot of anxiety in the upper ranks when he’d left, his CO had in fact tried to dissuade him from leaving... “Say you’re right. What does that change for us?” He asked Vladimir.

“I don’t know. I really just don’t know.But it may explain some of the decisions made if they were trying to push us out the door and away from the Milky Way and to get out safely to preserve the Initiative,” Vladimir offered.

“They were sending us out like Noah’s ark.... “ Reyes murmured. That did put things in a much different light.

“Because they were worried about the survival of the Citadel races....” Vladimir added, his face pale and spooked appearing. “Shit.”

“It would explain some of their choices... and why the Council would send you and my friends to make sure that a human xenophobic terrorist organization wasn’t going to scuttle it,” Reyes added.

“Fuck....” Vladimir said, still stunned. “I hadn’t thought of it like that Reyes.”

Reyes nodded. “It’s possible. It might also have been just an excuse. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

A door slammed as Bradley stepped back out of the transport. “Are you coming back with me Brecka?”

Mouth twisting, Vladimir turned towards Bradley and replied loudly in the positive, accent thickening. “I’m coming. Hold your horses.”

Reyes reached out and stopped him before he could leave, hand on his elbow and gave Vladimir the transponder that Theo had specially made for him. “Take this. It’ll work with the Collective’s frequencies and encryptions so you can send secure messages. Don’t be a stranger, Vladi.”

Vladimir took the transponder and pocketed it. “Nor you Reyes. Watch your back.”

“Always,” Reyes promised. “Just make sure you’re watching your own.”

***

Watching Vladimir and Bradley go back the way they’d come, Vestus joined Reyes. “What did Vladimir have to say?” He asked.

“A lot. He also gave me an intel dump to share with you,” Reyes told him.

“You look like you heard something you didn’t like,” Vestus said after a moment.

Reyes shook his head. “He gave me a lot to think about and how it could change our strategy. We need to get back so I can talk to Evfra.”

Vestus made a noise of agreement and grabbed one of the few crates left to take back to their ship, Reyes grabbing the other.

He had a lot to read and a lot to think about. Luckily, Kenax could pilot the ship mostly without his assistance.

***

Sitting in the cargo hold of the Exodus, Reyes had spent most of the hours he wasn’t in front of the pilot’s yoke shifting through the data dump that Vladimir had given them with Vestus’ assistance. Both of them had tossed ideas back and forth as they went through reports and scientific analysis. Scott Ryder was quite possibly the luckiest and unluckiest son of a bitch in Andromeda. His father had sacrificed his own life for him... and he’d suffered what should have been a career ending brain and lung injury.

Instead, he was up and working within days.

The information Vladimir had included on SAM was incomplete and mostly conjecture, drawn from the reports written by the Pathfinder team as well as the medical reports that he’d been able to liberate from the servers. What was clear is that SAM gave Scott Ryder a lot of advantages. Scott’s, and Reyes was now mentally referring to him by his first name, reports were thorough yet understated any risk. Reyes got the impression from his reports that Scott was being cautious about what went into the written record, his reports detailed but there were parts that had obviously been left intentionally vague.

But why?

Vladimir’s notes indicated he’d had only one personal conversation with Scott and the rest had been via intermediaries or written. A lot was implied but not explicitly written. Vladimir noted that Scott was augmented as the medical reports indicated but the actual details of what those augmentations did was sparse—the asari doctor’s notes only indicating that they were performing exceptionally well and that she recommended additional rest periods and nutritionalsupplementation. SAM added another layer of complexity that made Reyes itch to meet Scott. He wanted to see what exactly Scott was like in person given his dry, self deprecating and humble written reports and the responses he elicited in the other reports. Scott was obviously well liked by his team. He made decisions that were tactically sound but sometimes put himself in the riskiest role, taking his role as leader seriously.Scott Ryder was the type of CO you wanted, the knight, the man willing to go over the wall with his men, the man leading the charge, the kind that would die for his subordinates.

It was an engrossing read that had captured Reyes attention. Vestus was more interested in the stuff regarding the Benefactor... which Reyes would look at later once he’d had time to properly digest all the information regarding one Scott Ryder.

There was only one photo of Scott attached to the record and it was his Alliance ID photo—complete with marine dress blues, that showed his chest shoulders and head with the systems alliance logo in the background, a single N insignia on his lapel with a cub lieutenant’s rank. The picture made Scott look impossibly young, taken when he’d been thinned out from training exercises and being deployed for months. He was obviously only eighteen or nineteen in the photo, startling blue grey eyes trimmed by thick lashes and a serious look on his face with slightly pouted lips with sharp features—a handsome marine that Reyes would have considered picking up on leave had they met in a bar, if a bit on the young side for his tastes.

The information included on the pathfinder team was also thorough. Lieutenant Cora Harper, Scott’s XO and an asari trained biotic that was a wannabe huntress with a wicked asari sword that cut through enemies with a single slice. Liam Kosta, a former cop turned crisis expert who’d learned how to BASE jump after Habitat 7 and preferred assault rifles.The core team was thin but Scott had added one of the Nakmor warriors, an asari scientist who was a tech expert as well as Vetra who Reyes knew to be no slouch given her association with his friends. A formidable and capable team.

The written after action reports verified what the Resistance observer had reported to Evfra. Reyes had at least second hand verification of those reports as accurate. Scott’s description of activating the vault on Havarl closely matched the observer’s. The description of the vault on Eos had Reyes pacing as he realized how close to death the entire team had come. Scott’s own description made it sound as if there had been minimal danger of the barrier falling—Lieutenant Harper’s made it clear that it had not been so. She described her own strong barrier failing and they’d been dependent on the Pathfinder’s biotic abilities that had cost him much. Her description of Scott having to be carried out of the vault entrance and back to the Tempest unconscious had made Reyes pace as he read it, anxious to find the medical reports from just after the incident.

And Scott Ryder had shook it off as just another day at the office and kept right on.

No time to grieve his dead family. No time to rest between missions.The man worked like the machines that had been put into him.

Reyes wondered what Scott’s own thoughts on that were. His reports made no mention of his own thoughts or feelings about anything.His assessment of the angaran forces on Havarl was the same as the rest of his reports—thorough, tactically minded, logistical.

Irregardless of his musings on the subject of Scott Ryder, he had a job to do.

Less than 48 hours after leaving Eos, they landed at their base on Kadara having used a slingshot around the Haranj to gain extra speed given how urgently Evfra wanted information. The moment that they landed, Reyes was out the airlock and jogging to the comm equipment in the shared office. Evfra had sent a message saying they were awaiting his intel. 

Within the office, Keema was waiting for him and looked up from her work with a smile upon hearing him at the door. “Sholaon. How was your trip?” She asked as she embraced him.

Giving her a hug back, Reyes took the seat next to her in front of the comms equipment and started keying in Evfra’s contact information. “It was fruitful.”

Keema updated him quickly as they waited for Evfra to acknowledge their comm request. “While you were gone, I approached Kelly about Terev.”

Reyes looked at Keema sharply at this. “What?”

Keema sighed. “We were not making any headway and I thought the risk was low for me to approach her as the voice of the local angara. She took my request the wrong way however.”

“What way?” Reyes could see that the connection was acknowledged but it would still take a minute for the transmission to stabilize.

“She took it as a call for Terev’s head. She’s begun to agitate for his public execution but she hasn’t decisively declared it yet. She implied that was what I was asking for instead of Terev’s release into my custody.”Keema looked frustrated as she relayed this.

“She won’t just release him to you—that would be capitulation,” Reyes informed her.

“I realize that now. It was a misstep,” she confessed but her tone was defensive.

Reyes sighed, his hand seeking hers. “We’ll figure something out,” he murmured just as the connection went live, Evfra appearing on the hologram.“Evfra.”

“Shena. Do you have a report for me?”Evfra looked tired, kept glancing at someone off to the side of his screen.

“I do.I met with my Nexus contacts regarding the Pathfinder Scott Ryder. I can confirm personally that Eos’ environment is drastically changed as reported.”Reyes went on to detail his meet up with Vladimir, leaving out their discussion about who was behind the issues the Nexus was experiencing and the mysterious Benefactor, the reasons for coming to Andromeda and other speculation.

Evfra asked a few pointed questions, specifically about the observed environmental changes and the colony on Eos. Reyes related that he had met the mayor of the colony and he seemed reasonable, would be approached further for a regular trading route from Kadara at least but could be altered to fit in an angaran contact as well. He also expanded on what was known about Scott Ryder from the people he’d met as well as his own tactical impressions from the reports.

“In your assessments... you opinion... do you think we can trust him?” Evfra finally asked after grilling Reyes for over an hour.

He paused, thinking of how to word his response. “I... from the people I know and trust I think we can expect him to be honorable. To try and make the best possible decision for the people he has made promises to. Trust?I think that if I am clear with my expectations and request his assistance.... if he gives it then I can trust him to see it though. I am no longer of the Initiative... I do not know exactly how he will respond to me. I think you can trust that he wants an alliance with you and will be faithful to any promises he makes you in regards to an alliance. You have a strong bargaining position and he will make agreements in good faith form what I can tell of his past actions.”

Evfra made a noise of agreement. “I agree with your assessment, having met Scott Ryder in person. It will be interesting what he makes of you Shena.”

“Oh?” Reyes asked.

“I think I have decided where I will send him next. I will agree to his proposed embassy from his Initiative as long as the angaran will have the same on the Nexus. We will have to be careful there.... but I want to see what Scott Ryder makes of Kadara and you,” Evfra informed Reyes.

“How so?” He asked, puzzled. Another Initiative presence given Sloane Kelly’s demonstration the other week might not go over well. There was a party tomorrow night... and he’d promised her he’d attend. He was going to have to talk carefully and be persuasive to not have her immediately booting the Tempest out of port at best and at worst attempting to murder the Pathfinder once he stepped off his ship.

“I want you to begin rumors of what has happened on Eos, Havarl and Voeld. Rumors that are true. That the Pathfinder is able to heal planets. Kadara has water problems... as well as the ancient ones abandoned structures. I will send Scott Ryder to you to help with Terev. Perhaps he will help with your water problem while he is at it,” Evfra said with a sly look.

“Maybe he will,” Reyes said carefully, trying to figure out what Evfra was telling him. “What else do you want me to do with him?”

“Keep him busy so that I may assess this Initiative further, if they are all as honorable as him and you.If they are not, then I will only deal with the Initiative through either you or him. We have the Kett to worry about more.”Evfra was really speaking to whoever was off the sensor’s pickup range as he said this, not looking at Reyes.The thought of becoming the in between for the Initiative and all angara sounded like a huge headache and exercise in frustration. Reyes didn’t really want to be stuck doing that... he’d never get anything else accomplished and he had a lot to do with the Collective. He didn’t have time to kiss Tann’s ass—he’d leave that to others who still had to listen to the frog.

“Who’s there with you?”Reyes asked in frustration.

A second figure moved around the edges of the hologram before settling in next to Evfra. She was an older female angaran that Reyes had not met before, her clothing ornate and denoting status with tattoos on her face. He recognized her from photos—the Moshae Sjefa. “Moshae Sjefa,” Reyes added hastily, his tone respectful.

“So this is your little spy.... “ She said with a side eye to Evfra. “He is young like the Pathfinder and just as impertinent.”

Reyes found himself opening his mouth to defend himself but was silenced by a look from Evfra and Keema’s hand on his forearm which prickled with a sense of warning. “Reyes is an asset to the Resistance and has sheltered many of our people on Kadara. He is one of ours.”

The Moshae’s eyes glittered as she took him in, not missing Keema’s hand on his forearm. “He is very interesting. I’m sure I’ll learn to value him if he continues to be an asset.”

He was being baited and he didn’t rise to it, curious as to why she would do so but knowing he’d have to ask Keema later. “I’m a member of the Resistance and will do as my commander asks but I also have other responsibilities and my commander understands that sometimes they come first.”

The Moshae laughed and addressed Keema, “Is he always this interesting? These humans?”

“Reyes is of my family,” Keema simply insisted, her face like stone. Reyes was getting the impression that Keema didn’t like the Moshae much and the feeling was mutual. Two alpha females... he really didn’t want to be the toy that they were fighting over.

“Very interesting,” the Moshae said, her eyes with less malice than earlier and her tone lighter. Reyes was beginning to hate the word interesting—especially the way she used it. “I will await the outcome on Kadara. The young Pathfinder will help you if you ask it of him,” she pronounced before walking away and out of the sensor range of the comms equipment.

Evfra appeared pained. “I am sorry Sholaon. I am sending the Pathfinder your way as yet another test.... and to help you. I do think he will be able to make your life on Kadara easier.”Yeah... easier maybe not but having someone visibly Initiative here would deflect a lot of Sloane Kelly’s attention off his operations.

Trying not to let his frustration and worry show, Reyes deflected. “I’ll figure it out. When are you sending him?”

Evfra inclined his head. “I will let him take the Moshae to the vault here on Aya tomorrow. I will give him his assignment after that. I have not know Scott Ryder to tarry when he has been given an assignment. I will let you know when they leave and their destination.”

“Thanks,” Reyes said. “Anything else?”

“Just be careful Sholaon. It is not Scott Ryder that makes me worry... it is this Initiative of his and their priorities. Scott Ryder has shown himself to be honorable but he takes so many risks... I would not see you take the same risks—you are too important to us, your family.”

That was a new tug on his emotions but Reyes couldn’t decide if it was deliberately manipulative or just Evfra being concerned for him. He decided he’d take it as a positive and think about it later as he signed off. “I’ll let you know what happens.Shena out.”

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE May 23rd_

_I’m getting the sense that maybe they were stalling us here for a reason—the angarans I mean. I was finally allowed in the vault today and it was pretty anticlimactic since it was (mostly?) working and just needed a slight tune up. The Moshae seems to treat me like her grandkid one moment and the next I’m a science specimen that she’s studying. All my grandparents were dead by the time I was four so I don’t remember them... pretty sure that they were nothing like the Moshae though. At least I seem to occasionally amuse her._

_When we got back, Evfra was waiting for us to give me another mission.I’m getting tired of these missions of his... I do actually have other task masters—mainly Tann but I’m sure Addison would include herself here. However, this mission will take me to another planet that is on the map. Habitat 4 in fact. When I messaged Tann about the angaran request he told me to hop to it but something was off about it. He told me to be careful of the pirates._

_That’s right.... Tann warned me about pirates and outlaws..._

_I think that’s the equivalent of DEFCON level going up. Note he didn’t give me any other details other than that warning but seriously.... what the fuck._

_When I asked Vetra after she heard our destination, she said that this is the planet a lot of the exiles live on but reminded me how maybe I didn’t want to ask too many questions if I didn’t want to know the answers.Willful ignorance and all that shit._

_Well fuck this willful ignorance shit. I want answers but she’s been hesitant to give them to me. She did tell me that she has close friends and contacts that live on Kadara and she would steer me towards people she felt were more trustworthy when possible. I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on her or just cut her loose to do what she needs to do. I’m not sure which option to take right now so I’ll have to sleep on that one._

_I was so relaxed from surfing but I’m back to feeling like my shoulders need a jackhammer to work out the knots in them and a visit to the dentist to fix my molars. There’s something important about this mission that Evfra gave me... but it’s not this Terev he wants me to get loose and return to Aya for justice._

_I hate being in the dark like this. I can feel something is going to change and I don’t know what. SAM assures me that they didn’t give me any sort of implant that can make me predict the future like a Cassandra... but they did augment my normal intelligence levels so I may be subconsciously aware of something and that’s what is bugging me._

_That’s right. My Dad, in addition to all the other things he mucked about changing in my body, felt I needed to be smarter. SAM tells me that most of the changes are just from interacting with him—it’s not like a huge IQ boost and he’s still not able to just download blocks of information into my brain like a computer system. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry over the fact that my Dad quote unquote told SAM that I needed to have my intelligence enhanced so I could keep up with him and my sister._

_I’m the dumb grunt soldier in the family that needs help to understand the scientists._

_That stings a bit. They didn’t make me any more emotionally capable to balance all this bullshit out either. I’m just a normal human from the emotional control standpoint that sometimes can get help from the AI imbedded in his head. Thanks SAM for the serotonin and dopamine monitoring._

_I feel like I’m drowning from everything that’s been thrown at me sometimes—especially when I try to sleep. The invasive thoughts and worries about how I did things today are never ending. I try reading some of the mountain of intel I need to get through but it doesn’t help. I never used to have trouble shutting off my thoughts and falling asleep after a days work but now? Now I have terrible insomnia and I’m asking SAM to help by boosting my melatonin levels when it’s safe for me to grab some shuteye._

_Whatever’s coming is coming. I’ll just have to make do. What else can I do?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we have dialogue heavy, extraneous fluff, and way too much information packed into this chapter but I’m just going to leave it as it is right now rather than edit out whole scenes that probably don’t need to be here—hopefully y’all will enjoy reading the extraneous stuff and forgive an author who’d rather just get it out into the world and maybe someday come back and edit later since she just wants to get to Kadara at this point. 
> 
> I’d like the record to show that I have no idea where most of Scott’s part came from—I’m a pantser writer for the most part, not a plotter. Scott’s outline of this chapter literally just said: Aya vault, gets assignment to Kadara. Fourteen typed pages later he accomplished most of that but the Cora/Jaal stuff just somehow sneaked in as did the surfing and meeting Jaal’s family who aren’t even on Aya in the game. Also Reyes’ part doesn’t include everything it should but I cut it off and put it in the next chapter which also has gotten longer than usual. I hopefully have not written myself into any unintentional corners but we’re firmly in AU territory for some of this. 
> 
> Translation notes:   
> Sholaon is angaran for adopted sibling, one who has no immediate family. Used by Keema and other angarans to denote they think of Reyes as one of their own, has been adapted by many Resistance members as a loving nickname for him.   
> Shena: angaran for mouth but I’m pretty sure everyone knows that already.   
> Haranj: the fisher’s lure, aka the black hole at the center of the Heleus cluster
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy the chapter. Thanks for reading. Comments are always adored and kudos loved.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter Forty

2819 CE May 22nd

Combined Collective and Angaran Resistance Base, Kadara, Govorkam System, Heleus Cluster

Reyes Vidal, Smuggler and Information Broker, Angaran Resistance, codename: Shena

Status: Eagerly anticipating a meeting

Having been accused of brooding by Vestus and Kenax after his conversation with Keema and Evfra, Reyes found himself preoccupied with helping with a seed harvest for Maiko. The peas had reached the point where the pods had dried out and ready for collecting for seed. Reyes spent several hours systematically stripping the plants of their pods and then opening the pods into the trays where they’d be left to dry out before being forced to hibernate and then replanted to grown the next crop. The stems and leaves would be pulled by a second shift working behind him and placed in the compost bins where they were trying to make soil that they could plant fruit trees in. A second set of planting plugs were already sprouting and be put into the tower spots vacated by the plants Reyes was working on.

The work was simple and allowed him to let his thoughts flow a bit rather than try to force himself to get back on Kadara standard time as it was getting late. Tomorrow he’d have to have his wits about him as he needed to somehow charm Sloane Kelly into letting the Tempest land on Kadara without conflict. His mind turned the puzzle over and he thought of a few approaches and kept abandoning them as too complicated or unlikely to succeed.

As the small firm, dehydrated peas popped out of their pods and into the trays, Reyes used his hands to gently spread them into a thin, even layer. They had lost their bright green of eatable peas and these were duller—just needed a bit more drying out. Filling a third tray, Reyes looked up to see Maiko looking at him with a serious look. “What?”

“I’m trying to figure out what’s going on in that thick head of yours,” she told him as she took the two full trays and placed empty ones in their place. “Kenax and Vestus are out of sorts. I hear all sorts of rumors too.”

A thought occurred to him. “Did you know about the Hyperion making it to the Nexus?”

“Keema mentioned it. I assumed you knew. It’s not like you tell me everything... and I honestly don’t want to know some days,” she admitted as she put the trays into a seed dryer compartment where the trays fit into slots specially made for them. “I think most days I’d just like to focus on my projects and pretend I’m just another colonist somewhere in the Milky Way. A farmer and fix-it girl. It’s much more simple and doesn’t make me worry about everything.”

“You worry?” He asked her, eyebrows furrowing as he turned his attention back to husking the peas. “I thought you were happy running this side of the business.”

Another sigh. “Reyes... after Julia died... I needed a break... and I’m glad you gave it to me. It let me sort out my priorities and grieve for her. But I wonder if I just stuck my head in the sand and let you worry about keeping us all safe. I don’t ask Keema too many details because you’re a good friend... and I worry every time I hear one of the debriefings about what you’ve been up to and the body count. You take a lot of risks—personal risks.”

“Well then remind me not to tell you about the party scheduled for tomorrow night,” he huffed at her.Maiko was now leaning against the workbench, watching him work with worried eyes. “It’ll work out Maiko,” he tried to sound confident and reassuring but suspected she didn’t believe it at all.

“Just be careful Reyes. You’ve done a lot for us here... and I’m sure Keema is asking you to do even more. The Hyperion arriving? I’m sure it’s going to eventually effect us when the Initiative starts spreading.” She sounded confident, sure that it was a given that he would have to change what he was doing.

“I’m always careful,” he assured her. “I just need to figure out how to approach this and we’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure you will. Just don’t take any unnecessary risks,” she chided him with a small smile. “Who knows who we’d have to get to run this place if something happened to you?”

He snorted at her tone and gave her a fake innocent look that was ruined by the pod in his hands cracking open and the peas going everywhere, one hitting his chin before plinking down into the tray. “I’m the model of discretion and subterfuge.”

“Ha fucking ha. Remember I know your entertainment preferences? You’re a complete drama queen,” she told him as she threw a seed pod at him and hitting him in the face before he could bat it away.

“No respect... I get absolutely none around here,” he grumbled as he picked up the pea pod.

***

He still wasn’t sure what he was doing as he cleaned up and headed for the party at Outcast HQ the next evening. Vestus was accompanying him but Kenax had pouted a bit and said he’d come later with Keema—Maiko having given him some sort of work assignment that he’d been delayed in completing. Landing at the space port, Reyes put the Exodus down and exited the ship with Vestus in tow, loping along beside him. They greeted the dock workers and were waved through security after paying their fees which had increased again.

Spring was coming to Kadara and the sun hadn’t completely set yet but was hanging low on the horizon and the temperatures were dropping. He’d worn his Tío’s old flight jacket over a light cream colored henley that clung in the right places over his muscles with a pair of adhi leather pants that Yaansa had sent him. His knives were hidden in their slots in his boots and the only jewelry he wore was the chain where his ID tag hung as well as his Tío’s rings. He looked like someone’s sketch of a rough smuggler from one of his mother’s vids. Maiko had laughed at him and told him to make sure he didn’t try his wiles on Kelly since he looked like he belonged on the cover of a romance novel about outlaws. 

Kelly really wasn’t his type... too unstable and he was pretty sure Kaetus would kill anyone she got too attached to. But he’d take every possible advantage offered to him... and it was a party. One had to look appropriate and fit in with the other outlaws of Heleus.

He greeted the guards at the door as they recognized him from working on the docks and entered the party, fashionably late. “Boss is looking for you,” said the man on the left—Garret something-or-other.

“I’ll not leave her disappointed then,” Reyes drawled, aware Vestus had tensed slightly at the acknowledgement that Kelly hadn’t forgotten his stunt or his promise.

As they entered, Vestus gave him a look that spoke paragraphs about how concerned about Reyes’ prior actions he was. Reyes averted his eyes and continued on into the party.

Reaching the throne room, the party was well underway. This party was more well attended than the last one Reyes had gone to and he saw multiple faces that he recognized from trading runs. For all that the room was crowded, the murmur of conversation was relatively low. Outcast members wore light armor in cerulean blue and were armed, making their way through the crowd making everyone uneasy. Drinks were clutched in hands and nursed, the banquet table of food was relatively full and looked like it had hardly been touched. Kelly was on her throne, one leg dangling over the arm of the chair, the other touching the floor, legs spread wide as she reclined on it, surveying all who moved below her. Her look was pensive, a drink in her hand that was almost gone, toe that was in the air tapping like a cat’s tail as it watched it’s prey.

Reyes didn’t immediately approach, greeting a few people near the entrance that he knew and accepting a drink from one of the servers that was floating around the room. Within two minutes he could feel Kelly’s gaze following him, drilling a hole in his back. Thirty seconds later, Kaetus tapped on his shoulder to get his attention.“Vidal,” Kaetus greeted him. “Don’t keep her waiting.”

Reyes inclined his head and nodded in greeting as he made eye contact with Kelly from where she watched, her eyes hooded by deep shadow of kohl around each eye, expression unchanged. “I apologize,” he murmured to Kaetus. “I’ll be there in a moment.”

Kaetus’ tone was glacial. “Now Vidal.”

Reyes purposefully tossed back the entirety of the weak drink in his hand and placed it on an available tray before following Kaetus through the crowd that parted before him like the Red Sea. Reyes followed in his wake, aware that almost everyone was watching him, wondering if he was going to get his head bashed in like the man in the market. Vestus had parked himself on the sidelines, there would be nothing he could do to help Reyes in the middle of this crowd.

Kelly watched him approach, saying nothing. Before Reyes got to her, she stood abruptly and stalked off to the side to evict a small group from the corner table. They scattered quickly before she could do more than gesture for them to leave, taking their drinks with them and she claimed the corner seat snapping her fingers for a fresh drink which one of the servers brought to her. She gestured with the drink to the chair opposite her as Kaetus took the chair to her side between her and the room.

Reyes didn’t hesitate and sat down in the free chair, “Madame,” he said with a playful drawl. “Kaetus.”

Kelly stared at him for a moment before she began laughing. “You have some balls Vidal.... crazy but you have balls.”

“I prefer charming,” he said, laying it on thick with his accent which made her laugh again. Kaetus’ expression remained unchanged and he was staring at Reyes. “A wonderful party tonight.”

“It’s a shit party.... but thanks,” Kelly said with a small salute with her drink before sipping it.

“On the contrary... I see many people I know and need to talk to for business, the drinks are flowing and I can see that food is available. I have been to much worse parties,” Reyes assured her as he took another sip of his own drink, the acidity of the mixed drink burning his throat as he swallowed without tasting it, resisting the urge to cough.

Kelly had a vicious looking grin, looking at Reyes as if he had just performed a magic trick. “You’re precious. I can see why Keema likes you. I wonder.... are you fucking her?”

Reyes did cough but managed to control his facial expression by pretending to choke on his drink but his mouth had gone dry. “Keema is just a very good friend. She saved my life once and I owe her a debt.”

Kaetus was unimpressed, “Really? You put your own neck out, ready to spend that many credits... I think there’s another reason.”

Reyes schooled his face to his most earnest expression. “Keema really did save my life. I owe her more than I can ever repay.”

“Her or all angarans?” Kaetus fired back, leaning forward as he glared at Reyes.

Reyes took a drink to buy himself time, mind racing. “Mostly her. Keema is a leader among her people and I am happy to call them my friends.”

“And the Collective? Do you call them friends too?” Kaetus’ question was pointed.

Reyes shrugged, deflecting. “I prefer to think of myself as an independent operator when it comes to business such as that. I will work for whoever pays my price and stay bought for the duration of the job... but my loyalties to my employer ends there.”

“I’m curious then,” Kelly drawled. “What was the better offer you got on that job with your girlfriend?”

“Keema does get the opportunity to outbid. I afford her that privilege,” Reyes said as if admitting a huge secret.

“So you’re loyal to the Angarans,” Kaetus stated.

Reyes shrugged again and gave an exaggerated movement with his hands as if to say he was innocent. “I am loyal to Keema as she is my friend... others are business.”

Kaetus’ eyes flicked to the side and then back to Reyes. “And Vestus? Is he business?”

Reyes let his eyes harden but did not change his relaxed position. “Vestus is family and my crew.”

“Who you do occasionally fuck,” Kaetus added.

“Is it fucking or is it love?” Reyes asked philosophically, taking another drink.It wasn’t his fault that Kaetus was assuming things—especially given his own very obvious preferences. “Vestus and Kenax are my crew. Surely you understand that?”

Kaetus relaxed minutely. “I can understand that,” he finally offered, gesturing for a drink to be brought to him. Reyes didn’t comment further, just sipped at his drink.

Kelly, who’d been watching Kaetus, seemed amused and had relaxed, downing another drink rapidly, her hand with a slight tremor to it that could be seen in her fingers as they gripped hard at her glass. The party had gotten a bit more party-like while Reyes had been sequestered off to the side and the noise in the room a bit louder, some music adding a backbeat.

Kaetus drove the conversation, asking Reyes about his primary business and he answered it with the appropriate answers—or at least what his trade logs with the dock workers would show, pretending to struggle a bit to recall exact numbers but knowing them within a few kilos of weight difference. He was the primary provider of food for Tartarus as he had lodging there with the occasional odds and ends that came through other traders that he ended up with.All the good stuff went to Maiko and the bases—never touching the port or undergoing scrutiny from the dock workers. Jobs such as the ones he took with Zia? They were oddities and he made them sound as such. His official logs said he made enough credits to live off of—and occasionally splurge—but paying the ransoms would have drained his accounts.It only made sense for him to pay it if he expected reimbursement or Keema owned him. Whichever option worked best for Sloane would work for him. Kaetus appeared at least a bit suspicious but relaxed as Reyes verified their information.

Gradually the discussion turned to Vehn Terev, and Reyes purposefully made it sound as if he was asking on Keema’s behalf. “I understand Keema asked for you to release Vehn Terev to her.”

“What about the traitor?” Kelly asked, tone indifferent as she watched the party around them, eyes occasionally sliding back to Reyes. Reyes noted the tremor in her hand had decreased after a few drinks. Withdrawal shakes? Or something else? Nerves?

She seemed to have mellowed a bit, allowing Kaetus to carry the conversation so he risked it. “Keema wants to turn him over to the Resistance... to see justice carried out. They’re willing to pay the reward. I’m sure that—“

Before he could say anything further she bluntly stated, “No. Vehn Terev is mine and he’ll face my justice, the people’s justice.”

“Ah,” Reyes said shortly, uncertain what else to say.

Kelly straightened in her seat, snapping her fingers for another drink, her tone flinty and final. “You may be Keema’s pet but I am not. Kadara is mine and I make the decisions.”

Reyes held up his hands in surrender. “I only promised to ask,” he confided, making it seem that he’d been ordered to ask. Kelly snorted, unimpressed, and took the fresh drink that was put in her hand to her lips. “But I was curious what you were going to do now that one of the arks have arrived.”

Kelly stilled unnaturally before her gaze met his, eyes cold. “What?”

Reyes pretended to just be sharing good gossip, his movements loose and appearing like the alcohol had begun to affect him. “The human ark has arrived—heard if from Keema herself. And there’s a pathfinder now too.”

Kaetus had tensed back up. “Why would that change things?”

“Pathfinder fixed Eos. They’ve got a colony up and running,” Reyes informed them, leaning forward as if passing along a particularly juicy piece of gossip.

“Fixed how?” Kelly asked, voice harsh and barely audible above the noise of the party.

“Radiation is falling. They fixed the planet. Not sure how... the angarans didn’t have all the details,” Reyes admitted a few details. It was true after all—he’d obtained most of the details himself from Vladimir then shared them with Evfra, not the other way around.He could see Vestus moving around on the other side of the room watching them and giving Reyes the stink eye, reminding him to be careful. Reyes exaggerated giving Vestus a wave with his drink that he’d been nursing for the last hour.

“What else have you heard?” Kaetus looked ready to hit something so Reyes continued to play dumb.

“Made contact with the angarans—Keema didn’t say much since they’re still focused on Terev,” Reyes pretended to be watching the party and only paying part attention to Kaetus and Kelly but he had them both hooked.

“And?” Kelly finally prompted when he didn’t say anything more.

He shrugged again. “That’s all I know. Keema just was asking me if they’d make a good alliance against the kett.I told her it depended on the Pathfinder since they’d be the one most likely to make it to Kadara,” Reyes made it sound like common sense that the Pathfinder would come here—not that he already was on his way with a mission. He let his gaze go back to the room at large, paying no attention to the fierce silent conversation going on across the table from him. Vestus should be doing his part and sowing gossip about the pathfinder team around the party. He also saw Kenax briefly between people as he moved along—he and Keema would both be doing the same. The general trend of the room would be in favor of seeing what Scott Ryder was capable of. Reyes had also ordered the slums to be abuzz about it, pushing a policy of maybe the human pathfinder might be able to fix Kadara like he’d fixed Eos.

The psych profile that Vladimir had given Reyes pointed to a pattern of behavior—most of the time Sloane Kelly would do what her team was urging her to do. She liked to give them what they wanted—even if that was a bad idea. That was how the whole batarian mess had started and she hadn’t reigned in her people when they got too enthusiastic—rather she’d happily participated. She was easily swayed by popular opinion unless she felt directly, personally threatened. Reyes would just need to make sure that she didn’t feel threatened by Scott Ryder. Reyes was pretty sure Ryder would have no interest in taking over Kadara Port from his reports—he was more of an explorer and fixer than a conqueror.

Kelly’s gaze was fixed on him and she seemed to be trying to figure out how much he really knew. Reyes didn’t offer anything further but took another drink that barely moistened his lips. Kelly broke first and asked another question.”Why would the human pathfinder come here?”

Reyes raised his eyebrows at her, purposefully swaying a bit in his seat to make her assume he was more inebriated than he was, impression of a loose tongue. “Makes sense that he’d check out all the golden worlds... make sure that they’re truly unfixable before moving onto others.You should let him do it—would be less expensive to do things around here if there wasn’t acid rain all the time.”

Kelly looked sourly at him. “So you don’t know anything else?”

He shrugged, face relaxed. “That’s all I was told by Keema.She didn’t know much but I heard another crew talking about making a run to Eos and they didn’t have to use radiation barriers.”

Another speaking look was exchanged by his table mates before Kelly spoke. “Go and enjoy the party Vidal.I’ll talk again with you later,” and he was dismissed. He took his drink and stumbled to his feet, going in search of Vestus. He didn’t look back but he could feel their eyes on him watching him enter the crowd in search of his own crew. He was pretty sure Sloane Kelly was hooked.

***

The remainder of the party was very unexciting for Reyes. He floated from group to group making connections for possible trade deals and spreading gossip about the human Pathfinder and his exploits while also listening to any gossip the other crews had. He began to hear from others that they’d been told that the Pathfinder was determined to make all the golden worlds habitable—something he hadn’t said and was pretty sure his compatriots were not explicitly saying but implying. He also began hearing some wild tales about Eos that he knew were untrue but made no effort to correct them. The experience was rather astonishing how much the rumors he’d seeded were taking on details and extrapolations that he’d not intended.

He ended up leaving the party late with both turians and Keema in tow, spending the night in Tartarus’ back room. Having fallen asleep on the couch before having it flatten into a bed, he awoke the next morning with a crick in his neck and rolled over onto his side to see Vestus watching him from the side chair, glass of water on the coffee table in front of him. “What time is it?” He asked Vestus, voice cracking and rough from too much talking and not enough sleep.

“Almost noon,” Vestus answered lazily. “Colton was in here looking for you. His people have been hearing some wild rumors and he wanted to make sure you were informed.”

Running his hands through his hair and then rubbing his face as he yawned, Reyes sat up and reached for the glass. The water was still cold so it hadn’t been sitting there long and it felt wonderful to his throat. “Yeah? Anything urgent?”

Vestus gave him an unimpressed look, crest flaring slightly. “Your little rumor spreading has the entire port buzzing about the human Pathfinder. So much so that someone managed to get the communications array to start broadcasting the news outlet that started up on the Nexus—the Heleus News Network.”

An eyebrow ticked up. “Really? That would take repositioning a few satellites to pick up a signal from the Nexus.”

“Yes it would,” Vestus agreed.

“Which means she’s bought into it or worried enough about it she needs more intel,” he said before taking another drink to finish off the glass. “Chatter sound violent from the Outcasts?”

Vestus shook his head in the negative. “No. Several suspected Outcast information sniffers have been asking around for more information in the slums, trying to see what the angarans know.Two of the Outcast ships left early this morning loaded for bear—their filed flight plans said Elaaden but they took off in the wrong direction.”

“And what would Sloane Kelly want to send a bunch of her mercenaries to Elaaden for?” Reyes asked, tone sarcastic as he put the empty glass back on the table.

“Oh... I think we both know where she’s sending them.”

“I need to let Bradley know to possibly expect some visitors to his home,” Reyes agreed as he pulled up his omnitool with the contact information and began a friendly message to both Vladimir and Bradley. It wouldn’t do to let his new friend have unexpected house guests show up without warning.Forewarned was forearmed—the Outcasts attacking an Outpost could cause all out war. Hopefully they could keep the damage to a minimum and no supply convoys would go accidentally missing.

***

Reyes made the rounds and caught up with both Colton as well as Filan at the soup kitchen. The line was abuzz with gossip about the human pathfinder and the fare of the day was hearty and filling—Filan was making good use of the supplies and budget he was given. By the time Ryder landed at Kadara the rumors would be that he was three meters tall, could leap mountains in a single bound and snapped his fingers to make planets fix themselves. He’d made Ryder into a superhero... but the people of the Port were still naturally suspicious and hope was dangerous here.

After speaking with Keema, he learned that the Tempest had left Aya only a few hours ago. Based on prior travel speeds, estimates were that the Tempest would make the distance in a little over thirty-six hours, give or take a few hours as none of his sources were giving up technical specs for the Tempest.Which was impressive and Reyes made a mental note to see if he could, possibly, in the future get a chance to pilot her as she sounded like a lot of fun. Ryder had been instructed to meet Shena at Kralla’s Song after Keema had suggested it as a meeting place rather than the slums. Keema had implied that they hadn’t informed Ryder who Shena was.

Reyes could feel his mouth quirking up in a smile just thinking about meeting Scott. While the stakes were high, he was looking forward to this despite them. Kenax had dropped in next to him and was his shadow as he wandered the slums. “Stop growling Kenax and tell me what’s bothering you,” he murmured.

Kenax, let out a low level snarl. “I did rounds up topside. Not liking how often I’m hearing your name.”

That got a raised eyebrow as he paused in one of the alleys, away from the crossroads looking both ways before continuing on towards Tartarus. “What do you mean?”

Kenax glared at him. “I know you want me to back off and Vestus too... but you’re a little too high profile right now. Kelly and the Outcasts are digging for information... they’re looking at you too much. You need to take a backseat Reyes.”

“It won’t be me getting Terev out,” he pointed out.

“But you are one of the top two suspects if he were to suddenly go missing from lockup,” Kenax’s crest lifted and his mandibles flared. Reyes could see his best friend was concerned but he didn’t know how to make him okay with the plan.

“Kenax... I’m going to take the appropriate precautions. I need you to follow the plan.”

Kenax snorted and didn’t say anything for a while, just walking alongside him as he made his way towards Tartarus. “You will take backup,” Kenax finally stated, not making it a question.

Reyes eyed his friend and gave a reluctant nod. “Always.”

Kenax didn’t look very mollified but he didn’t say anything further as they stepped through Tartarus’ door.

Now he just had to wait. Scott Ryder would be here soon. The rumors would grow on their own without further effort on his part.

***

2819 CE May 23rd

Aya, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: On to the next mission

Returning from the vault, Evfra was awaiting them at the space port, his expression enigmatic but he gave a slight nod to both Jaal and the Moshae before gesturing that he wished to speak with Scott privately. “Pathfinder,” he said as he gestured towards one of the pavilions at the edge of the field that were used to store shipping crates so they wouldn’t get wet.

Following Evfra, Scott waited until they were far enough from his companions to speak. Vetra and Peebee were making small talk with the Moshae but they were all watching him speak with Evfra. Turning to Evfra, he broke the silence. “You have another request for me?”

“I do,” Evfra stated simply. “You have done much for my people so far... and I am willing to allow you certain... allowances that I will not immediately extend to your Initiative as a whole.”

“Such as?”Scott was very curious what exactly Evfra meant by allowances.Did this mean they’d be allowed an embassy on Aya?

He’d inadvertently amused Evfra with his interjected question and the angaran laughed before replying. “This request I have of you... is for the Resistance but it will perhaps cause you some issues with your own people. I feel it will strengthen our ties for you to do this but I will understand if you refuse.The allowances... we will allow a small exchange of people on Aya as long as your Initiative reciprocates—an embassy of our own on your Nexus to allow more of our peoples to understand each other. It is too soon for my people to welcome just any of your people who wish to travel here. You, however, will be welcome on Aya even if you choose not to pursue my request.”

Scott frowned. “You make it sound like this request will be a deal breaker for me.”

Evfra shrugged. “I am not wholly unknowing of the strife your people faced when they first arrived, before you.”

Okay that implied whatever mess that the Nexus had been in had somehow involved the angarans... which given Tann’s surprise at learning of them made Scott immediately suspicious about what else he wasn’t being told—again—by his own people. “You were aware of the incident that caused many of our people to leave?” Scott asked, trying to be neutral.

Evfra didn’t clarify much. “While we were not immediately involved in whatever disagreement your people had... we have had dealings with your people since—both positive and very negative.”

“Do you mean the exiles or the Initiative?” Scott tried to clarify.

He got another unhelpful answer. “Your Initiative patrols have not all been without incident.”

“And the exiles?” Scott probed. His ghost had to be one of the exiles. There was no way he was still with the Initiative or he would have met them by now.

“Some of them have become friends of the Resistance... others have attacked or taken things that belong to my people,” Evfra wasn’t naming names then. Scott was going to need to have a conversation with Vetra that was going to be very uncomfortable for the both of them.

“And you worry that I will do what? Hunt down your friends?” Scott asked, slightly exasperated and wishing Evfra would just be clear about things.

That got him a head tilt and frown. “I do not think you will harm the ones that are friends of the Resistance. I merely wish to make sure you understand this task will cause you to have to make choices.”

“And you’re worried about these choices,” Scott crossed his arms over his chest.

“Perhaps. You must understand our position—I am beginning to consider you a friend Scott Ryder. I will not endanger any other friends of the Resistance though for your Initiative who I am still not certain of.”Evfra may be the leader of the Resistance but it was also obvious he was a politician.

Scott paused before responding. “I understand. Any friend of the Resistance is a friend of mine. I will not purposefully attempt to harm them unless they are actively trying to harm the Initaitve.”

“That is all that I ask,” Evfra agreed, seemingly satisfied with Scott’s response. “The task I have for you is this. There is a planet called Kadara in the Govorkam System that was once an outpost world of ours. Unfortunately it was overrun by the Kett and our people lost their homes, having to go into hiding there. When your people had their disagreement, some of those who left came to Kadara and evicted the Kett from the outpost there—Kadara Port.”

Scott listened, nodding in the appropriate places. “And you want me to what? Reach out to the exiles?”

Evfra shook his head. “No... or at least not necessarily. Vehn Terev, the former bodyguard of the Moshae who betrayed her to the kett is there.”

“So you need me to hunt him down?”

“We know where he is—there is no hunting involved,” Evfra said with a slight disapproving look at the interruption. “Terev is currently being held by Sloane Kelly, the leader of the Outcasts in Kadara Port. We have made requests that she turn him over so he may face judgement for his crimes but she has so far declined to hand him over.”

SAM gave Scott a quick, brief reminder of who exactly Sloane Kelly was—the former head of Security for the Initiative. Fuck. He was pretty sure she wasn’t going to be happy to see him show up with the Tempest. “What makes you think she’ll be more willing to listen to me?” Scott asked, genuinely curious.

“We have tried several approaches and so far been unsuccessful. You have accomplished much and I feel it is worth an attempt with you.One of our agents has been able to locate Terev but unsuccessful at liberating him and transporting him to Aya. I want you to meet with Shena and work with him to bring Terev here.Again, I ask this of you but you do not need to accept,” Evfra reminded him.

Scott chewed on his lip as he thought. Odds were if Kadara was somewhat habitable then it probably had a vault on it. They needed as much habitable land as possible to start farming and waking up more people—and it sounded like Kadara was sparsely inhabited and a possible target planet for development. Which meant he needed to do something about the exiles. Fuck... this was much more Sara’s area of expertise than his—he was a marine not a diplomat. He’d hoped, maybe naively, that someone else would have to deal with the political mess of the exiles and Sloane Kelly. “Your agent—this Shena—has been unsuccessful so far?”

“He has been able to locate Terev. I would ask you to work with him to bring Terev here,” Evfra asked, tone soft.

Scott fidgeted slightly. “Your agent is willing to work with me?”

“I have already spoken with Shena. He is waiting for you if you choose to go,” Evfra firmly was putting the onus on Scott to back out.

Scott pursed his lips. “This is important to you? To all Angarans?

“Yes,” Evfra said, implacably.

“Then I will meet with Shena and try to bring Terev to you,” Scott agreed.

“You have our gratitude Scott Ryder,” Evfra offered.

“I’d rather have your friendship,” Scott returned, making Evfra’s face break into an abrupt smile.

“You have it Scott Ryder. You have it,” Evfra assured him.

***

Returning to his team, he broke the news they’d be headed out in the morning. Jaal departed to spend a bit more time with his family and to gather supplies, telling Scott that he’d be there first thing in the morning. Vetra slipped away before he could speak to her, muttering something about supplies and contacts.Scott gave up chasing after her but knew he’d need to speak to her. Of everyone, she was the most likely to know current exiles. She was also the most likely to feel kind towards them. Neither Gil, Suvi nor Kallo had much to say about the events that led to the exiles leaving the Nexus—only Gil had been awake and he’d been stuck using his skills to monitor the air traffic control tower and had hated it.

Reluctantly, Scott headed for the comms to contact the Nexus. He needed to check in with Tann and it wasn’t going to be a fun conversation—not that it ever was. Bracing himself, he put in the request to connect to the Nexus. Rubbing his forehead, he brushed his hair that was getting too long as the operator answered and he requested to speak with Tann. “One moment please,” was the automated Avina’s reply.

Fifteen minutes later Tann finally answered, popping up with an unimpressed scowl on his face. “Ryder.I take it you have some good news for once?”

Scott’s jaw clenched so hard that his molars creaked. Taking a deep breath, he purposefully relaxed his face to neutral and adopted parade rest. “Evfra has agreed to a small embassy presence on Aya as long as it’s reciprocal with the Nexus.”

Tann was surprised, the perpetual disappointed look wiped off his face. “That is good news. I did not think they would allow it despite your efforts on their behalf.What else did they agree to?”

“Just a small embassy for culture exchange at this time but he left the door open for future opportunities is we continue to work with them,” Scott wasn’t going to promise anything that Evfra hadn’t allowed. He’d leave the negotiations up to the real diplomats.

“Work with them how?” Tann asked, eyes narrowing in displeasure. “Did you promise them something else without quid pro quo?”`

Scott paused then neutrally replied, “He has asked me to assist one of his agents in the apprehension of the former bodyguard of the Moshae who was responsible for her being captured by the kett.”

“And how much of your time will this take? We have other priorities...” Tann trailed off, a calculating look on his face.

“They already know the location of the traitor and have one of their agents in place who will need my assistance to extract him. It shouldn’t take me too long and it would go a long way towards relationship building between myself and the Resistance—which I believe you told me was my second priority after colony establishment.”Scott was pretty sure that Evfra wouldn’t have sent him on this favor if it wasn’t another check to see how serious he was about maintaining their professional relationship—a test of sorts to see what limits he would put up. He didn’t see a problem with doing it either.

“So this will be a time limited favor?” Tann argued.

“It should be from what I know of it. I won’t know for sure until I make contact with Evfra’s agent on Kadara.Kallo tells me that transit time should be less than three days with a few days to get ahold of the traitor and then return him to Aya... hopefully we’ll be done in under two weeks....” Scott trailed off, aware that Tann’s face was twitching, eyes wide and the frogman appeared paler than usual.

“Kadara?This traitor is on Kadara?” Tann asked with a cough, shuffling slightly as he tried to school his face but wasn’t completely successful.

Wary now, Scott nodded. “Yes. My understanding is there’s a port town there where the traitor is.The Resistance has an agent there that can get me close to Terev and help me extract him.Is there something I should be aware of?”

Tann almost looked.... nervous, his big eyes blinking rapidly in thought but not seeming to see Scott in front of him. “Kadara is where the... exiles went after the uprising.” Tann’s tone went from hesitant to colder and more angry as he continued. “They’ve continued to cause problems ever since.Last we knew Sloane Kelly and her Outcasts had taken over the port.”

“So you expect this to cause issues?” He really, really needed to talk to Vetra and maybe Vladimir. What the hell had gone down during the uprising? 

Tann looked like something sour was in his mouth before replying, almost spitting each word. “They will not welcome you there... but if it is important to the Angarans you’ll have to do it. Kadara is a... a cesspool of pirates and criminals.There is nothing we need there so you will do this favor for Evfra and then leave. I have other priorities I will assign you once it is complete and you are due for docking at the Nexus immediately after you complete this assignment.”

Now he was just more interested in what exactly Tann’s role had been in the uprising and if he personally had done something to Sloane Kelly and her crew... but it was obvious he wasn’t going to hear it from Tann now. “We’ll complete the mission for Evfra and you’ll hear from me after,” Scott agreed.

Tann was rattled enough that he didn’t catch Scott’s wording and dismissed him abruptly. “I expect results Pathfinder. Send me the contact information to arrange for the embassy.”

Tann cut the connection, not waiting for Scott to reply. Well that was beyond interesting... and didn’t really clarify anything.

“SAM... where’s Vetra?”

“Vetra is in the kitchen. Shall I tell her to come to you?”

“No.I want some coffee anyway. I’ll meet her there.”

***

Vetra was drinking coffee in the kitchen and looked up when Scott entered, going straight for the coffee maker. “You get our marching orders?” She asked.

Taking the carafe, Scott grabbed one of the mugs with the Tempest’s silhouette on it and began pouring the hot coffee into the mug before replacing the carafe. “I’ve got our orders... but I need you to be straight with me,” he said softly, not looking at her as he lifted the mug and breathed in the comforting scent of coffee.

When he looked up, Vetra was looking at him, gaze serious. “Straight with you about what?” She asked, flicking her fingertips as she cleaned them idly.

“About the uprising and Kadara,” he said, watching as her gaze narrowed slightly at the mention of Kadara.

“We’re going to Kadara?”

“Yes.Evfra had a favor to ask and I agreed.” He calmly took a sip and waited to see what she’d say.

An uncomfortable staring contest ensued but Vetra finally dropped her gaze, a grimace on her face. “What do you want to know?” She said with a sigh. “Just remember once you know you can’t un-know it.”

“You’ll be straight with me?” He couldn’t help it. He needed to make sure she understood he needed the truth.

Vetra looked offended. “I’m part of your crew. If we’re stepping too close to something that I don’t want to tell you I’ll tell you.”

He shrugged. “That’s fair.So Kadara. What’s the situation on the ground?”

“Complicated. You know who Sloane Kelly is?” Vetra clarified.

“I do. Former Alliance, discharged for disobeying a direct order and assaulting a commanding officer. Hired as the Security chief for the Andromeda Initiative.”Another sip of coffee. “Led the uprising forces and left with the exiles.”

“That leaves a lot out,” Vetra admonished, looking like she didn’t like talking about Sloane Kelly. “Sloane Kelly is the leader of the Outcasts and they are the current big power in Kadara Port—as well as a pain in Tann’s ass.”

“How so?”

Vetra gave him a look that said it was a good thing he was pretty because that was a dumb question. “The Outcasts have been jumping Initiative shipments since the uprising. It’s the source of a lot of their start up materials as well as ongoing trade among the exile groups. They left with a lot of ships and materials but they’ve been hassling any convoy they know about.It’s partly why the first two colonies failed—no Pathfinder to assist with the planning or to make it so Eos was less of an irradiated hell hole.”

“And Sloane Kelly has been the one running the show?The entire show?”Scott let a bit of doubt creep into his voice. If the uprising had been as much of a shit show as he suspected, he found it hard to believe everyone who left was interested in following one person or willing to cooperate in an organized fashion. Tann and Addison were good examples of this.

Vetra shook her head. “No. As you can imagine, once they left the Nexus everyone fractured off into their own groups. The Outcasts currently run Kadara Port but they’ve been loosing ground to rival groups outside of it.”

“Rivals? Like who?”Scott could see that he’d touched on something Vetra didn’t want to talk about, her arms now crossed over her chest and her hands clutching her arms tightly, mandibles slightly flared.

“I’m not sure I can tell you about them without hurting friends of mine Scott,” She confessed. “Not everyone who left after the uprising was a bad person—they just wanted a chance to survive and they didn’t think they could by staying.”

He thought for a moment. “You’re part of my team Vetra...”

“I know!” She exclaimed, obviously frustrated. “But they’re also very, very good friends Scott. They’re good people for the most part and.... they helped out when they could before the Hyperion arrived.”

“Helped how?”He set his half empty coffee cup aside to talk with his hands. “Vetra... if they’re good people then why don’t they come back? Are they raiding our convoys?”

Vetra’s head snapped back. “Absolutely not. They’ve been feeding us Scott!”

That brought him up short. “What?”

Vetra’s mandibles flared again but her tone was more even and conversational when she resumed talking. “They’ve been feeding us. Hydroponics was severely damaged when the Nexus ran into the Scourge and Eos hasn’t been a viable place to grow crops.”

He frowned. “And Kadara is able to have farms large enough to feed the Nexus?”

“They’ve been filling in the gaps—they don’t have enough to feed all of us and themselves... but they’re interested in real trade, not raiding like the Outcasts.” Vetra was serious—her face earnest as she talked of her friends.

“How much do you trust them Vetra?” This was important. “More than us? More than your team?”

Vetra picked her words carefully. “I trust them to hold to agreements made but they’re gun shy about Tann. All my deals have gone through Kesh without Tann’s knowledge.”

“They krogan?”

“No. Almost all the krogan live on Elaaden.”

Another frown. “Elaaden?”

Vetra gave him an incredulous look. “SAM? Can you fill in Scott about New Tuchanka after this conversation?Kesh should have included it in the information she gave you both weeks ago.”

“I can update the Pathfinder,” SAM intoned from the speakers in the wall. Great... seemed he’d have more reading to do.

“So who are your friends Vetra?” He refocused.

Vetra sighed and played with her empty coffee cup. “Someone I’ve dated off and on.”

“More on or more off?”

That got him a glare. “More on.”

“Would you have left with them if not for Sid?”Scott asked.

Vetra looked sad. “Maybe. I don’t know. The uprising was a mess Scott. I don’t think you understand just how crazy everything was right then, how scary it was and how they were just shoving everyone who so much as twitched wrong back in cryo or out the air lock.”

“Out the air lock? Like as in murder?”

She was careful with her words again. “I don’t know for sure... but we didn’t bury any bodies or put them back in cryo tubes—there’s a lot of empties that aren’t explained and it’s hard to know exactly who left since we’re not exactly taking a census. Tann ordered the dead spaced—I just don’t know if they were dead before he spaced them.When I asked Gil about it he said there was a lot of garbage disposal emissions right after the uprising.”

Scott was sure his eyes were huge in disbelief at the accusation. “You think they murdered members of the Initiative during the uprising?”

“I know that there were a lot of scientists who believed in spirited debate.. not sure they were violent but a lot of them ended up missing or dead and we needed them after the uprising. My friends were given the option of cryo or leaving—they chose to leave and got out while the getting was good.” 

He believed Vetra was telling the truth as she saw it... but it was a very dangerous accusation. Scott didn’t think Tann or Addison were squeaky clean and he knew if he started looking he’d find inconsistencies... but records would be limited to non-existent to verify any of this... and Heleus was a large place to go missing in. Also, it wasn’t like none of the witnesses he could talk to didn’t have motives to obscure the truth.

“Your friends.... are they going to be my friends too? Can I trust them to give you legit information and that you’ll give me that information if I ask for it? Because I can’t have a teammate I can’t trust Vetra.I don’t want to know everything... but I need to trust that you’ll tell me what I need to know,” Scott struggled to express himself hands on the table as he leaned over Vetra, not sure what to do with this. He wanted to trust Vetra but there was a lot of unknowns here.

Vetra didn’t answer immediately but when she did she spoke with force. “I’m a member of the Pathfinder team—my friends know this and know that means I’m a team player for you.My first loyalty is to my sister and then to this team. Kesh is a long term friend and if I take any separate jobs for her I’ll let you know. Anything else goes through you too jobs-wise. Do you trust me to make sure we get supplies and intel? It’s my job.”

Scott looked at her and nodded.He couldn’t completely hamper her or they’d not have any supplies or food—he was well aware that it wasn’t easy to make a living in Heleus without support or a steady resource supply and they weren’t immune to these issues. Vetra’s contacts and work was instrumental in making sure they had bullets and food.“Until you give me a reason not to I’m going to trust you Vetra... but please remember your priorities. I’m not the enemy here for your friends as long as they’re not actively attacking or hindering us or the Initiative.”

Vetra leaned forward, emphasizing her words and face serious. “My friends are not our enemies. I’m sure you’ll meet them at some point but they’re just like us or I wouldn’t call them friends. I know where my loyalty is though. You can count on that.”

Scott rubbed his face tiredly. This whole conversation was exhausting. “Okay. What else can you tell me about the situation on Kadara that I need to know?”

“Sit,” Vetra insisted. “I’m not telling you with you hovering over me.And pour us both another cup of coffee. We’re gong to need it.”

***

An hour later Scott felt much more informed and unprepared at the same time. Kadara port was a modern version of a pirate’s hideaway overseen by Sloane Kelly. Vetra wasn’t a fan of her but tried to be objective—Scott got the impression her friends didn’t like Kelly and it showed. The Angaran Resistance did have a presence there but the angara were not running the port nor had Kelly given them any significant representation or say so in the running of it.

Vetra had also warned him that Tann had sent assassins after Kelly and they hadn’t succeeded which had angered the Outcasts. The Outcasts—Sloane Kelly’s gang sounded more like the name of a band rather than a true outlaw gang but they were legit. Drug and arms running, smuggling, murder and other crimes could be blamed on the Outcasts.Vetra herself had never stepped foot in Kadara Port but she’d heard a lot and she identified what she had been told and what she’d inferred.

It was still a lot to take in.

Scott had dismissed Vetra and she’d left to go obtain more supplies that she’d already arranged a drop for.

Which is when Jaal slunk into the kitchen, a dark look on his face. Scott ran his hands through his hair at the look and swore mentally. He was mentally wiped from his conversation with Vetra and he really didn’t want to get into it with anyone else as it was getting late and they had an early departure. “Jaal,” he greeted the angaran who sat down moodily in the spot Vetra had just vacated.

“I am informed that we are going to Kadara,” Jaal said, words clipped and angry sounding as he leaned over his forearms to meet Scott’s gaze.

“We are,” Scott said warily. “Is this a problem?”

“Those skkut of yours... thieves... bandits. You would join with them?” Jaal almost spat.“I took you for an honorable man.”

Scott’s eyebrows rose at Jaal’s question. “No.Evfra has sent us to extract Vehn Terev. I’m not sure what anyone told you but I have no intention of joining Sloane Kelly or the Outcasts.”

“Those vesagara are just like kett. They helped liberate the port and then promptly stole what was my people’s home’s! And now you will deal with them?”Jaal was angry, his eyes narrowed to slits.

Scott was at a loss of what to say but tried to placate the angry man. “Jaal—Evfra asked me to retrieve Terev and return him to Aya. After that I’m overdue for a stop at the Nexus. I do not plan on spending a lot of time on Kadara or making friends with the Outcasts.”

“That is all? And what of the plight of my people that were displaced by yours? Will you ignore it?”And he obviously wasn’t going to make Jaal happy.

“Jaal, what is it you are asking of me?” Scott finally said, not sure what Jaal was wanting.

Jaal leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at Scott through narrowed eyes. “I want to know that you will not become like the other vesagara. That you will remember you are a friend of the angara... that you will not be tempted by your own people.”

“Tempted?” Scott tried not to scoff but knew his tone was disbelieving. “Jaal—I’m doing this at Evfra’s request with an agent of the Resistance as my contact.”

“That does not mean that you will not see the vesagara who took over our homes and feel a kinship with them,” Jaal growled.

Scott just stared open mouthed at Jaal for a moment before speaking again.“Jaal—I’m an Initiative Pathfinder. The last thing any of the current occupants of Kadara probably want is me sticking my nose in their business and I’m not interested in kicking the hornet’s nest.”

“Just remember we are your friends, not them,” Jaal growled before standing and leaving, his hip bumping hard against the table making it vibrate but not budge since it was bolted to the floor.

Scott just watched him leave, eyes agog. “My life is a soap opera,” he groaned as he put both his hands in his hair and leaned into them, his elbows on the table as he hung his head. He was getting a headache and needed a few hours of rack time or he was going to be useless tomorrow.

“Scott, I have collected all the information relevant to the discussions you’ve had today. Would you like me to put them on your personal workstation in your quarters?” SAM asked.

Great. He had likely hours of intel and dossiers to dig through in addition to updating Cora about what Vetra had told him. “Yeah SAM. Please do that. I’m going to grab another cup of coffee and then I’ll be in my quarters. Send a message that I still expect us to be leaving on time in the morning.”

***

The transit time to Kadara was all spent digging through the intel that Vetra had given him and cross referencing it to the information he’d gotten from Brecka as well as Kesh’s. Jaal had been spending a lot of time with Cora and wouldn’t meet Scott’s eyes when they bumped into each other—the Tempest wasn’t a big ship and it happened even with Scott not going out of his way to do so.

After three days, Scott was going stir crazy and just wanted off his ship and into fresh air—preferably with a new place to explore and something that more suited his skills. Kadara, aka Habitat 4, was a mountainous world but still had large oceans. The Initiative had only sent the bare minimum of scouts to check it out and when it was noted that there was too much acid rain and water would be an issue it had been abandoned as a priority since it was so far from the Nexus. Vetra’s intel suggested that Sloane Kelly had known this and that’s why the majority of the exiles had gone straight there after the uprising.

Vetra, when he’d verified a few things with her and cleared up a few more details. The Outcasts maintained a grip on the Port proper and the upper levels of the associated town. Anything else was more tenuous. Vetra did not know what Sloane Kelly would do when she came face to face with Scott—she gave even odds that she might shoot Scott on sight just on principle because he wore an Initiative uniform.

Scott was already regretting agreeing to this job but knew there was no backing out of it.

Scott stood on the bridge as Kallo contacted port air traffic control and was given a landing pad with the warning that they’d be met at the pad by a representative who would collect their fees and taxes.

“Pathfinder?” Kallo asked for direction.

“Land where they’re directing us Kallo. I’ll meet with them and pay the fees. We’re a guest here, not here to cause trouble.”

“Yes Pathfinder,” Kallo complied.

Scott watched briefly as they descended, flying across mountainous terrain that in the midday light was beautiful. It reminded Scott in some ways of parts of Earth. He could see why a lot of exiles had come to call here home. As they crossed a line of tall peaks, they followed guidance beacons lower and Kadara Port came into eyesight.

Kadara Port was a large collection of buildings—a small city—built into the mountainside with a small plateau where the space port was located. Several smaller ships were flying around the port approach—both leaving and arriving. Listening to the air traffic control radio chatter, there was a lot going on. As Kallo guided the ship down, Scott left the bridge and went directly to the airlock, his team joining him. They’d be exploring in pairs—Vetra and Cora, Liam and Drack, and Jaal with Scott since he’d vocalized his worries. If Jaal wasn’t able to put his worries aside while Scott met with the Resistance agent, this Shena, he’d wait outside the bar the meet up was set for. Peebee would be responsible for monitoring all communications and monitoring for surveillance.

The port was busy—several ships were unloading and workers streamed between a warehouse and one of them. The smell of burnt engine oil and sulfur was like a smack to the face it was so strong. There was no wind as the spaceport was protected by the mountains around it. Everyone was so far giving the Tempest a wide berth as it had been directed to land at the far end of the port, away from the smaller shuttle-type ships that seemed the most common. He could see both angaran make as well as Initiative style ships.

A human dockworker waited for him at the base of the ramp and Scott greeted the human. The woman looked suspiciously at him but didn’t comment other than to hand him a datapad, instructing him that it contained the rules of the Port and the instructions for claiming any trade goods and import taxes that would be assessed. There was also a significant fee for each person onboard which made Scott internally wince at the price tag.

“Do you prefer this in credits or trade goods?” He asked the woman.

“Credits. We don’t need any of your Initiative goods,” was the sharp reply.

“Okay,” Scott said placatingly and tapped to initiate the transfer which she accepted. “Is there anything else?”

“Behave yourself Initiative. We’ll be watching you,” the woman said as she snatched the datapad out of his hands, turned on her heel and left.

“Drack and Liam,” Scott spoke into his comm. “I want you guys to remain on ship for now. I think the natives are more than a bit restless.”

“Kid... are you sure you want to do this?” Drack’s voice rumbled through the connection.

“We’re already here. Just stay onboard and watch out for anyone who tries to sneak in. I’m not leaving just three people onboard right now.”Scott felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. They were being watched from all corners, the open space of the port had people milling about at their work but a lot of eyes were on them. He didn’t think it was just curiosity about the new ship.

“I will stay then as well,” Jaal said. “I have no desire to mix with these vesagara.”

Scott took a deep breath.He was probably better off for meeting the Resistance agent by himself anyways. “Fine. Cora—you and Vetra be careful. Vetra—remember what we talked about.”

“Yes Scott,” he could hear Vetra’s eye roll in her voice. “We’ll be careful.”

Scott didn’t reply further and began making his way towards a sign that was labeled immigration checkpoint—Cora and Vetra would follow in a few minutes assuming nothing happened to him.Following the signs, he was funneled through a series of checks including a decontamination field to make sure he wasn’t bringing any diseases in before speaking with a clerk that asked him for a shipping manifest of any goods being brought into Kadara. The asari clerk was bored but perked up when she realized who he was and she closely examined his declarations—himself only really—before passing him through with a warning of “No weapons in Kadara Port, Initiative.”

He was a biotic—he was never completely disarmed. Not to mention his boots hid a knife in each seam that Vetra had procured for him. He’d left the guns onboard.

Stepping out of the space port and into the town proper, Scott found himself eyeing uncomfortably the bodies that were displayed prominently along the hallway leading between the two. Heads that were in various stages of decomposition were spiked on spears that he had to walk past as well as several bodies that had seemingly been nailed to the passageway walls. It was barbaric and chillingly honest.

Kadara Port was dangerous.

You have been warned.

Outcast cerulean banners waved prominently on either side as he stepped from the narrow walkway into the beginnings of the marketplace. Outcast guards who were stationed at the corners sneered at Scott and there were multiple growls of “Initiative bastards” or less friendly epithets heard. Their gazes that followed him as he explored the market were unfriendly and made the hairs on the back of Scott’s neck stand up in warning at their hostility.

The marketplace was busy but everyone who wasn’t wearing Outcast colors seemed to go about their business with their gaze downcast, almost scurrying in their movements and avoiding those that wore the blue. It wasn’t just Milky Way species that did this—Scott could see multiple Angarans who acted similarly. There were no angarans wearing the Outcast blue and those that he saw were very careful to not interact with the bored marketplace guards. Business was being conducted in hushed tones but still going on despite the depressed mood of the place.

For a den of inequity, it was pretty repressed—more dictatorship than raucous pirate port.

Walking through the marketplace, he noted foods that appeared similar to the ones he’d eaten on Aya were available as well as nutrient paste and... those were fresh vegetables. They were exorbitantly priced but they were fresh appearing and he didn’t touch them to check when the Salarian vendor hovered anxiously over him as he looked at them. Carrots, peas and greens were the most common but there were also other root vegetables and legumes that he knew were preferred by asari as well as a few turian foods. He’d have to mention this to Vetra as he was sure she’d be wanting to get some variety other than the protein packs she mostly lived on. There were also dried meat jerky that appeared to be made from adhi and some other animal. One vendor had fresh meat in a refrigerated container but Scott didn’t look too closely at it as it had Outcast guards on either side of it and he kept walking. SAM kept up a constant monitoring inventory of everything on display... as well as keeping tabs on the guards even behind Scott’s back.

The marketplace seemed roughly divided into sections for food, tech and other goods with a small section of Angaran vendors off to the far side that were less busy. He approached one of them that had the exact shade of Resistance green on the display tablecloth.The vendor watched Scott approach with a neutral expression and said nothing as he touched a rofjinn that was bright Outcast cerulean blue. The fabric was silky and strong under his fingertips, the rofjinn cut to size to fit a human sized figure.

“Would you like to try it on?” The vendor asked finally when Scott made no movement as he watched the marketplace guards gradually lose interest in him.

“Um... no.I was wondering however if you could give me directions to Kralla’s Song?”

The angaran looked at him for a moment before giving directions, “Take the south exit out of the marketplace and down the stairs to your left.”

“Thanks,” Scott said, setting the rofjinn down. He made sure to wander to a few more stalls, asking about wares but not buying anything as the Outcasts were watching him. He didn’t want the poor merchant singled out. He gradually worked his way towards the south exit for the marketplace and then casually walked down them to another level. From what he could see the marketplace was on top of one building and the stairs were a transition between them. There was a breezeway and a faint breeze came through, bringing a scent of rain on top of the constant sulfur smell. Scott could see clouds gathering over the mountains—there’d likely be a storm tonight.

Turning left, there was an entrance to a bar with neon lights above it stating it was his destination—Kralla’s Song.Approaching, the door swished open to reveal a darkened interior and Scott blinked rapidly to adjust his eyes to the bar lights and the windows that looked out over the mountains beyond along the wall. Kralla’s Song was surprisingly upscale compared to the going rustic/repurposed aesthetic he’d seen so far today. The bar was situated in the left hand corner and was protected by heavy columns and bars that surrounded it. He could see a protective shield had been raised up into the ceiling, the edge just visible where it peaked out of it’s slot. The bartender was a bored looking asari, holding a towel in her hand and wiping up a spilled drink.She immediately eyed him as he entered but didn’t greet him as her eyes flicked back to a krogan at the end of the bar who was precariously leaning to one side and snoring rumbling snores.

For only an hour or two after midday, the bar was half full. He saw several humans, turians, a pair of salarians and the krogan. No angarans. Scott cast his gaze about and approach the bar where he stopped and casually scanned the room several times looking for an angaran. Leaning his elbows on the bar, he was about to ask for a drink menu when the asari tossed her towel down and rammed a huge ass knife into the bar top—which he could see had multiple marks from similar stabbings. The krogan started awake with a roar and a Salarian who’d been approaching the bar beat a hasty retreat, the asari glaring at him.Scott watched in amusement as the asari got payment out of the krogan and then told him to move his ass out of the bar because he’d worn out his welcome.

Once the krogan had moved, the asari’s eyes moved back to Scott and then to someone behind him, narrowing in recognition and something else as her lips pursed. Opening his mouth again to ask for a drink menu, he was stopped by a smooth, deep purring and accented male human voice behind that asked, “You look like you’re waiting for someone....”

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE May 26th_

_I think I’ve met the ghost I’ve been chasing..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation notes:  
> Vesagara: rude term for people from the Milky Way  
> Skkut: general expletive similar to “fuck”
> 
> Yes yes... I know. Terrible place to leave off with nasty expectation cliffhanger... but it was a natural place to stop for the chapter and I needed to shift to Reyes POV for the next chapter to make my writing flow better. I hope to have the next chapter out sooner but work has been an absolute beast but... it is half written so hopefully sooner than later. 
> 
> Thanks as always for reading. Comments are love, kudos adored.


	43. Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-one

2819 CE May 26th

Kralla’s Song, Kadara Port, Kadara, Govorkam System, Heleus Cluster

Reyes Vidal, Smuggler and Information Broker, Angaran Resistance, codename: Shena, sometimes called the Charlatan

Status: a plan is put into motion

Reyes watched from the shadows as patrons came and went from Umi’s bar.He had arrived early in order to snag the only booth that, due to it’s location, hid anyone sitting in it from the door while giving a wide view of the bar area.Vestus had wandered in five minutes before him and was nursing a glass of wine in the corner of the window, almost completely hidden from view due to the brightness of the day outside making it difficult for anyone to focus on him, his eyes on the door and other patrons to make sure Reyes’ back was covered when he made contact. Umi had given Reyes an untrusting and unimpressed look when he had arrived earlier today and slowly nursed two bourbons over the course of three hours as he idly read news reports on his omnitool.She had pointedly insisted on payment up front both times. 

Such an untrusting bartender. 

Intel said that the Pathfinder team was in Kadara Port and had already had an interaction with the docking bay security staff who had sent one of Colton’s people a head’s up.Really, the way that the Outcast security checkpoint was set up with it’s decoration of rotting carcasses on pikes and half-dead drug addicts lying about the marketplace edges was a bit much by anyone’s standards. Needless to say, the air in the bar was stale and smelled strongly of spilled alcohol. The usual customers had come and gone over the course of the midday, several still nursing their drinks in small huddles along the bar and the booths around the perimeter of the room.So when the young Pathfinder stepped into the bar wearing his Initiative logo light armor, Reyes almost sighed in exasperation at the absurd picture in front of him.

The Pathfinder, Scott Ryder, was young—younger than Reyes had really visualized him in his mind even though he’d seen the picture on his file where he couldn’t have been more than nineteen.Given the reports he’d heard he’d assumed Ryder was only a year or two younger than himself but he appeared to be somewhere in his early to mid twenties—so four or five years younger than Reyes. The military influence was visible in his haircut which was a little long, brown hair that turned red in the sunlight from the windows behind the bar. Reyes also noted grey blue eyes framed by thick black lashes that didn’t miss much as he scanned the room while casually approaching the bar like he’d just wandered in without purpose instead of meeting a contact. Scott’s face was unlined and had missed it’s appointment with a razor for several days indicating he had been kept busy despite being in transit from one system to another. Reyes objectively admitted the Pathfinder was handsome, fit and carried himself with an athletic grace that most career soldiers had. The blue and white armor failed to conceal the lean frame underneath. Scott wasn’t visibly armed, but Reyes knew as a biotic he would never be fully disarmed.

Pretty package as Keema called him when she’d seen the picture attached to his intel file. Reyes found himself agreeing with that assessment.

The blue eyed male glanced over the bar occupants, searching for someone he didn’t find with a small quirk of his mouth downwards in disappointment.Obviously, Evfra had failed to specify what his contact looked like.

As Scott stepped up to the bar, Umi had a small disagreement with a Krogan about payment for services rendered given she’d gotten tired of his snoring at her bar, stabbing her knife into the bar top in warning before the Krogan begrudgingly gave up several credits as payment.

Scott kept his eyes on the Krogan who was now drunkenly walking towards the exit, allowing Reyes to saunter up in Scott’s blind spot.When he spoke, he used the flirtatious tone that worked well for him when working a new contact in the past. “You look like you’re waiting for someone,” he drawled, catching Scott’s attention, watching the man’s back and shoulders straight as he turned to look at Reyes over one shoulder, a perfect eyebrow arched questioningly as he met Reyes’ gaze with a small smile that seemed reflexive.

Scott’s gaze dropped and gave him a brief once over and small smile widened as he turned to face Reyes, putting his hands on the bar and leaning backwards into the bar, hips pressed outwards and ankles crossing neatly in relaxation as he categorized Reyes as a nonthreatening human. Gesturing to Umi for two Angaran bourbons, Reyes came up close to Scott, allowing for minimal personal space and for Scott to choose to stay or move away as Umi filled his order. 

Scott, interestingly, chose to stay rather than move away, only a few finger breadths between their bodies. His small, friendly smile getting a slightly sharper edge to it as blue grey eyes met brown and Reyes could feel that he’d met someone who wasn’t going to take his shit but would be polite about it.It seemed the young Pathfinder was just as much of a shark as him and he found the confirmation of that exhilarating.

Umi slammed both drinks into the counter, startling both of them out of their staring match and disturbing their eye contact which Reyes found himself missing.To cover his unsettled thoughts, he grabbed both glasses and then held out one to Scott.Scott looked at the drink before reaching out to take it, their fingers brushing as he gripped the highball. Reyes took a drink of his own to show that it was just alcohol, nothing suspicious.

“I’ve got time for a drink,” Scott said as he fiddled with his own drink, eyes not leaving Reyes. Scott then clinked his glass to Reyes and took a drink, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed.As he lowered the drink from his mouth, Scott shifted his weight, moving slightly closer into Reyes body in a way that Reyes was not sure if he should consider it flirting or aggressive dominant male posturing as it was closer than was polite. Scott was close enough to smell his natural scent of soap and something else beneath it that Reyes couldn’t immediately identify as he took a deep breath.

Swallowing the harsh liquor in one drink, Reyes found he couldn’t look away and decided he’d let Scott know who he was.“Shena—but you can call me Reyes.I hate code names.”

Scott quirked his right eyebrow and took a second drink from his glass, draining it completely before shaking hands with Reyes, expression becoming more serious and smile fading away.When he spoke, it was wry and self deprecating. “I was expecting someone more... Angaran. I guess that teaches me to assume.I’m assuming you know who I am?”

Chuckling, Reyes voice dropped into a slightly heavier accent and register, his body now brushing fully against Scott’s as he put his own glass on the bar behind him.He couldn’t help reacting to the Pathfinder and found himself sharing breath they were so close but Scott didn’t seem intimidated, if anything his face said he was enjoying the game of chicken they were engaged in, to see who would pull back first. “The Resistance pays me to supply information—among other things,” Reyes said with a sly smile and a wink. 

Obviously taking the implication to mean something he hadn’t intended, Scott pulled minutely back from Reyes, putting a slight distance between them—flinching first but not moving away enough that they didn’t brush against each other as they breathed.Reyes could see the hands gripping the bar flex as Scott’s grip tightened, making his knuckles blanch.“So you’re a smuggler? Or Something else?”

Smiling slightly, inclined his head towards the window to indicate they should move away from the bar.He was willing to discuss more but he didn’t want anyone overhearing something they shouldn’t—Umi and a Salarian who had been nursing his drink for over an hour were a little too close and could likely overhear their conversation.Scott took the hint immediately that a little more privacy was needed and began walking sideways toward the window, not breaking eye contact more than minimally to look where he was going, not avoiding brushing his body against Reyes as he escaped. Reyes trailed after him before much space could open up between them.

When they reached the window, Reyes turned them so both their bodies faced the late afternoon sun which was beginning to dip below the mountains behind Kadara Port painting the snow on them pink in the late afternoon sun. Sunset was going to be gorgeous tonight if the storm didn’t block it that had been brewing all day.He couldn’t help shaking his head as he explained why it would be difficult for Scott to get what he needed. “Your man—Vehn Terev—was captured by Sloane Kelly who is the leader of the Outcasts. Word spread about what he did to Moshae Sjefa and Kelly has been holding onto him as a bargaining chip.”Looking towards Scott and meeting his eyes again, Reyes met the attentive blue grey gaze and spread his hands to indicate the port that surrounded them “The angaran people are calling for Terev to be held accountable—which to Sloane Kelly means execution.And Sloane... she’s a woman of the people so she’ll likely give them what she thinks they want.”

“She’ll really listen to the angara? I got the impression in the marketplace that they don’t have the political power here to cause Kelly to give in to them,” Scott said with a thoughtful look.

“They don’t within Kadara Port—outside of it... well Kadara has many places where Sloane Kelly’s doesn’t have control.The Resistance has already made several formal requests for her to turn over Terev—with a generous reward even—and she’s denied each request,” Reyes informed him, clasping his hands and looking back out the windows. “By executing Terev herself she placates some of the Angara who just want to eke out an existence here but do not want to fight anymore. She may even get some individual support from members of the Resistance.”

“And what do you think?” Scott asked, gaze focused laser-like on Reyes response.

“I think that, after speaking with Evfra, I would prefer Terev to be brought back to Aya to face trial and the person he betrayed—the Moshae. Executing him to gain favor without trial is not what the Resistance stands for. It is not for me to decide his fate as he did not personally harm me,” Reyes let his voice trail off towards the end, prompting Scott to speak.

“How long have you worked for the Resistance?” Scott waited a beat before adding a second, follow-up question. “And why would you care?”

“I’ve worked for the Resistance long enough to be an agent of theirs... and I would need to know you much better than just meeting you to explain why I care,” Reyes deflected and motioned with his eyes that they were in a public place, feeling his lips tilt into an amused smirk. He could see Vestus watching out of the corner of his eye and the turian was making a face at him saying to move the conversation along as they didn’t have all day.

A few beats later, it appeared Scott had accepted his answer and didn’t want to pry further in a public setting. “So what do you propose we do then?Evfra sent me to talk with you to get Terev back to Aya,”

“You work for the Initiative—you have not yet met with Kelly?” Reyes inquired, already knowing the answer.

“I haven’t. I just walked through the marketplace.”

“Then I would suggest asking to speak with her—maybe she will surprise us all and give Terev over to the Initiative for safe keeping but I doubt it.However, it would be much more suspicious if you don’t meet with her and request this,” Reyes began to outline his plan,“In the meantime, I will discuss with my people a way in for you if that does not work.”

“She was part of the uprising.... I doubt she’s going to give Terev up easily,” Scott grumbled, obviously not liking the part where he’d have to go ask nicely for the pirate queen to give up her treasure. “What happens if she decides she really doesn’t like me asking?”

“Then we will get you out if necessary—she’s too curious about you to do more than detain you. I’m sure your people would be more than willing to work with the Resistance to rescue you,” Reyes teased lightly. If things went how he thought they might, there’d be no need for rescue.

Scott didn’t look reassured but his shoulder relaxed minutely showing trust. “You better bust me out of whatever jail she throws me in,” was his warning.

Reyes chuckled and he didn’t miss the slight blush on Scott’s cheeks when he next replied. “I will but it won’t be necessary. Kelly is too interested in you and what you can do for her.”

Scott wrinkled his nose in distaste at Kelly’s name. “Dress it up however you want but she isn’t part of the Initiative any longer...”

“No she’s not,” Reyes agreed.

That got a sigh from the pathfinder. “I promised Evfra—Vehn Terev is leaving with me with or without her permission.”

“And you keep your promises.... you and I are going to be friends,” Reyes assured him, bumping his hip against Scott’s playfully, his smile flirtatious as he sent his contact information to Scott’s omnitool silently. “There might be another way to get Terev—let me speak with my people and I’ll talk with the Resistance.”

Scott nodded in agreement and Reyes clasped his forearm before turning to take his leave. Breaking eye contact, he walked away towards the exit at a saunter. Scott called out after him, making him pause. “How will I contact you if things go south?”

Turning, Reyes winked and then walked away without saying anything further, hearing an exasperated snort from the man behind him. Perhaps his silent AI partner had alerted him to Reyes’ contact info. Before Scott could follow him out of Kralla’s Song, he could hear Umi’s loud demand of payment and a bitten off expletive from the Pathfinder which made Reyes walk faster.

He’d owe Scott another drink later—it’d be a good excuse to spend more time together so he could ask for Scott’s personal experiences in Heleus.

***

Exiting Kralla’s Song, Reyes immediately went to Tartarus to wait for Vestus to join him. Vestus would wait until the pathfinder had left before taking his own leave of Kralla’s. Reyes headed to his personal quarters and pulled up the reports he’d been unable to concentrate on earlier due to waiting for Scott to show. His concentration wasn’t much better but he’d replied to two teams by the time Vestus slunk silently into the room.

“Vestus,” he greeted him.

Vestus shook his head at Reyes as he took his accustomed seat. “You’re ridiculous you know—and your mating habits could use some work.”

Reyes scoffed at him. “Spy work such as this is all about seduction—making your contact believe you and willing to do things that are perhaps not what they would ordinarily choose to do.”

That got him a sarcastic eyeroll. “That finishing touch of stiffing him with the drink bill—he’s going to chase after you for that.”

Pulling a face, Reyes shrugged. “That was the point.”

“You came across as a cheap bastard,” Vestus grunted, paused a moment and then continued. “He took the bait. He was headed for Kelly’s lair and I could see him waiting outside to be admitted as I passed.”

“Hopefully Kelly reacts like we expect,” Reyes murmured. “Did you get the day’s security codes?”

Vestus glared at him. “Please. This is not my first jailbreak. I’m not some amateur.”

Reyes laughed. “Someday you’ll have to tell me about it—please promise me that it involved Kenax in some way.”

That got him an evil looking grin as Vestus remembered. “Kenax did make me promise never to tell about that one...”

“But surely there’s exceptions to this promise?”

“He probably wouldn’t mind as long as it’s you,” Vestus allowed. “You going to let him close again? He’s a little upset with me for being here with you instead of him.”

“And do you think he would have let me walk up to Ryder by myself?” Reyes asked softly.Kenax had been blowing hot and cold the last week. He really did need to do somethingto get his best friend back but he was hesitant as he didn’t want to backslide to where they’d had issues. The current situation however did need to be fixed at some point.

Vestus thought a moment before shaking his head. “No. He still needs time and he’s still pissed at both you and himself—more himself. Give him time.”

Reyes tapped on his current datapad, sighing. “I’m sorry for causing issues between you two.”

“It’s not just about you Reyes—not everything is.Kenax and I have done this before and I’m sure we’ll do it again.”

Reyes nodded, frowning in thought.He didn’t like even being slightly associated with trouble that his friends were having in their relationship. “I still feel slightly guilty about it.”

“Don’t.”Vestus’s face was serious. “I’m serious Reyes. It’ll work out—it always does.At this point Kenax is stuck with me for life.”

He nodded again and purposefully changed the topic back to the concern at hand. “We’ve got the diversion ready?”

“Yes.Colton told me he didn’t want to know which of us thought of this but we’re evil geniuses according to him,” Vestus said with a grin, his mandibles and crest flaring in pleasure.

“It will make a bit of a mess,” Reyes allowed, a satisfied grin on his face.

“Just be glad neither of us is going to be on cleanup crew,” Vestus agreed. “How long do you think it’s going to take for Kelly to turn him down?”

“Oh I don’t think that’ll take long... It depends on if Kaetus is there when they talk.” Reyes was pretty sure one of two things would happen—either Kelly would get straight to the point of what did Scott want or she’d keep him busy talking about why he was on Kadara. Either way, Reyes could admit to being very curious about how Scott would handle things. It was too bad they’d thought it too high risk to plant a listening bug on Kelly’s throne where she usually took audiences—the one thing that Kaetus did was he regularly scan for bugs due to excessive paranoia. Kelly wouldn’t keep Scott because she’d be too curious what he could do for her to lock him up—or at least that was what he was betting on.If Kelly did, for some insane reason, lock Scott up he would use the passcodes himself to spring him but it would make things a lot more difficult for him around Kadara personally.

An alert sounded on both of their omnitools and they both read the notification. One of their spotters said that Ryder had left Outcast HQ and was looking annoyed. “Shall I send him an invitation?” Reyes asked Vestus with a chuckle.

“You might as well—better include directions. I’ll make sure that his route is cleared down here,” Vestus said as he stood, stretching. “Be nice Reyes.”

“I don’t bite,” Reyes protested. “I’m perfectly nice.”

Vestus rolled his eyes as he left. “You never know.... he might be the type to enjoy that sort of thing,” was his parting shot.

***

2819 CE May 26th

Kralla’s Song, Kadara Port, Kadara, Govorkam, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: wondering if I’ve caught up with my ghost

Scott felt a shiver run down his spine at the man’s voice, the warmth and teasingly flirtatious line making him smile even before he turned around to look at whoever had purposefully snuck up in his blind spot. Catching sight of the man behind him, he gave him a once over before focusing on his face. The man was slightly taller and broader in hip and shoulders than him, body lean but muscular with dark olive skin and black hair cut in a slick fade that was well groomed, no stubble on the sharp angle of his jaw that spoke to lean times. His appearance was neat—heavy, military cut charcoal cargo pants tucked into practical, but clean boots, plain tan colored shirt underneath and a well loved appearing faded black leather jacket that was the style favored by most pilots with a glint of a chain around his neck that usually accompanied ID tags. No gang affiliation present or colors—or at least no cerulean blue of the Outcasts or green for the Resistance but that would probably be too obvious for someone like this man.From his accent Scott guessed he was of Latin descent—either one of the spanish colonies or perhaps even earth, maybe South America somewhere. The man’s body language was flirtatious and friendly but his whiskey colored eyes danced with intelligent amusement at Scott told him that the man was well aware he was being checked out and confident enough about his odds of persuading Scott to give him a chance.

Amused, Scott leaned his ass into the solid line of the bar behind him, crossing his ankles and relaxing as the man ordered from the Asari, calling her Umi, who promptly grabbed a bottle of amber colored liquid and poured it over ice in two highballs before pushing them into the man’s waiting hands. The man handed Scott a drink but didn’t move away, their bodies almost touching as Scott fiddled with his drink, hands nervous as they clutched the cool glass. Faint cedar and soap scents twined with the leather of the jacket that made Scott want to huff at the man partly in exasperation as well as amusement. As he took the drink, he agreed to drink with the man—if nothing else it gave him time to wait for his contact and look less suspicious. “I have time for a drink.”

The small quirk of a smile broadened as their eyes held contact, Scott finding himself unable to pull away from the whiskey brown eyes. Clinking their glasses together, Scott took a sip. The liquid burned as it went down his dry throat and he watched the man, shifting his weight slightly to bring their bodies closer, curious how the man would respond to being crowded right back. 

He didn’t—instead leaning forward as if to confess a huge secret. Scott was surprised with what the man said next and let it show on his face. “Shena—but you can call me Reyes.I hate code names.”

Scott took another look at the man. He was still a human and not an Angaran. Giving a self-deprecating look, he admitted to his folly of assuming that his contact would be an angaran which made the man laugh. “The Resistance pays me to obtain information—among other things,” Reyes admitted with a wink.

Dropping his gaze and pulling back slightly at that, Scott wondered what exactly other things were, his imagination running wild at the insinuation. Reyes was sharp enough that it was obvious he was a player of some sort, maybe an information broker or perhaps more?It could mean a lot of different things and the innuendo made Scott ask SAM silently for any information he had. I have nothing on a Mr. Reyes, SAM answered him—they’d need a full name to even get further. Scott found his pulse picking up in excitement at the mystery before him that resembled his ghost—could it be him? Reyes... was about the right size and build to be him... and he worked for the angarans which implied he might have been to Aya...

_SAM... scan him without letting him know.I want to send his biometrics and name to Vladimir to see what he has on him._

_Yes, Scott._

Clearing his throat, Scott asked a question as Reyes was obviously waiting for him to say something. “So you’re a smuggler? Or something else?”

Reyes lips quirked and motioned with his head to their surroundings, reminding Scott that they weren’t alone.Umi—the bartender—was close enough to be listening in and that salarian at the end of the bar could possibly also hear enough that maybe they wouldn’t want to discus things that were of a delicate nature right here. Looking around, Scott saw that there was only a lone turian in the corner by the window and he was absorbed in tapping away on his omnitool. Inclining his head towards the window, Scott purposefully brushed his body against Reyes as he edged past him and walked to the window where there was a ledge to lean against. With the windows open, there was a faint breeze here and they were far enough away that most of the bar shouldn’t be able to overhear and looked out over the Port,

Reyes followed him and stood next to him, putting his own arms down casually on the ledge before informing Scott of where exactly his target was—currently a guest of Sloane Kelly’s Outcasts. Damnit... Scott chewed on his lip as he listened. Reyes indicated that Vehn Terev was being used as a political marker and the Resistance was getting impatient with Kelly’s unwillingness to give him up. Reyes explained the implications of handing Terev over versus if Kelly executed him.Scott was somewhat surprised that there would be some benefits to Kelly pissing off the Resistance but he also supposed that she just may not care or want to make a show of her own power to make the Resistance give in to further demands from her.

However, he’d made a promise to Evfra and he intended to see it through. Scott found himself asking Reyes what he personally thought and the answer was well thought out—Reyes felt that justice would be best served by letting the Angaran people judge their own. So the smuggler believed in local rules being followed... maybe? Or was he just saying what he thought Scott would want to hear. It could also be a criticism of Tann’s wanting to have the Nexus rule/control all of Heleus... which ouch. Scott could understand that reluctance and he had to report to him.

Reyes then asked, interrupting Scott’s thoughts, “So have you met with Sloane Kelly yet?”

“No. I just walked through the marketplace,” Scott confessed. He hadn’t really explored yet as he’d been so focused on making the meeting with Evfra’s agent. Kadara Port really wasn’t what he’d expected it to be so far—not that he was sure what he’d thought it should have been.

The suggestion that he meet with Sloane Kelly made sense... they should at least attempt the front door to make sure it was firmly shut against them.However, that meant talking to someone he really was concerned was unstable and had a reputation of capriciousness. Scott vocalized his concerns, telling Reyes that she wasn’t going to just give Terev up and could just as easily decide Scott was another shiny bargaining chip.What was going to be the backup plan to ensure he got out? “What happens if she really doesn’t like me asking?”

Reyes assured him that he and the Resistance would make sure Scott got out.He just needed to make sure his team was aware of them and willing to coordinate with Reyes if necessary. Mentally, Scott grumbled about it better not be necessary. SAM quietly promised to make sure that everyone was aware of every step Scott took if he became a hostage. Kelly wouldn’t be able to stop Scott communicating with his team even if she locked him in a dungeon given the AI he shared headspace with.

Not really reassured, Scott found himself agreeing to the plan. “You better bust me out of whatever jail she throws me in,” he warned Reyes which got him another one of those grins that showed he’d amused the other man with a flash of even teeth. He had dimples, Scott idly noted, which made him want to trust Reyes even though he barely knew the man.

Giving a shy duck of the head and grin widening, Reyes promised Scott, his voice deepening just slightly as he did so, making a shiver go through Scott and he knew he was blushing. The man had a voice that was liquid fucking sex when he was trying to be persuasive. “I will but it won’t be necessary. Kelly is too interested in you and what you can do for her,” Reyes said.

The mention of Sloane Kelly drug Scott’s mind out of the gutter it’d been diverted into and he grimaced.“Dress it up however you want but she isn’t part of the Initiative any longer...”

“No she’s not,” Reyes agreed with him, his eyes sparkling again—he’d obviously noted the effect he had on Scott. Damn him.Scott’s mind went right back to just enjoying the accented burr of the man’s voice without his permission. Surely SAM could make him focus?He’d never had trouble like this before and he wasn’t exactly a blushing virgin damnit. Maybe it was because Reyes might be the ghost he’d been chasing after since he landed on Aya?

Scott could feel the heat as his blush brightened and he tried to deflect Reyes attention back to the matter at hand as he struggled to maintain a professional conversation. Sighing as he tried to wrangle his turbulent thoughts into some sort of order, Scott reiterated his promise. “I promised Evfra—Vehn Terev is leaving with me.With or without her permission.”

“And you keep your promises,” Reyes drawled, his face schooled to be more serious and eyes intense as he spoke. “You and I are going to be friends.There might be another way to get Terev—let me speak with my people and I’ll talk with the Resistance.”

Scott found himself nodded in agreement and Reyes clasped his forearm before turning to take his leave of him, making Scott turn and watch him, the slight movement of his hips as he walked away. It took a moment for Scott to realize that Reyes was leaving and he took a few stumbling steps after him.“Wait... how am I going to contact you?” His voice cracked slightly, making him wince.

Reyes, giving him another one of the quirky grins just winked and kept walking. Scott’s feet seemed stuck to the floor where he stood in the middle of the bar, just watching the man walk away.Reyes was almost through the door when the angry voice of an asari jolted Scott. “Hey! You owe me for those drinks!”

Realizing she was talking to him, Scott found himself fumbling, swearing, and staring at her angry face. She was brandishing a bottle of something and if she could light him on fire with the power of her glare he’d be nicely crisped by now. “How much?” He stammered.

“Fifteen credits for each drink—so thirty!” She growled at him.

Tapping in the transfer of credits into his omnitool took a moment. When Scott next looked back at the door Reyes was gone, SAM informing him that there had been contact info sent to his omnitool.

***

Outside Kralla’s Song, Scott didn’t see any evidence of where Reyes had disappeared to and he mentally swore in frustration. Activating his comm, he contacted Cora. “Cora?”

There was some mild interference but Cora’s voice came through clear.”What’s up?”

“Where are you?” He asked, debating what to do next.

“Wandering the marketplace. Vetra’s making some sort of deal for food,” Cora’s voice was professional but he could hear that he’d worried her.

He paused. “I need to have an audience with Sloane Kelly...”

“Do you need backup?”

“Might not be the worst idea,” Scott agreed. “Where in the market are you?”

Cora told him their location and he turned to go back up the stairs to the market. The Outcast guards marked his return and he could feel their eyes on him as he headed towards the food vendors where Cora was lounging around as Vetra haggled. The salarian looked flabbergasted, squawking about the price Vetra was edging towards, moving it lower and lower. Cora had an amused smirk on her face as she watched but noticed Scott as soon as he was within eyesight and gave him a wave of greeting. In their light Initiative armor they stood out—the white and blue accents bright in the more subdued colors of the marketplace other than the cerulean Outcast banners.

Scott joined Cora and they watched for the next three minutes as the increasingly irate Salarian gave into Vetra while her grin got more and more shark like. Finally, she put the salarian out of his misery and agreed to a price. The salarian looked wiped, as if he couldn’t believe he’d just agreed to what he’d agreed to. Vetra, grin with a little too much fang, clapped the male on the shoulder with “you held out better than they usually do.Pleasure doing business with you.”

The salarian only nodded, a dazed look on his face.

“Vetra.... quit playing. Anyone know where Outcast Headquarters is?” Scott asked.

The Salarian paled and jumped back, further away from them. “That way,” he said as he pointed north.There did seem to be more banners that way.

Scott thanked the Salarian and pulled the girls away. “Let’s get going then.”

They were out of earshot when Cora, who was walking closely next to him, murmured, “So why are we going into the lion’s den?”

“I need to ask nicely for her to let my people go,” Scott said, without irony, getting a snort from Vetra as he pushed his bangs out of his face as his hair was blown around by the wind that funneled down the corridor they were following. He really was overdue for a haircut.

“I’m pretty sure I heard that line from that ancient vid Liam was watching... the one with the chariots getting eaten by the flood.

“Yeah... let’s hope that there’s not a miracle involved in this one.The Outcasts have our man.”Scott met the side eye that one of the guards gave them, not being subtle as he spoke into a comm and Scott could hear the words “Initiative” and “Pathfinder” but dropped his gaze rather than meet Scott’s challenging one.

“You meet up with Evfra’s agent?” Cora said in a barely audible whisper, glaring at one of the guards on her side of the market.

“Yeah.... remind me to tell you about him once we’re back on the Tempest,” Scott grumbled, aware he was slightly blushing again.

Cora didn’t miss his reaction and snorted. “Sounds like there’s a story....”

“Later Cora,” he put an end to questions as they could see a doorway that had several guards idling outside of it, prominent cerulean blue banners on each side and above it, several heads on spikes above the doorway. Off to the side, there was a small shop set up that was also well guarded. As they got closer, Scott didn’t see any obvious product being sold but the vendor was behind a set of bars and he could see forcefield generator wiring... the place was like a fortress. What could they possibly be selling that required that kind of security?

In answer, a hunched over, hooded figure approached in front of them and greeted the turian who was at the register. Credits were exchanged and a small packet was thrust through the small slot that was snatched up quickly by the man who clutched it to his chest. When the man turned, his face was visible—gaunt, cheeks hollowed out with deep bruising around his eyes, pale and eyes bloodshot. His hands were dirty and nothing but skin over bones, fingernails broken in appearance. The man scuttled past them, the strong odor of an unwashed body following in his wake.

_Drug use likely,_ SAM offered.

Scott silently agreed. Vetra had mentioned that the drug trade was controlled by the Outcasts... he hadn’t expected them to be so openly doing it. However, that wasn’t why they were here. Scott kept walking until he was ordered to stop by a krogan in battle armor who was guarding the doorway.

“I’m here to see Sloane Kelly,” he stated as he was efficiently, but not expertly,frisked and they didn’t find his knives in his boots—their error, not his. Cora and Vetra were frisked as well while one of the guards popped inside to announce that they were asking to see Kelly. When the guard came back, he said that only Scott was going to be allowed inside. Cora and Vetra would have to wait.

Scott gave Cora a look and she nodded, they’d wait here and she’d blast anyone who got between her and Scott if SAM told her to.None of the guards struck him as biotics. Two of the Krogans fell into lockstep with Scott and escorted him through the entryway and into Outcast Headquarters.The place was obviously of angaran make, the architecture strongly reminding Scott of Havarl. So they had taken over an angaran settlement.

Coming to a larger room, Scott realized it was set up like a throne room. A woman sat on a chair that was on an elevated stage that ran along one side of the room. The windows behind her threw her into shadow and he could see that she was sprawled inelegantly on the chair, one leg thrown over an arm and her foot rotating in circles like a wild animal’s tail. As he approached, the krogans bumped into him so he stumbled into almost a half bow and he righted himself with a glare at the one who’d tripped him.

A loudly cleared throat made him look back at the figure on the throne. In the dim light, he could see a pair of dark brown eyes that watched him carefully. The blinds on the window rotated slightly and there was more light. Sloane Kelly was dark skinned, dark hair shaved on the sides and pulled into tight cornrows that had been fashioned to resemble an asari’s crest. There was a burn mark on the side of her face that ran from her nose, down the left side of her face and then circled back towards her ear along the jawline. Her face was grim, set in a half frown as she stared at him, eyes hard and glittering. The Outcast queen wore a well-used and scuffed up studded set of armor with a cerulean scarf threaded around the ruff to add color. An M3 was holstered in a holder set into the side of the chair where it would be easily accessed. Kelly’s file had mentioned that she was a null—no biotic capabilities whatsoever but had idolized asari commando tactics.Cora hadn’t been impressed with her service record when he’d showed it to her.

Giving a slight cough to clear his throat, Scott introduced himself.“I’m Scott Ryder, the human Pathfinder.”The room was completely silent around him as everyone stared at him—he felt like he was a specimen pinned in place by all the observers.

Sloane Kelly, the woman on the throne, gave him a hugely unimpressed look, looks pouted slightly. “Well who else would you be?” She drawled, tone bored and disinterested as she twirled her hand in the air, shifting in her seat. “Why are you here? And don’t lie—I’ll know,” she ended ominously.

“I’m here for Vehn Terev—who I’ve been told you have in your holding cells,” Scott started, ready to explain everything but he was interrupted before he could continue.

“Why would you be interested in that scumbag?” She snapped, feet making noise as they hit the ground and she shifted tolean forward, her elbows on top of her knees as she pinned him with her gaze, eyes intense and breathing heavily through her nose.

Scott debated what answer to give her but ultimately decided to go with the truth. “I have been tracking him at the request of my Angaran allies.”

“And why would I give him to you? He’s mine,” she said, fidgeting and leaning back into her seat again, legs crossing at the knees as she twisted in her seat. Scott got the impression of being barely contained—she was beyond nervous and he wasn’t sure why.

“He committed a crime against other Angarans—he should be judged by them,” Scott started again. Terev had committed a crime against the Moshae—therefore it made sense for him to be judged by angarans and whatever punishment they felt appropriate.

She scoffed at him, face disbelieving. “Kadara Port is an angaran port. He’ll face justice here that will suffice.”Scott opened his mouth to reply but she waved her hand silencing him. “If there’s nothing else... then you can leave now.”

“I need to at least speak with him,” Scott tried, taking a step forward to press his case. He hadn’t thought that she wouldn’t at least hear him out.

“No.Escort him out,” she ordered the dismissal and Scott found himself with a Krogan on each arm and a turian who’d stepped out of the throne’s shadows had a gun trained right at his head. The turian’s mandibles and crest was flared, his armor of better quality than anyone else’s—Scott would bet money this was Kelly’s number two, Kaetus. Vetra had mentioned that he was all hung up sexually over Kelly—and she had a pleased look on her face as Kaetus trained his gun on Scott. Seemed their attraction might be mutual.

Scott briefly debated blasting them all with his biotics and settling this all at once but decided it wasn’t worth it. Shaking off the tight holds that the krogan had on him, he elbowed one of them firmly which made his elbow smart as it connected with the hard suit armor but the krogan was pushed away almost a meter by the force of it.He glared at everyone around him, letting his displeasure be known.The Outcasts could really work on their professionalism. “Fine.I’m going—but I’ll be back to talk again soon about our mutual interests.”

“Get the fuck out,” was the growled reply and Sloane actually bared her teeth at him like a turian would. Interesting. Someone was mirroring her boyfriend.

Holding his hands up to show he was unarmed, Scott took his leave. He’d done as Reyes asked him to. Now he just had to get out before the Pirate Queen decided to attack or detain him. His krogan shadows kept shoving him to make him move faster and soon he was walking back out to greet Cora and Vetra who snapped to attention once they saw him.

His unfriendly guards didn’t follow him as he stepped outside and he gave them a jaunty, sarcastic wave of goodbye over his shoulder. “Pleasure fellows, see you again soon. Have a great rest of the day.”

That got him a snarled reply from one of the krogans but the other restrained his fellow Outcast. Cora had her eyes on them and she glowed faintly with her biotics which made the rest of the guards pull their weapons. Scott waved her off and Cora relaxed, glaring behind Scott at the guards. Scott didn’t pause and simply took Cora’s elbow as he kept walking, pulling her along but she kept turning to shoot deadly looks behind them. Vetra just sauntered along beside them.

When they were almost back to the marketplace, it seemed business for the day was winding down and it was less busy or it was the late afternoon lull. Scott ducked into an abandoned stall and pulled up his omnitool. “What happened in there?” Cora asked him as he brought up Reyes’ contact information.

“I did what I was asked to do and got a not unsurprising answer. Sloane Kelly’s a dead end for now,” Scott found the contact information and sent a query to Reyes asking for where to meet him.

“So she has Terev?” Vetra asked.

“Yes. But she’s not going to even let me talk to him,” Scott told them, looking up.

“I take it she wasn’t in a talkative mood?” Cora asked, her arms crossed over her chest, she looked ready to bust someone’s balls. She hadn’t like the look of the Outcast guards at all and objected to their manhandling Scott.

“No.I think us showing up here has her pretty rattled. She kept shifting in her seat and being aggressive—she was nervous,” Scott observed.

“It would make sense. Her political position is a lot more precarious than you’d think,” Vetra wryly observed.

“She wasn’t sure what to do with me,” Scott agreed as his omnitool dinged with a received message. Reading the directions to another bar, this one located in the lower levels of the port, Scott forwarded the directions to Cora and started walking for where the instructions said there’d be an elevator. “Let’s go.We’ve been invited to dinner and drinks—on Evfra’s agent.He owes me an obscenely overpriced drink.”

“Something tells me you like this agent,” Vetra teased as she followed him, Cora grumbling at Scott about wanting to know what had happened earlier.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE May 26th_

_So the candidate for being my ghost.... I know my ghost is slightly taller than me, broader in hip and shoulders but almost as thin....and a human male. Reyes meets those criteria. He also has strong ties to the angarans—he’s a significant enough agent that Evfra gave him an important job so he can’t just be a casual asset. I haven’t seen him interact with any angarans yet but I’d bet money he’s been to Aya before._

_He might also might be the suavest son of a bitch I’ve ever met.And I’ve met some of them prior to Heleus. He makes Gil look like a puppy._

_He’s also completely my type—damn him. Tall, dark, handsome, and has an accent that he knows how to use._

_I can’t tell if he was just treating meeting me like a mark or if it was genuine... and I’m not sure my ego will take it very well if he’s not genuine. Against my better judgement I’m already liking the asshole—yes asshole. He stiffed me with a bar bill within minutes of meeting me and I think that qualifies._

_I’d like to ask him to join my team just based on the fact that he might be my ghost... but somehow I think it’s going to be much more complicated than just a simple work offer.I’ve only been on Kadara for a few hours and this place is much more complex than I anticipated—Tann’s management style has alienated a lot of assets that could be potentially very valuable in the future._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading as always. Comments loved, kudos adored.


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter Forty-two

2819 CE May 26th

Kadara Port, Kadara, Govorkam, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status: planning a jail break

Reading the directions on his omnitool, Scott found himself grumbling as he relayed the directions to this ‘Tartarus’ to Cora. _SAM... Tartarus... that’s Greek right?”_

_Yes Scott. The mythical place of torment that the Titans were held prisoner in._

_So not the underworld?_ Scott asked. He vaguely remembered from school’s world mythology unit about Greek myths but he’d admit to not remembering a lot of details.

_No. It was considered both a god and a place by the Greeks._

_Okay I definitely don’t remember that detail.Sounds complicated._

_Tartarus was the place of divine punishment—where the wicked were punished and the righteous set free after their souls were judged. It was beneath the earth—similar to the concept of hell in some mythologies. But it was also used as a prison in many of the myths—Sisyphus, Ixion, the Titans, the Danaides, King Tantalus, and Arke to name a few. It was also a primordial entity from which the cosmos and and light were born._

_But why name a bar after it?_ Scott asked. He got that it was kind of a cool name but seemed out of place.

_I can only speculate Scott._ SAM replied.

Putting aside the odd name, Scott listened to Cora and Vetra bicker good-naturedly about Vetra’s deal in the markets. Evidently she’d secured them fresh vegetables from the merchant at the same prices the Outcasts paid—well below market value. Scott idly wondered where the farms that were producing these vegetables were as the land they’d flown over had been mostly mountainous and SAM had commented earlier on the acidity of the soil due to persistent sulfuric acid in the environment. It would take a lot of work to neutralize the pH of the soil to farm in large scale not to mention protection from acid rain.There were stains and pock marks all over the port from aging infrastructure that had been exposed to long term acid rain.

Reaching the lifts, they were basically repurposed freight elevators that clanked and clunk as they raised the door. Stepping in, it smelled faintly of piss and vomit with an overpowering stench of industrial grade lubricant from the door slides set into the wall—it obviously hadn’t been cleaned in forever, making Scott’s nose scrunch as SAM deadened his sense of smell. Cora and Vetra similarly seemed to not like the smell as they both made faces. Scott reached out and hit the down button as Vetra pulled the door closed with a loud rumbling roll of ball bearings as the door closed with a crashing sound. “Wow...” Scott said.

“This place is a bit of a fixer-upper,” Cora said, one perfect blonde eyebrow arched and a look of amusement on her face.

Vetra, charitably, said “They’re making due with what they have.”

“I suppose,” Cora commented in return as the elevator began to descend with a stomach wrenching lurch before smoothly proceeding.

“That’s reassuring,” Scott grumbled.

“It’s fine,” Vetra told him, elongating the e.

They all exchanged uneasy looks but Scott felt better as the elevator slowed after a minute before stopping, the indicator light showing they’d reached the lower level. Scott and Vetra both reached and pulled to open the door and all of them exited a bit faster than normal.

The smell of sulfur was a bit stronger down here and Scott was surprised to see multiple pools of liquid around the elevator vestibule. SAM identified them as mostly full of weak sulfuric acid—likely collected from the acid rain that ran off the top of the port. The earth around it was hard packed clay that made a walkway in three directions between the pools. Huge transport cubes had been stacked between the pillars that held up the port, making a multilevel secondary town. Lights had been strung along the cubes to make street lights and there was sound from it indicating that people lived and worked among the makeshift slum town. There were two Outcast guards at the elevator but other than eyeing Scott and his companions, they didn’t move from their posts. Vetra gave them a jaunty, teasing wave as they made their way down the walkways.

The people down in the slums, while throwing them more suspicious looks, were a tad bit less beaten down than those that lived up above. They didn’t encounter any more Outcast members but did see a few red circles with three vertical lines through it drawn on the sides of containers along with what appeared to be a recruitment statement for the Collective.Vetra had mentioned them—another outlaw gang but this one was the most organized and the likely contender to knock Kelly’s Outcasts out of the port. Scott had laughed when Vetra had named the leader—the Charlatan. Vetra’s information hadn’t been complete which made Scott slightly suspicious about it but she’d mentioned the color and logo that were associated with the Collective and that they had made inroads in the slums of the port.The markings on the wall made Scott think that the Collective and the Charlatan had more than just a toe hold down here.

Walking through the slums, Scott tried not to laugh when he was aggressively solicited by a male prostitute. The man had painted his skin with gold skin paint on his cheeks in a pattern similar to Turian colony marks. “Hey beautiful,” the man said with a grin, putting his arm through Scott’s and walking with him, bumping their hips together and winking suggestively. “Looking for a good time today?”

Cora tripped she was giggling so hard. Vetra’s grin was wide enough it probably hurt. Scott ignored them and focused on the second man who’d hit on him for the day which was a new experience for him in Heleus. Did he have a sign on his back? Something weird was happening today—maybe it was the rotten egg smell of Kadara? The man was razor thin like all humans seemed to be on Kadara, dark skin that set off the gold body paint to make him even more exotic looking, accentuating the almond shape of his eyes and sharp cheekbones that spoke to Asian heritage in his background and he was about even height-wise with Scott and was dressed minimally so. Very minimally. “I’m Scott. Who are you?”

“You can call me Topaz,” was the smooth reply. “Offer is still open if you’re interested?”

Scott gave him a small smile but shook his head while he caught the slightly wandering hand of Topaz’s that was getting a bit too close to his ass for comfort and he didn’t want to have to forcibly toss the too-friendly prostitute for trying to hit up some business. He didn’t miss Cora’s unladylike snort nor Vetra’s cackle which seemed to encourage Topaz as he rubbed their hips together a second time making Scott brace as he walked so he didn’t stumble. “Not today. However if you can point me in the direction of a place called Tartarus?”

The verbal brush off didn’t seem to phase Topaz at all, the man guiding Scott to take the left hand corridor from crossroads they’d come to where there were several shops set up—a tinker repair shop, food stand and armory according to the signs above each booth. “I can take you there as long as you think of me next time you’re in the mood for some company.”

“If I’m in the mood for that kind of company I’ll think of you,” Scott smoothly agreed. He didn’t ever feel in that kind of company but he’d think of Topaz if he was—he made no promises to actually look up the man. He might like men but he didn’t ever pay for it—it was a bit too exploitative for Scott and it made him want to ask if Topaz kept himself safe and if he had enough to eat. The man was thin enough that he looked as if a strong wind would knock him over.

Topaz laughed. “I’ll hold you to that promise. Tartarus is up ahead—can’t miss it’s neon lights.”Disengaging from Scott, Topaz bussed him on the cheek and wandered away, back the way they’d come. Scott found himself watching, trying to figure out what exactly had just happened.

Turning back after Topaz was out of sight, Scott looked where the man had indicated. Red neon lights cast the surrounding areas into a red glow, the name of the club above the door was in blue and a techno bass heartbeat throbbed through the air to reach Scott’s ears even over a hundred meters away. It wasn’t even evening yet but the bar appeared to have steady business, the sky peaking out between the containers to show that the sky was beginning to change colors with sunset.A faint roll of thunder could be heard over the bass beat. A turian by the door nodded to them and then went back to fiddling with his omnitool.Vetra tapped on Scott’s shoulder and indicated she was going to talk to him. “I need to catch up with him, see if I can get the lay of the land and some up to date intel.I’ll join you in a few,” she murmured before sidling up to the male who looked up when she approached, crest flaring as his eyes ran up and down Vetra’s body.

“Looks like Vetra’s having better luck at seduction than you,” Cora said with a nudge. Vetra had touched her nose to the male turian and they were speaking quietly, the male’s eyes occasionally darting to look at Cora and Scott. They should probably give Vetra some privacy to get her, ahem, intel. He’d catch up with her later. Possibly much later given how the male turian was now completely ignoring everything other than Vetra.

Cora followed Scott into Tartarus which was, in a word, loud. The club was multiple levels and bathed in neon and black lights. The walls were lined with small alcoves that were similar to jail cells, most occupied by dancers that writhed to music. SAM informed Scott that each room had advanced sound proofing and the music could be localized and changed in each one which was why none of the dancers seemed to be in sync with the room next to them. The main area of the bar had loud techno music playing that made the fillings in Scott’s molars vibrate. SAM dimmed then noise so he could hear, filtering automatically—it was awesome to have a helpful AI sometimes. The room was warm and smelled of sweaty bodies and alcohol.

As Cora and Scott passed, there were a lot of looks of interest and some outright stares at their Initiative branded light armor but nobody approached or challenged them as they worked their way through the club. A large bar was set into one wall on the lowest level and two bartenders were working—a human man and a male turian. There was some sort of sound shielding that once you reached the bar and were waiting to be served the music of the club dampened so orders could be heard—which was pretty clever Scott thought.

Getting the attention of the man, Scott waited patiently as he finished serving his current customer. An Irish brogue was unexpected as the man asked, “What can I get for you?”

“I’m looking for Reyes?”

The man raised one of his thick eyebrows as the man looked Scott up and down, face fixed in a relaxed smile that didn’t change but eyes sharp as they took in everything. “He’s in his office,” the man finally said indicating a door along one wall towards the back.

Office? Did Reyes own Tartarus? Scott nodded and thanked the man and went to knock on the door. A few seconds later, Reyes himself was in front of Scott, small flirtatious grin and relaxed body language as he leaned against the door frame. “Ryder,” was the purr of Scott’s name that was just as effective as it had been earlier, causing him to shiver. Scott really needed to get a grip.

“Reyes. You owe me a drink or two,” he tried to sound grumpy but suspected it came off more flirtatious than he wanted. His own lips may have quirked up into a smile upon seeing the man and he purposefully scowled slightly in response to try and set the right tone.

Which evidently greatly amused Reyes as he shifted his attention to Cora who Scott could practically feel the judgement rolling off of. Reyes’ tone was slightly less flirtatious as he spoke to Cora. “Of course. And who is your lovely companion?”

“Cora Harper, his XO,” Cora introduced herself, holding out a hand to be shaken which Reyes did but also gave the back of her hand a courtly kiss with a saucy wink which made Cora giggle. The man was charming Cora just as much as he’d tried to charm Scott when they’d met earlier.

“Reyes Vidal.Won’t you both come into my humble abode.” Reyes stepped back to let them in. Scott now had a full name to search on but SAM replied that he had no readily available information and he shifted his attention back to Reyes. The man was much more relaxed here than he had been in Kralla’s Song—the relaxed sway of his hips and slope of his shoulders that were more defined now that he had lost his coat that was tossed over one of the armchair backs.He gestured to the small seating area of couch and two armchairs with a coffee table in between the had a holo display built into it. A bottle of angaran whiskey was on a small tray off to one side which had several glasses stacked together next to it with a bowl filled with ice cubes and a tongs hanging off the lip. Reyes chose to sit on the couch in one corner and waited for both Scott and Cora to choose where to sit.Scott chose the opposite corner of the couch while Cora took the armchair next to him.

“Would you like a drink?” Reyes offered as he picked up one of the glasses with a flair, tossing it in the air before catching it and placing several ice cubs in it with the tongs.

“Depends. Will I be the one paying for it this time?” Scott asked with a tease.

“No.This bottle is of my personal stock that Kian holds for me,” Reyes admitted as if it was a great secret.

“Sure then,” Scott agreed. “Who’s Kian?”

Cora agreed too and Reyes busied himself with pouring several fingers of whiskey into three glasses with ice in them. “Kian owns Tartarus and is tending bar tonight.”

“Ah,” Scott made a mental note and assigned the name to the bartender with the sharp gaze. “So what did you find out?”

Handing Scott and then Cora a drink, Reyes grabbed his own, crossed his legs and relaxed into the corner of the couch, one arm stretched out along the back as he made himself comfortable. “I have a few ideas but they depend on many factors. How did your discussion with Sloane Kelly go?”

“It didn’t. She shut me down really quick,” Scott took a sip and the whiskey was pretty smooth, just like Reyes. “She was pretty clear that Terev is hers and she wouldn’t even let me speak with him.”

“Hm,” Reyes made a noise of agreement. “That does not surprise me. The Outcasts are uncertain what exactly your coming to Kadara means for all of us. Uncertainty makes us all a bit more jumpy.”

“So you’re a member of the Outcasts when you say us?” Scott quizzed the man. Reyes hadn’t seemed surprised at Kelly’s response and, to be fair, neither was Scott in some ways.

“I am not,” Reyes said with finality. “I prefer to be more of an independent contractor than Sloane Kelly likes but she lets me do my trading for the most part.”

“And working with the Resistance?” Surely Reyes, as an agent with an assigned code name, was a full member of the Resistance?

“I have many friends within the Resistance... and it’s a bit complicated but you can assume that if it is in the interests of the Resistance then I consider it within my interest as well.”The man gave Scott an amused look as he tried to pin down his loyalties. Reyes was enjoying giving non-answers and seemed well practiced in the art. It was infuriating as well as interesting, piquing Scott’s interest even more than it had earlier. Reyes’ ambiguity was also sexy—but Scott wasn’t asking his cock for advice on how to manage spies.

Scott tried a different tactic, getting back to why they were here. “So how are we going to get Terev out?”

Reyes didn’t immediately reply, taking a drink and looking at Scott for several seconds, one corner of his mouth quirked in an expression that Scott couldn’t read. “Our best option is going to require a it of subterfuge on your part—assuming you’re not opposed to that?”

“Give me an idea of what you’re talking about,” Scott shot back.

“I assume you don’t want the Outcasts making you persona non grata around here? That you need to do more than just this one mission here?” Reyes pressed, eyes serious.

“That would be ideal,” Scott did want to find out if there was a vault on Kadara. Having access to the port would be ideal but they could work around not having access if needed.

Reyes nodded. “My first suggestion is that you need to make a show of going back to your ship for the night—walk through the market, make sure more than one person overhears you talking about bunking on your ship.”

“Okay....” Scott motioned for Reyes to continue.

“Once you’re back on your ship, wait for the storm to get going. You’ll need to sneak back into the port via the ducts,” Reyes activated the holo display and brought up schematics for the port pointing to the landing pad where the Tempest was currently located with multiple entry points to the duct system highlighted with a route that went from the Tempest to somewhere near where Outcast Headquarters was located. “The ducts have access points here, here and here. I’d suggest this route as the most easily navigated one but it’s small. You or Cora could sneak through it but it’d be a tight fit for an Angaran.And you’d probably have to leave your armor behind—too bulky.”

“And where would we be going?”

“Here.This is behind the access points to the barracks. The holding cells are deep in the barracks but there’s another access tunnel that’s separate from there. The schedule rotation for the guards as well as access codes for the cells,” Reyes said as he pulled up a scrolling screen that had times attached to names as well as numeric codes on it.

Scott studied the information. It was obvious from the schedule that as it got later at night the guard duty rotation got lighter—nobody wanted to work the graveyard shift. Guard rotations were approximately four hours long, the lightest rotation from midnight to 0400. “And the cells? What’s the layout?”

Reyes smirked and changed the blueprint to a different building. “Total of eight cells in two pods of four. Guards are posted here and here during day shift but they tend to sit in the break area over here at night and play card games.” The layout showed that the vents emptied at the far end near a utilities closet but had a bit of a drop to the floor—nothing unmanageable. The break room was towards the stairs and lifts,Theoretically nobody could get to the cells without going past the break room which would make a frontal approach difficult so the vent would be a better deal.

“Anyone likely to make noise if they see me down there?Other than Terev?”Scott asked.

“Possibly. Most of the cells are empty except for this one with Terev and this one in the other pod with two Salarians that got picked up this afternoon.They put the rest of the detainees out into the badlands this morning to clear up the space—too expensive to feed all of them when they’re not paying taxes to the Outcasts.Cell block would have been empty if it weren’t for that confidence scheme those two were running.”Reyes tapped another command in and showed the port again but a different route from the meet up point that led deep into the slums, taking a circuitous route and avoiding the lifts. “After you get Terev out I need you to bring him to this point in the slums.”

“No.I promised I’d bring in Terev. Why would I take him to the slums?”Scott had promised Evfra—this was non-negotiable.

“I already spoke with Evfra. I have a locator beacon you need to fasten onto Terev and get him through the chute and into the badlands. There will be an extraction team waiting for him that will pick him up and take him to Aya.”Reyes stated it like a simple fact. “Evfra understood when I explained that you need to look like this wasn’t you.”

“And how is it that they aren’t going to go pound on the Tempest’s door looking for me? It won’t be long before they notice he’s gone. It’s a tight turnaround for me to get back to the Tempest after dropping Terev.”This was going to be a one person job.The ducts were too tight for more than one person to move quickly through and Cora might need to run interference.

Reyes looked thoughtful. “Does anyone on your team roughly fit the same body build as you?”

Scott considered this, looking at Cora. “Gil?”

“Gil,” She agreed.

“You want me to have him wear my armor and helmet if someone starts banging on the door looking for me,” Scott guessed.Gil was maybe a half centimeter shorter than Scott and similar enough in build that as long as he was wearing armor you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between him and Scott. As long as he didn’t start talking with his hands like he often did. Or about spirit animals—that had been one of the odder conversations Scott had with Gil.

“All he has to do is pretend to be you and delay. I’m sure you can work up some voice modifier to make him sound like you?”Reyes looked between them both, waiting for an answer.

“I’m sure we can figure something out. You’re going to have to back him up with your biotics if necessary,” Scott told Cora.

Cora, nodded, brows lowered as she thought about the plan. “This could work.”

Scott agreed and tried to gauge Reyes’ response. The man seemed pleased, happy to help.But why hadn’t he done this himself? Resources? Something else?“Why haven’t you tried this?”

Reyes shrugged. “I just got the codes and the rotation schedules today from one of my contacts. I’ve been working on a work around Kelly for weeks. It’s harder to get someone to leak in the Outcasts than it used to be.I also have to live here afterwards—you can always leave.”

That made sense, Scott could buy that explanation but had the feeling that Reyes had also been ordered by Evfra to have Scott do this. “How much risk are you putting yourself in for this?”

Reyes smile was deflecting but his eyes were warm as he leaned forward towards Scott, attention focused solely on him. “I have plans to make myself visible during this so I’m not associated with it. There may also be a small distraction I have planned to give you more cover.”

“What kind of distraction?”Scott was curious what Reyes would consider a ‘small’ distraction.

The deep chuckle that escaped Reyes as he smiled and ducked his head slightly was endearing. “Let’s just say my former schoolboy self would be impressed.”

That made Scott’s eyebrows raise. He got the feeling that some sort of irritating prank was being planned... and he kind of wanted to help out even though he had a different task to do.“I want to hear all about it later then.”

“And I’ll be happy to tell it over a drink or two, maybe dinner,” Reyes promised him.

“You better,” Scott told him, drinking more of his whiskey.Reyes face was soft and open, different from earlier.It made Scott want to believe him.He was either really, really good or being honest. Maybe both if Scott was lucky.

Cora cleared her throat, interrupting their staring match. “Scott, we have a really obvious date to keep on the Tempest. We need to get going if we’re going to get Gil to pretend to be you.”

“Yeah,” he admitted, meeting Reyes’ eyes one last time. “Send that stuff to me?”

Reyes tapped a few keys and message notification sound came from Scott’s omnitool. “I’ll meet you at transition point from the duct systems with the locator beacon.”

“Be careful out there. See you soon,” Scott said as he stood and made for the door.

Just as he reached the door, Scott heard Reyes quiet reply, “You too Pathfinder. You too.”

***

They picked up Vetra as they were leaving, her saying goodbye to her fellow Turian without introducing him to Scott or Cora, only saying, “I’ll tell you later,” as an explanation.Retracing their steps, Scott tried to think of being anywhere but the elevator as it lurched upwards, the confined space and obvious lack of maintenance on the mechanics of the lift making him anxious. Falling from heights wasn’t his favorite thing anymore after Habitat 7 when he wasn’t in control of it.

Cora kept eyeing him like she wanted to talk...which he could guess about what. Vetra, picking up on his avoidance asked, “So.... what happened with you two?”

“We’ll talk about it back at the Tempest,” Scott said with relief as they reached the topside of the port and he reached out to push the door open. Thunder rolled overhead and there was the smell of rain on the wind as it blew through the port. Setting off through the marketplace, Scott made sure to visit a couple of the vendors who were still open, allowing Cora to prompt him to give the opportunity for him to say they’d bunk on the Tempest overnight given the storm. He did buy some angaran style bread and Vetra picked up a crate of supplies from the Salarian she’d made a deal with earlier. The Salarian gave Scott a look and placed a small container on the top while saying it was “compliments of the Charlatan.”

Scott didn’t let his expression change but thanked the salarian. That was pretty bold of the Charlatan. He really wondered what was in the box but didn’t move to pick it up, just gave a nod and turned to go back to the Tempest, making sure to say it right in front of one of the marketplace guards just as there was a loud crack of lightening that split the sky.

Once they were back onboard the Tempest, as soon as the airlock door closed behind him he plucked the box out of the crate Vetra was carrying.It was small and light, just slightly bigger than his hand and almost as tall as it was wide. “What do you think it is?” Cora asked.

“I have no idea....” Scott went to pry the lid off when Cora exclaimed at him to stop.

“You don’t know what’s in it.... we should scan it first,” she told him, brow furrowed in worry.

“Good idea,” Scott agreed putting the box on the bench and activating his scanner. They all stepped back as SAM analyzed the box. “SAM?What is it?” Scott asked after a moment, beyond curious.

“It contains approximately 550 grams of _Fragaria x ananassa_ ,” SAM informed them.

“What?” Scott, Cora and Vetra asked in concert.

“I believe you know it by it’s more common use name, the garden variety strawberry,” SAM clarified.

Cora and Scott exchanged looks before they both sprang for the box, Scott getting there just minutely ahead and snatching it up, holding it behind his back when Cora tried to get around him to pull the box out of his hand. Vetra exclaimed, “Hey!”

Cora glared at Scott, putting her index finger into his chest as she poked him. “You better share.”

Scott raised an eyebrow, pulling away slightly. “They’re compliments of the Charlatan. Seems to imply they’re for me.”

“Share,” Cora’s glare intensified.

“How about we make sure there’s nothing wrong with them first?” Vetra asked, butting in. Scott and Cora both turned to glare at her which seemed to have zero effect as she had her arms over her chest and was glaring at both of them like recalcitrant children. “You both need practice. Sid’s an expert. Try again.”

“But it’s strawberries! Strawberries! We’ve been living on protein bars and angaran food Vetra,” Scott pleaded. The thought of fresh fruit that he categorized in the top ten of his favorite foods was making his mouth water.

“I see food bribes are the way to go,” Vetra commented. “Still need to do a more careful analysis before you eat them. Besides... I got the impression you had something we needed to do tonight since you headed back here so quick.”

The noise had attracted more of the crew by this time. Liam and Gil both had wandered into the airlock to see what was going on. “Hey guys, what’s up?” Liam asked, looking at the standoff going on between them.

“Strawberries,” Scott and Cora chorused.

Liam perked up immediately. “Strawberries?”

Gil had an incredulous look on his face as if he viewed all three of them as nuts.

Scott held the box lightly in his hands, curled protectively into his chest as Cora and now Liam were both starring at the box like it contained the best thing in the universe. “Compliments of the Charlatan. I may start liking this mystery gang leader if they keep giving us perks like this.”

“You already schmoozing the local politics?” Liam asked.

“Not on purpose,” Scott admitted.“Gil... how’d you like to be Pathfinder for the evening?”

Gil gave him a dubious look. “Not in a million years. I’m happy being the engineer and staying inside our beautiful lady rather than chancing the den of thieves outside our doors.”

Rolling his eyes, Scott waved them all on so they could get the berries examined more closely and grab some dinner. “Not like that. I need a beard.”

“Well you can’t grow one given that patchiness you call stubble,” Gil grumbled.

“Not that kind of beard and don’t be obtuse on purpose. I need to be in two places at once tonight.”

“Well if you haven’t noticed Scott, we kind of don’t look much alike.”

“I’ve got ideas—just might need a bit of help that you are uniquely qualified to give,” Scott told Gil with a clap on the back as they entered the kitchen. Cora and Liam had both followed closely as Scott still held the strawberries.

***

2819 CE May 26th

Tartarus, Kadara Slums, Kadara, Govorkam System, Heleus Cluster

Reyes Vidal, Smuggler and Information Broker, Angaran Resistance, codename: Shena, sometimes called the Charlatan

Status: Persuading Scott around to his plan

It didn’t take long for Scott to make his way to the slums. Colton was tasked with guiding the Pathfinder to Tartarus and there were multiple lookouts posted to make sure that nothing happened to him, Vestus even had parked himself at the entrance and when he saw Colton approaching with Scott he notified Reyes. Taking a deep breath, Reyes took the tray of glasses, ice bucket and whiskey back to his room. Vetra and Cora Harper were accompanying Scott. No other members of the Pathfinder team were reported to be within the port or the slums.

Sprucing up his office a bit, Reyes moved the crate of odds and ends to the far side of the sofa where they’d be out of sight, taking off his jacket and laying it over the armchair while pushing up the sleeves of his henley. He found himself nervously pacing, wondering what was taking so long for Scott to make it to his office.

Finally, a knock sounded at his door. Smoothing the front of his shirt down, he shook himself and went to answer the door, trying to act casual with a small smile on his face. Scott was on the other side of the door and he gave an answering small smile when he laid eyes on Reyes which made him relax internally. He could do this and Scott would play along like he had earlier—they seemed to instinctively understand each other.

Leaning against the side of the doorway, Reyes let his head tilt to the side and his small smile became more flirtatious.When he spoke, he found his accent naturally deepening as he noted Scott’s reaction to it. “Ryder.”

Scott’s lips quirked at his name and Reyes found himself having difficulty focusing on anyone else—including Scott’s XO who was watching them both very carefully.Scott’s gaze was playful when he responded. “Reyes—you owe me a drink or two.”

Playing along, Reyes forced himself to focus a bit more and let his gaze land on Scott’s teammate. “Of course. And who is your lovely companion?”

The blonde woman let herself be introduced and Reyes couldn’t resist the urge to kiss the back of her hand when it was offered, noting that Scott’s gaze sharpened and he shifted his weight as Reyes did so. Cora giggled slightly but Reyes could see the whip smart woman behind the amusement—she was playing along with him and Scott but she knew that at the end of the day this was a business meeting and would protect Scott’s interests. He could respect that and mentally applauded her dedication to her boss.

Allowing the two to enter his office, he offered them both a drink and they accepted. Pouring the whiskey he handed the first glass to Scott and then to Cora before taking his own and trying to relax into his seat, legs crossed in a relaxed manner, arms spread and open, showing trust. They exchanged some idle chit chat but he knew they were both sizing him up a bit. He already knew that Scott hadn’t gotten anything from Kelly but found himself asking anyway. “How did your discussion with Sloane Kelly go?”

Scott’s micro expression showed frustration and annoyance before smoothing away, the ice clinking slightly in the glass as he shifted in his seat before replying. “It didn’t. She shut me down pretty quick.”Scott took a drink to compose himself before continuing on. “She was pretty clear that Terev is hers and she wouldn’t even let me speak with him.”

Not unpredictable, Reyes agreed. “Hm...” Sloane Kelly really was pretty rattled that Scott had shown up given all the rumors and intel Reyes had spread around. Kelly knew that if Scott so chose, the Initiative did have the firepower to take them all out—even if doing so would be very costly and damaging to the Initiative. The Outcasts and the exiles didn’t have numbers on their side if the Initiative chose to awaken people despite their lack of resources. Being overrun would not be productive for his goals either.“That does not surprise me. The Outcasts are uncertain what exactly your coming to Kadara means for all of us. Uncertainty makes us all a bit more jumpy.”

What Scott next implied almost made Reyes spit out the sip of whiskey he was taking. “So you’re a a member of the Outcasts when you say us?” 

His denial was fast and firm. “I am not,” he insisted. Picking his words carefully he put weight on each one.“I prefer to be more of an independent contractor than Sloane Kelly likes but she lets me do my trading for the most part.”

Scott’s eyes narrowed slightly and his next question was just as pointed and prying. “And working with the Resistance?”

Now that was a complicated question. These days he was running his own separate yet complimentary faction while still being officially a member of the Resistance forces and even giving them orders under Keema’s direct supervision. Evfra and he had been playing a cat and mouse game the last few days since they’d spoken with written messages and Keema had been pushing for him to take over more of her responsibilities—which he still wasn’t 100% certain why but had a few guesses. His angaran not-mother was rearranging the chess board around her and treating Reyes like a general even if he didn’t officially hold the rank. Both Keema and Evfra had been strengthening his ties to them on purpose, likely because of the man before him.

Deciding to be opaque about his position with his friends, Reyes deflected somewhat but answered as truthfully as he could, trying to project amusement rather than the inner turmoil raised by such a question.He was a member of the Resistance but it wasn’t widely known.“I have many friends within the Resistance... and it’s a bit complicated but you can assume that if it is in the interests of the Resistance then I consider it within my interest as well.” 

Scott seemed to take his answer in and chew on it mentally, head slightly cocked as he watched Reyes back. After a moment, he let a brief look of amusement appear in his eyes—the Pathfinder was enjoying this game they were playing. Reyes couldn’t help but notice that the fingers around the whiskey glass flexed slightly before bringing the glass up for a drink, Scott’s eyes watching him over the rim as he swallowed. Something in the gaze shifted and the next question was focused back on business. “So how are we going to get Terev out?”

Taking a drink of his own to stall slightly, Reyes licked his lips to remove the tang of whiskey from them before speaking. He needed Scott to buy into this plan or his backup plan was even more of a mess and Vestus would kill him for putting them all in too visible of roles. But would Scott be willing to use the back door? All his reports indicated he was more of a frontal assault type of guy. Which, while effective and part of the backup plan, would be very risky to do here.Clearing his throat, Reyes realized he’d need to figure out Scott’s opinion before revealing which plan they’d perform—hopefully Scott would be willing to go along with him.“Our best option is going to require a it of subterfuge on your part—assuming you’re not opposed to that?” He asked, trying not to fidget as he was pinned under the cool blue eyes that were weighing his every word.

Scott seemed to be persuadable, one eyebrow lifted in question as he regarded Reyes, eyes unblinking. “Give me an idea of what you’re talking about.”

Reyes used his most persuading tone as he made his case, expression imploring. “I assume you don’t want the Outcasts making you persona non grata around here? That you need to do more than just this one mission here?”

That got him a sharp look from Cora but he ignored it in favor of focusing on Scott. Scottdidn’t immediately reply and seemed to be weighing his own reply carefully. “That would be ideal,” he finally admitted with a slight nod.

Reyes returned the nod, unconsciously mirroring the gesture and remembering to include Cora as he explained the first part of his plan.The Outcasts would try to find the most likely culprits first—they were very predictable this way and Reyes couldn’t fault them for being logical. His own name would be high up on the suspects list once Terev was discovered to be missing from his cell.“My first suggestion is that you need to make a show of going back to your ship for the night—walk through the market, make sure more than one person overhears you talking about bunking on your ship.”

Another questioning look and Scott’s voice indicated that he was listening as he gestured for Reyes to keep talking. Reyes continued on, explaining, “Once you’re back on your ship, wait for the storm to get going. You’ll need to sneak back into the port via the ducts.”Reyes paused to activate the holo display built into the coffee table and pulled up the plans that he and Vestus had been working on confirming for weeks after they’d obtained the old construction blueprints from Keema . The display showed the entire upper level of the Port but focused on the infrastructure that was hidden below the surface. There was a tangle of ventilation ducts, water pipes, electrical conduits and other various transit mechanisms that made a complex, interlocking spider web. The plans he’d obtained from Keema had been old—which meant he’d spent a lot of time the last three days climbing around in tight spaces to confirm if they were passable as well as deactivating some of the security features or rerouting them to his people instead of Port security aka the Outcasts. From what he’d been able to tell, nobody had been in the duct work since before the kett had overrun the original angaran outpost.

Activating the route he’d mapped out, he pointed to where the Tempest was currently docked and the three access points from that area that were closest that he’d confirmed were large enough for himself to squeeze through. “The ducts have access points here, here and here. I’d suggest this route as the most easily navigated one but it’s small. You or Cora could sneak through it but it’d be a tight fit for an Angaran or anyone larger than you in the shoulders.And you’d probably have to leave your armor behind—too bulky.”

Scott leaned forward to study the schematics as did Cora, both of them taking a moment to examine the blueprints. Scott then asked where the outlined route took him, pointing at where it ended.

Reyes was pleased with the question—they were taking his plan seriously. “Here.This is behind the access points to the barracks. The holding cells are deep in the barracks but there’s another access tunnel that’s separate from there,” he told them before pointing to the second route as he moved the blueprints around and made the section that contained the barracks bigger and to show more details with the second route now shown and he pointed to the cells.“The schedule rotation for the guards as well as access codes for the cells.”

Reyes stopped talking and tapped to bring up a secondary display with the guard rotation schedule and the access codes that Vestus had obtained.He let Scott and Cora both scrutinize the intel, waiting to see what they thought. Scott asked for more details about the cells.“Total of eight cells in two pods of four. Guards are posted here and here during day shift but they tend to sit in the break area over here at night and play card games.”Luckily, one of the guards for the graveyard shift was persuadable to their way of thinking and Reyes had made arrangements for there to be a card game tonight with higher than usual stakes which should keep all of the guards that were awake occupied. While his asset wasn’t willing to knock out his fellow guards to allow a frontal approach, he was willing to make sure they were distracted and, most importantly, try to help Scott escape if he got unlucky.

Scott nodded as if he had decided something, his gaze shifting from the plans to meet Reyes eyes again, gaze intense and Reyes could only guess at the thoughts behind them and he couldn’t look away.“Anyone likely to make noise if they see me down there?Other than Terev?”

Another bit of luck.The cells had been overcrowded and, due to ongoing raids, Kelly had ordered all the occupants except Terev exiled to the Badlands earlier today as feeding the lot of them had gotten a bit too expensive credit-wise.Kenax had reported that they’d picked up three engineers and a couple of mechanics outside as well as a few that might work out for other positions. The rest of them had been dropped off with Keema to make sure they made it to Elaaden and a friendly Krogan who would be willing to rehab them as they were too much of a security risk for the Collective to take in. Responding to Scott, Reyes relayed the current situation that the only other occupants of the cells were the pair of Salarians who had been caught trying to scam one of the more belligerent of Kelly’s people before changing the display since Cora had relaxed back in her seat, a contemplative look on her face. 

Bringing up the next stage of the plan, the blueprints changed to show the slums and the lower levels of the port with the hidden ladders and passages with a winding trail highlighted that lead to the garbage chute that was the best known exit site from the slums that wasn’t through the Outcast controlled gate.Scott and Cora both refocused on the new map before Scott shot him a questioning look.“After you get Terev out I need you to bring him to this point in the slums.”

Scott immediately shook his head, back straightening. “No.I promised I’d bring in Terev. Why would I take him to the slums?” 

It was a good thing he’d already talked to Evfra anticipating this. There was no way an angaran could fit through most of those vents near the port—at least most males—as they’d been modified many, many times and some were partially collapsed. There was also the added difficulty of making sure Terev went and there was no guarantee he’d cooperate. From all intel reports, Terev was despondent and vacillated between contriteness for his crime and anger at being held accountable. Scott could very well end up having to haul dead weight down those ladders which was why Reyes had double checked each one to make sure that was possible. He’d have a few assists standing by at the more open areas where Scott would have to make it through the main corridors but he couldn’t guarantee helping the entire way as he didn’t want to tip his hand too early about how much the Collective had their fingers in things.

There was the additional complication that if Kelly or the Outcasts managed to get onboard the Tempest... they couldn’t find Terev there. Reyes knew that would be disastrous given Tann’s prior attempts on her life and he didn’t want to mix Scott in with that if he didn’t need to.

Approaching the topic carefully, Reyes put as much honesty into his voice as possible and leaned a bit more towards Scott, focusing on him and ignoring Cora as it would be up to Scott to commit to this way off Kadara. He was reading Scott as firm on his promise to Evfra but they both needed distance from this when Kelly went looking for a culprit. “I already spoke with Evfra. I have a locator beacon you need to fasten onto Terev and get him through the chute and into the badlands. There will be a Resistance extraction team waiting for him that will pick him up and take him to Aya.Evfra understood when I explained that you need to look like this wasn’t you.”

Scott’s posture was rigid as he thought about what Reyes had proposed but Reyes could tell he was thinking about the plan—not dismissing it immediately just because it wasn’t exactly what he’d promised. Reyes took another drink of his whiskey, trying to relax back into the couch but couldn’t look away from Scott and he ended up leaning forward with his arms resting on his knees. He could wait Scott out if need be—this was the best way. The most likely way that neither of them ended up with complications that couldn’t be avoided. 

Scott finally relaxed and he knew he had him, watching as Scott relaxed back into the cushions behind him and pinching his nose as continued to stare at Reyes.“And how is it that they aren’t going to go pound on the Tempest’s door looking for me? It won’t be long before they notice he’s gone. It’s a tight turnaround for me to get back to the Tempest after dropping Terev.” 

That was a good point.. but as long as there was a decoy that could fit into Scott’s armor and wore a helmet it could be workable. “Does anyone else on your team have the same body build and similar height to you?”

Scott dropped his hand and looked at Cora. “Gil?”

The engineer? Reyes supposed he was of similar height and had a bit more weight on him than Scott but not enough that the armor wouldn’t hide it—or at least his intel said. Cora agreed with him. Scott turned back to Reyes. “You want me to have him wear my armor and helmet...”

Scott was a smart man and he listened to Scott connecting the dots and smiled. “All he has to do is pretend to be you and delay until you get back. I’m sure a voice modifier to make him sound like you is within your capabilities?”

Scott looked at Cora again and they exchanged what appeared togbe a longer nonverbal conversation than the verbal one that Reyes overheard. They had the absolute trust of teammates that had worked together for a very long time and Reyes tried not to feel slightly jealous—he had that to an extent with Vestus and Kenax. No reason to be jealous really.

When Scott asked him why he hadn’t already gotten Terev free, Reyes was honest with him, shrugging nonchalantly and trying to downplay any risk but making sure Scott was aware.“I just got the codes and the rotation schedules today from one of my contacts. I’ve been working on a work around Kelly for weeks. It’s harder to get someone to leak in the Outcasts than it used to be.I also have to live here afterwards—you can always leave.”

Scott appeared to buy this agreement and nodded, asking Reyes about his personal risk and exposure. Reyes deflected the concern but was inwardly pleased with it. “I have plans to make myself visible during this so I’m not associated with it. There may also be a small distraction I have planned to give you more cover.”

Really the distraction he and Vestus had cooked up with help from Theo was an act of juvenile delinquent but it would work well without causing hopefully too much damage. Keema had mentioned that the plumbing needed some work anyway. Scott seemed to pick up that Reyes’ was amused and asked, “What kind of distraction?”

Reyes laughed and he found himself ducking his head and peering up at Scott through his eyelashes. He couldn’t help flirting with Scott since he had his attention so focused on him as he admitted that his former schoolboy self would be impressed.Scott’s own mouth quirked up in a smile and he leaned forward, his voice dropping to just above a whisper. “I want to hear all about it later then.”

Reyes reached out and put his hand on top of Scott’s knee, giving it a light squeeze that could be felt through the armor joint, making a promise this time that he intended to keep. “And I’ll be happy to tell it over a drink or two, maybe dinner,”

Scott’s gaze was intense and, Reyes thought, happy as he nodded and his own hand squeezing Reyes. “You better.” 

It was a date then. Reyes would make sure.

Cora interrupted their intimate moment, reminding Reyes she was in the room which was like being doused with cold water. He pulled back slightly as Cora reminded Scott that if they were going to follow this plan they better get going. Scott, reluctantly, agreed and stood. Reyes followed him, standing awkwardly and putting his hands in his pockets as he watched Scott turn to leave.

“Send that stuff to me?” Scott asked him, eyes and voice soft as he looked over his shoulder.

Reyes cleared his throat, his own reply just as soft. “Yeah.”Breaking eye contact, he focused on his omnitool as his fingers clumsily input to send the blueprints, schedule and codes to Scott. “I’ll meet you at transition point from the duct systems with the locator beacon.”

Scott swallowed and looked back to Cora who was at the door before meeting Reyes’ gaze again. “Be careful out there. See you soon.”

His chest felt slightly tight as he watched Scott turn and walk out the door, pulling him along behind in Scott’s footsteps like a child’s toy. As Scott stepped through the door and out, Reyes found himself leaning into the door frame for support as he watched the strong shoulders and straight back. Scott really did carry himself well—would make anyone proud to be associated with that uniform. He found himself replying too softly for Scott to hear. “You too Pathfinder. You too.”

***

Reyes was unsettled slightly after Scott and Cora left and he found himself unable to sit still as he waited for nightfall and the storm to pick up.He’d tried to focus on several of the reports he needed to get through but it was a futile effort. Vestus had poked his head in the office and taken one look at Reyes before leaving and saying he’d be back with the beacon that he needed to pick up from Kenax who was bringing it in.Kenax had signed up to work with the extraction team and was going to pilot the ship back to Aya.Reyes was trying not to read too much into his best friend’s decisions right now.

Taking the melted ice and cups back to the bar, he picked up his usual dinner from Kian who just raised an eyebrow at Reyes but didn’t comment. He’d likely have some explaining to do to Kian tomorrow morning if he wanted the man to keep quiet about the Pathfinder looking for him. While a friend, Kian wasn’t officially a member of the Collective. Plausible deniability and all that if anyone came asking and Kian’s on and off boyfriend wasn’t exactly a big fan of the Collective. Reyes had tolerated it so far but it looked like Kian was probably going to press the issue and soon.

Going back to his room, he flopped down on the couch, sprawling out with his head where Scott had been sitting.He could almost convince himself that the cushions underneath his face were still warm from the heat of Scott’s body, still smell the soap that he used that had a faint citrus scent to it like all Initiative made soap did. Groaning, he rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes. He’d been impressed with the reports of what Scott had accomplished, found the photo included with it attractive if too young.

In person? In person, Scott was sharp, competent and in his former life in the Alliance, Reyes wouldn’t have hesitated one moment before going after him for a tumble in the sheets. Andromeda complicated everything. Scott was Initiative—he just needed to remember that. He could be used to Reyes advantage but there was no possibility of a long term relationship unless it was professional—sexual or romantic ties would torpedo that. Circumstances needed to be remembered—even if Keema had teased him before he’d met the man that she thought Scott was his type.She’d called him cocky and smart before commenting that Reyes did seem to like cock better given the whole Zia incident.

She was right.

But that didn’t mean he had to act on it.Even if he really wanted to.

Inhaling deeply, he could detect the faint hint of citrus and his cock twitched. “Fuck....” he grumbled, adjusting himself, telling his body to shut up. He hadn’t gotten laid since Zia... he might need to take Colton up on his repeated offers but he’d not because Colton all but reported to him. Colton was good looking but he wasn’t Scott.

Shit.

He needed to stop thinking about this. He had stuff to do.Sitting up, he pulled his dinner to him. Kian had included a small cup of sliced strawberries on the side for desert which made him smile. He’d impulsively messaged for some to be delivered to Scott earlier when his omnitool had notified him that Vetra had made a deal for supplies with someone who was Collective-friendly. 

He hoped Scott enjoyed the small treat he’d sent him.

And he really needed to focus and eat. Settling down, he picked up his fork and started working his way through the slightly wilted salad. A quiet knock on his door and he yelled, “Come in.”

Vestus was back. “You should check who it is before just telling them to come in.”

Reyes shrugged, chewing the mouthful of greens. “It was probably going to be you.”

An unimpressed look. “It could have been someone else.”

“Kian would have alerted me,” Reyes grumbled. “Besides you were due back anyway.”

In response, Vestus tossed a heavy, manacle-like bracket at him and Reyes had to drop his fork to catch it before it thumped into his chest. “Here’s the transponder.”

“Everyone ready?” Reyes asked.

“And waiting. Hopefully this Pathfinder is as good as we’ve been told,” Vestus commented.

Reyes looked up sharply at his friend. “He is.I trust him to do what he promises.”

Vestus looked doubtful. “I hope you’re right,” he said before sighing, crest and mandibles flaring slightly. “Vladimir seems to think highly of him as well.”

Reyes sighed, looking at his mostly eaten dinner. “He’s one of the good ones Vestus.I’m not sure what the Initiative did to get him but I’ll admit I’m jealous that he works for them.”

“More than jealous from where I’m sitting,” Vestus said as he claimed his usual seat.

Taking a drink of water, Reyes wouldn’t look at his friend and just swirled the water in the glass, watching the miniature whirlpool he’d created. “He’s an important person to make connections with. He seems more reasonable to deal with than Tann.”

“Anyone would be more reasonable than Tann,” Vestus said with a hint of disgust. “You like him. A lot.”

Reyes finally looked at his friend who looked at him concernedly, leaning forward in his chair. “I do. He’s easy to like.”

“And he plays along with you when you’re being a little shit who doesn’t pay for his drinks,” Vestus agreed.He didn’t look less worried, if anything it increased.

“He does,” Reyes admitted with a small smile, trying to pacify Vestus’ concern. “Doesn’t mean we get to keep him.”

“No I suppose not,” Vestus said after a few beats. “Kenax is standing by. Sishi is leading the team that will grab Terev as soon as he’s through the chute. Shouldn’t be any chance for him to go mysteriously missing this time.”

“You two say your goodbye’s for the next week?” Reyes asked.Kenax had been a bit aggressive the last time they’d spent two days apart, let alone a week and a half.

“Kenax will be back.He told me to make sure you don’t get hurt while he’s gone. Said he wouldn’t forgive me,” Vestus joked.

Rolling his eyes at his best friend’s overprotective threats, Reyes found his mood lightening.“You get Theo’s toys in motion?”

“He messaged that they’re all ready and waiting to deploy,” Vestus agreed. “I have to say... this is one of the more interesting ‘distractions’ I’ve ever used.”

“It is very..... schoolboy prankish,” Reyes agreed.

“Maiko told me that you must have gotten this idea from one of your shows.She mentioned the name of it.... that one with the boarding school.”

Reyes blushed. That show was completely cheesy... and Keema loved it. She’d been talking about it with Maiko the last time he’d been back and he found himself thinking that the same prank would work well on Kelly. He hadn’t been able to resist it when he asked Theo for some help. “I may have been inspired by that,” he admitted.

“Of course you were.I may need to start watching these shows so I know what you’re going to think of next,” Vestus rumbled.

“Or you could just listen to Keema and Maiko,” Reyes offered in humor.“I may be the figure head but both you and I know that it’s only with their permission.”

“Those two are scarier than an entire army of Batarians when they feel like it,” Vestus agreed.

“Just don’t tell them that,” Reyes warned him with a laugh.

“They just let you do all the hard work and prod you in the right direction occasionally.”

“Hey!”

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE May 26th_

_So that distraction? My eighth grade inner self thinks it was genius. My adult self is very, very glad I’m not on the cleanup crew._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if I like giving both of their perspectives over the same time period. I may only do this when it’s really important but we’ll see. Expect to see some spreading out of overlapping perspective time periods in the future. 
> 
> I also realized they stare at each other too much but I’m too tired to go back and fix it today. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading. Comments are love, kudos adored.


	45. Chapter Forty-three

Chapter Forty-three

2819 CE May 26th

Tempest, docked in Kadara Port, Kadara, Govorkam, Heleus cluster, Andromeda

Scott Ryder, Human Pathfinder

Status sliding through some tight spaces

Waiting the three hours for it to get dark enough to leave the Tempest was nerve wracking. Gil had, after much negotiation, agreed to play Scott if necessary. Scott was very much hoping that it wasn’t going to be necessary. It had been odd seeing Gil in his armor and fiddling with his helmet. SAM was doing the lion share of the work to convince everyone that it was Scott’s voice coming from his helmet and not Gil’s but Gil and Peebee had worked a bit on the code to make the job more seamless. Scott had then spent a good half hour trying to coach Gil through body movements and how to hold himself. Gil’s remark of “you need to relax sometime” was pointed and exasperated. Gil might possibly be right about that but Scott wasn’t going to verbally admit the point.

He’d debated with Cora what he needed to bring with him—the blueprints that Reyes had provided were very detailed and specific on the suggested routes, giving precise measurements and warnings about obstacles that he’d need to work around. There were three choke points that he wound need to wiggle through—any extra bulk would need to be detachable for Scott to fit through. Cora had asked him if he wanted back up and they’d both had the grim moment where they debated who that could be. Cora would be needed at the Tempest in case they needed her biotics. Peebee was more scientist and techno wizard than soldier but she could fit through the vents. Jaal and Liam too big and they weren’t even going to think about trying to get Drack through all those tight crawl spaces.

So did it make sense to bring Peebee with or not? She’d offered but Scott could admit that one person trying to move quickly was maybe possible but two?He’d been chewing on the decision that he had to make for a while now while everyone was distracted by the strawberries.He’d go by himself... hopefully that was the right decision. 

The strawberries however...

There’d been a total of thirty two perfectly formed red berries. Gil had absolutely no interest in them as they weren’t a favorite of his, just merely something he occasionally had in stuff before Andromeda. Suvi had also exclaimed over them when she’d realized what Scott had gotten as an introduction from the Charlatan.Drack had shrugged indifferently but Peebee had been semi-interested in the novelty of something different. Jaal had sniffed at them and declared them too sugary. Lexi’s eyes had gleamed at them and asked if they could try saving some of the seeds and growing them in the bio lab which had made Cora interested in the prospect as well.

He’d allowed them to sacrifice one berry for this endeavor—even though he was pretty sure that the original seeds for the strawberries had come from the Nexus and they might be able to get them that way. Assuming of course Vetra couldn’t somehow get them some other way.

So thirty one berries to divide up between himself, Cora, Liam, Peebee, Suvi and Lexi. They all had gotten five berries but that left one leftover. Scott had offered it to Gil but he’d instead pushed it back at Scott, saying, “Pathfinder’s priority.”

Scott may have just happily added it to his horde of five berries. He felt like a dragon guarding treasure when he cupped his small bowl to his chest and just smelled them. He hadn’t enjoyed the smell of food since Aya... which felt forever ago even though they’d enjoyed multiple meals. There wasn’t anything like comfort food though—human comfort food. He’d decided that he’d leave his in the fridge until he got back... and they’d better be there. They’d be his reward for completing this mission.

He had sent a brief note to Evfra verifying that he was okay with the change in plan and gotten confirmation almost immediately that Evfra was aware of the change and approved. The note was succinct and stated that Evfra wished him luck in his mission. So at least the change really had been approved at that level.

Deep breath time, in and out.

Since he couldn’t wear his armor and his tactical cloak required it, Scott had instead put on the tactical swimwear that he’d thought impractical but now might actually be useful. The suit was skin tight, thin and provided a modicum of protection from the elements including cooling and heating assistance. It would keep the rain off Scott that was mildly acidic so he wouldn’t get burned if he ended up dashing through the rain. It also was a dull mottled grey and blue color that would fade well into the shadows giving him some cover. The boots that went with the suit were light and flexible, easy to climb in but didn’t have jump jets so he’d attached a collapsible grappling hook and thin rope that could be used if necessary to scale the outside of the slum walls. He’d holstered two knives on his calves that he’d fastened in place with engineering tape—the same duct tape he’d used to repair the Hyperion’s electrical conduits. The tight spaces he’d be in didn’t make a gun a practical weapon and although Cora had offered him her sword he’d declined it as it was too long and bulky. A small carrying bag filled with Gil’s toolkit was fastened around his belt and he was ready to go, pulling a dark blue plain ball cap tight down on his skull to shade his face.

Cora and he stood by the emergency exit hatch in engineering, Gil fiddling with something at his workstation just out of earshot. “You sure about this?” Cora asked him.

Scott had the weather telemetry up on his omnitool and they were just waiting for the rain to lessen slightly before he’d make his way out. The security footage from around the Tempest was displayed on Cora’s omnitool and they could see that the port had basically shut down for the night. It was dark out and the minimal lighting around the port was drowned out by the weather. Nobody was moving about. “It makes sense... unless you have any better ideas.”

Cora let out a huff, expression critical. “You like this Vidal? Trust him?”

Scott shrugged. He wasn’t exactly sure how to describe how he felt about Reyes and he was internally conflicted—he needed more time to think and analyze. “Trust might be a strong word to use in this situation. I think we both have the same goal here.”

Cora’s face went through several expressions before settling into a small scowl as she glared at the security feed. “The plan should work,” she finally said.

“It should,” Scott agreed mildly. “But something’s bugging you.”

Cora’s eyes flickered to him before going back to the feed. “I think he’s the ghost we’ve been chasing.He fits the profile.”

“He’s a good candidate for them,” Scott fidgeted slightly, aware that Cora was watching him in the screen’s reflection. “Friend of the angarans. Human male slightly taller and wider than me. Exile.”

“Next we’ll have to find out if he surfs,” Cora continued. “Doesn’t make him a friend of ours though.”

Scott carefully chose his next words. He wanted to like Reyes—there was something there about the man that made him subconsciously trust that he wouldn’t set Scott up, that he’d support him. “No... but he could be a friend and a powerful asset to have in our back pocket since Kelly doesn’t want to play along. Send an email to Vladimir asking to meet up for drinks the next time we’re at the Nexus.Tell him we’re on Kadara and see what he says in reply.”

“It’ll take a while for Brecka to reply,” Cora said with a twist to her face as she thought. “I wish we had more intel.”

“Well... you could see what you can get out of Vetra while I’m gone,” Scott told her. Vetra hadn’t yet informed them of what she’d learned from her turian friend.

“I will.You should get going,” Cora said. “Rain’s falling hard enough to let you slip through without anyone noticing.”

“I’ll send confirmation when I drop off Terev,” Scott told her as he opened the hatch at his feet to reveal the narrow ladder. “Have fun guarding the castle.”

Cora gave an unladylike snort as he descended. “Be careful out there. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Scott yelled back.

***

The emergency escape hatch exited right between the rear engine exhaust ports and made for an interesting way of leaving the ship. Scott made a mental note that it wouldn’t really work well in emergencies. He’d paused after opening the outside lock and SAM had noted no active movement around them.The entrance to the ventilation system that was closest was almost fifty meters away and he’d need to scramble around some cargo cubes that were lying empty around it. Lightning flickered and a loud boom of thunder rolled through as the rain increased in intensity, coming down in sheets that moved with the wind like waves.

Ducking his head to protect his face, Scott dashed across the open area right after another flash of lightening blinded him momentarily to crouch behind one of the crates. Taking out a screwdriver, he made quick work of the vent’s fasteners, putting the pulled out screws in his pouch. Removing the vent cover, he entered and then pulled it back into place, the whole operation taking less than two minutes. Pulling out the engineering tape, he carefully used two strips to make sure that the cover would remain in place so no one would come looking if it fell off.

Dry and safe in the ductwork, Scott felt SAM adjusting his vision. This was a new trick that the AI had suggested—and Scott could now see almost as well in the complete darkness of the vents as he could in daylight. This part of the ductwork was almost a meter by a meter square but it would narrow quickly once they got away from the port walls. Bundles of wiring hung from the ceiling and ran along the ducts before splitting and passing through cutouts in the ductwork to go off in another direction. There were also pipes of various diameters that both followed the same path as well as cut through at odd angles or just plain through the middle of the duct—an obvious later addition to the port that wasn’t part of the original plan.

Moving forward in a crouch, Scott listened as SAM gave him directions.He quickly passed a sensor that seemed deactivated. _SAM?_

_It is turned off. Someone has been this way recently. I suspect Mr. Vidal made sure your route would be clear._

_Remind me to thank him later,_ Scott told SAM as he continued on and came to the part where the duct joined another and narrowed to less than a half meter squared, making him start to crawl. Another few twists and turns and they came to the first vertical drop point which was a large confluence of ducts that would need to be navigated.

According to Reyes’ plans, he needed to descend about fifteen meters and take a duct that ran downwards at a thirty degree slope on the west side. It should be marked with an X that would show up under the small black penlight that Gil had—it was an old spacer trick to use black light pens to read instructions on surfaces where you didn’t want to make it obvious to any passer by that there was writing on the pretty, well maintained wall—something that you did if you worked on ships and was not uncommon in the Alliance military ship engineers. When Gil had seen that on the blueprints he’d asked who the engineer was that had planned the route. Scott had just mentally added ‘possible engineering background’ to his profile of Reyes in his head.

Looking down the vent shaft, Scott could see enough wiring and pipes that ran down the walls that he’d likely have good enough hand and toe holds to not use the rope and grappling hook with enough pipes and wiring crisscrossing and traversing the shaft to make it interesting to maneuver about. Carefully levering himself down, his feet found spots in the pipe wall fasteners and he began his descent. When SAM told him he was down far enough, He gripped the pen light and swung it around. There were three possible exits at this level and sure enough, one of them had a thick X marked in blue that lit up when the black light hit it. “Bingo,” Scott muttered to himself as he began moving sideways towards the selected exit.

This vent was much tighter than the previous one and he had to army crawl on his forearms and drop his ass to fit comfortably, dragging his lower body along by pulling with his upper. The vent took a sharp right and he followed it before having to squeeze himself around a large pipe that filled over half of the shaft and ran directly through it. The sound of rushing water could be heard from the pipe and it was cold to the touch as he barely had a few millimeters of extra space to squeeze through. _Must be drainage from the spaceport,_ Scott offered.

_Yes. Otherwise they would have standing water on the decks,_ SAM agreed.

Making it past the first choke point, Scott was slightly relieved when the ventilation shaft widened and he could start crawling on both hands and knees again. The airflow through this section was also faster and it felt like a wind pushing on his back to urge him on. Two more drops later and another choke point passed brought him to just below the marketplace. There were a lot more creeks and bangs that indicated movement around him but he made good time working his way underneath. He’d also come across several sensors that had been active but SAM noted to have ineffective signals—Reyes or someone else on the Resistance payroll had made sure that his route was clear. Scott was sure of this.

There’d been several access panels that he’d gone past and he’d overheard someone complaining about standing watching in the stormy weather and he’d grinned as he’d passed. Some things were universal—standing watch in bad weather was always no fun.He’d had to do his own fair share of it as a marine and he didn’t miss that at all. Necessary scut work was still scut work.

At the far end of the market was the last choke point. This was the tightest and Scott took off his carrying pouch and shoved it through before taking a better look. The pipes that ran through the vent took up a lot of space but here, two of them formed a Y shape and went off in different directions. There was just enough space for him to squeeze his chest and shoulders through but he had to contort himself and wiggle to get through, feeling the pressure on his chest wall as the light suit compressed. How had Reyes made it through this part, he wondered, since he was slightly broader in the chest area.... which is when SAM reminded him about the armor adding almost two and a half centimeters to his chest. Because Reyes had probably stripped down to make it through here—which made his cheeks heat up slightly as he pulled through.

Reattaching his pouch, Scott pulled himself through the narrow part of the vent until he took a sharp left and then up a meter to be facing a ventilation panel similar to the one he’d entered through, just barely any light making it through the air slots. Wedging himself in the vertical shaft, Scott looked at the panel and tried to think about how to get it to open. The screws were on the outside and he pressed on each corner, tapping slightly to see if there was any give.

At the second light tap, the panel gave way and he almost fell through the opening.

On the other side, Reyes gave him a grin and offered a hand which Scott grasped and was pulled out and to to his feet. “Careful,” Reyes whispered.

They were in an overhang and it was very dark. Just a few centimeters from his face a curtain of water spilled from above to create a curtain like effect that ran along the wall he’d exited from. Reyes was still wearing his casual clothes from earlier but was slightly damp from all the mist in the air. “Thanks,” Scott said as he regained his feet, watching Reyes quickly and expertly replace the panel with a light touch.

“Your panel is about twenty meters that way,” Reyes said pointing left as he stood and then handed him a heavy, manacle-like bracelet that Scott immediately stowed in his carrying pouch. “This is the transponder. It turns on as soon as it’s fastened and it’s signal could be picked up by more than just the Resistance so be careful.”

“Got it,” Scott said. “So don’t put it on Terev until we’re leaving his cell?”

“That would be advisable,” Reyes replied lowly, turning to leave in the opposite direction. “Be careful, so far so good.I’ll see you later if this all works out.”

Scott didn’t verbally reply but just nodded. Reyes returned it and then left, walking casually in the opposite direction towards the marketplace.

Turning, Scott hugged the wall to avoid the water splashing down as he made his way down the corridor. The panel was right where it was supposed to be and he made short work of opening it and putting it back in place with tape, placing the screws off to the side. He’d have to replace them when he came back this way if he had time.

This ventilation shaft was more open and less crowded than the one he’d just come from. At the T intersection on his plans, if he’d continued straight ahead it would lead to outside walls of the upper port and the route down to the slums. Right was towards the barracks and the vertical shaft he’d take to get into the holding cell area.

He easily made it to the vertical shaft and eyed the descent. There were fewer pipes and wire bundles but it should still be doable without using the grappling hook. Moving forward, he put his feet first and lowered himself while holding onto a convenient piece of rusted pipe, gloves biting into the flaking rust and slipping slightly until his toes found a hold. He then inched his body down until he was picking his way down handhold by handhold over thirty meters straight down to the bottom of the shaft which he jumped to land softly on his feet with a small thump. Two horizontal openings were visible and he ran the black light over both of them. The one on the left said ‘holding cells/storage’ while the other said ‘Elevator shaft’ in neat block lettering that matched.

Scott chose the one on the left and proceeded to the end where a panel opened into a dark storage closet type room. The panel gave way to a light touch and he slid it off to the side behind one of the piles of crates, standing carefully and listening for any movement. 

Hearing nothing, Scott crept between the stacks of small crates to the open doorway. A corridor was beyond that was lit by a dim yellow light that barely penetrated the darkness. Two large openings on either side were the holding cell pods and they were silent. At the far end of the corridor was the doors of an elevator with a doorway off to the left that had noise and light coming from it. With SAM’s assistance, Scott could hear bets being made and trash talk about cards—sounded like a poker game in process. Four distinct voices, one turian and three humans. A low murmur of music was also in the background from the room.

SAM verified with Scott that it was almost 2300. There were two bodies in the right hand pod and one in the left. The one in the left was consistent with an Angaran so Scott silently padded off to the left. The first two cells were empty, doors open and waiting. The third cell, however, was occupied by an Angaran who was asleep on the bedroll in a corner of the cell, skin giving off a faint bioluminescent glow.

“Psst,” Scott whispered. “Hey!”

Dark eyes fluttered open and the angaran startled. “Who’s there?” Was the soft reply as the Angaran’s eyes hunted in the darkness for the one who’d called out.

“Terev?” Scott asked, putting his face up next to the bars, the moment allowing the male to see him and focus on him.

“I am he,” was the cautious reply as the angaran sat up, blanket falling down to pool around his waist.

“The Resistance sent me to get you out,” Scott told him, already examining the lock on the door. It was an old fashioned electronic lock that required a number sequence to open. SAM analyzed it while Scott kept talking. “Evfra wants to talk to you.”

“Evfra?” Terev asked, tone cold. “You mean execute me.”

Scott shook his head in the negative. “Nope. Pretty sure he wants to talk to you about your experiences on the Archon’s ship and why you gave up the Moshae.”

“And then execute me,” Terev said, a half sneer on his face. “After I have outlived my usefulness of course.”

“Well that might depend on what you have to say,” Scott added as he . “Either that or certain death if you stay here.”

Terev paused and thought about what Scott said, watching him as he fiddled with the lock. “And why would I go with you?”

Scott shrugged, poking the lock aggressively when it didn’t unlock immediately and kept cycling unsatisfactorily. “Certain death if you stay here. Or you could try and redeem yourself. My understanding is that Evfra is withholding judgement until he speaks with you.”

“What would a vesagara like you understand of my people?” Was the grouchy reply.

Scott ignored him and continued to work on the lock which was being stubbornly uncooperative. A whole minute passed before the angaran stood coming to stand on the other side of the bars from Scott. “Evfra sent you?”

“He did,” Scott said, eyes flicking up to meet Terev’s before focusing back on the lock. “I’d also like to hear about your time with Archon and what you know of their ships.”

Silence was the response and Terev shifted his weight, thinking as Scott pressed another combination fed to him by SAM into the lock which seemed to slowly be complying with his request. “Why do you wish to know?”

“Because I am a friend of the angarans and the Kett are no friend to either of us.” Scott said as the lock cycled and finally unlocked with a soft chime that made him freeze. Scott listened carefully but the noise from the poker game continued unabated. They hadn’t noticed the noise.

“I will come with you,” was the stiff admission from Terev as Scott opened the door which slid silently open. The angaran was looking at Scott with a critical eye, expression unchanged from one of deep unhappiness and suspicion.

“Good to hear. Let’s get going before someone comes looking for you,” Scott told him lowly, grabbing Terev’s upper arm and pulling him along. Reaching the storage room, he pushed Terev towards the open vent. “In there. Wait for me at the bottom of the vertical shaft.”

A suspicious glare and Terev reluctantly and slowly entered the vent, long limbs scraping the sides as he moved through it. Scott waited a few seconds before following, pulling the vent screen back into place and securing it with another two pieces of tape so they wouldn’t be discovered quickly.Terev didn’t wait for him and continued on, struggling slightly in the narrow and dark ductwork that was lit only by the small amount of bioluminescence emanating from the angarans own skin.

Scott heard a quiet snarly when Terev hit his face on something and barely bit back a snort. That wouldn’t help make Terev any more friendly. Terev made the bottom of the vertical shaft and climbed out making the passageway completely dark again. Following behind him, Scott made the shaft exit and barely avoided the kick and punch that was thrown his way, instinctively using his biotics and pinning Terev against the side of the shaft where he snarled and struggled against the biotic field.

Standing, Scott regarding the enraged angaran. “That wasn’t very nice,” he commented, reaching into his pouch and pulling out the cuff. Terev’s eyes widened at the sight of the cuff and quieted, quivering slightly in the field’s hold. Scott paused at Terev’s reaction and looked at the inert cuff in his hand and then back to Terev. “I was told to put this on you,” Scott told him as he approached and his biotics surrounded him so he could move through the field.

“No,” was the slightly panicked wheeze that left Terev. “I didn’t mean it,” he pleaded with Scott. “Please.”

Scott looked again at the cuff that opened to his touch. “Why are you so afraid of this?”

“It is a mark of shame.... of wrongdoing....” Terev pleaded. “I.....”

Scott was skeptical. This was a big reaction for something like a locator beacon. “Last I checked giving up your elder to your enemy puts you in the wrong.”

The fight went out of Terev and he hung limply in the field’s grip. “You are right.... I did give her up....put it on me.”

“Why did you? Give her up I mean?” Scott asked him, not moving.

“I was promised if I gave up the Moshae Sjefa that they would leave the rest of us alone. That there would be peace among our peoples.They lied,” the last part left Terev in a hiss, his muscles tightening as he shook once before stilling again. “They lied like they always have. I should not have done it.”

“So you had good intentions?” Scott prodded.

That got him an angry glare. “What do intentions matter? It is the outcome that does.”

“They matter a bit,” Scott replied calmly. “It’s why I agreed to come get you when Evfra asked me. I am his ally. Do you understand what that means?”

“I know what an ally is,” Terev bit back.

“Then maybe you also understand the concept of redemption? Do the angara have that?” Scott asked thoughtfully, playing with the cuff but not yet putting it on Terev.

“Redemption is rarely obtained and no more than a child’s story for me,” Terev whispered, voice sad and distant. “I have done a terrible thing. Forgiveness is impossible.”

“You regret your actions,” Scott observed. “That seems a good first step.”

Another glare and futile attempt to shake loose of the biotic field. “What would a vesagara know of this?You come bumbling into our galaxy and take just like they do!”

“I came to find a new home—something I’m sure the Angara understand since they also were once explorers. I’m also willing to be a friend which your people need—Evfra understands this as does the Moshae. Do you?” Scott asked archly.

“What would you know of the Moshae? She is beyond you—the archon himself...”

Scott interrupted before Terev could get himself nice and wound up. “I’ve spoke with the Moshae after I rescued her on Voeld. She says I’m interesting.”

That Scott had met and been found to be ‘interesting’ by the Moshae gobsmacked Terev and he gaped at Scott. “You?The Moshae has been rescued?”

“You’re a bit behind the gossip,” Scott told Terev with a roll of his eyes. “Try to keep up. I’m going to put this on you so in case you do actually manage to bash me over the head the Resistance can still find you and get you back to Evfra.”

Terev’s mouth shut with a snap of teeth knocking together, face twisted in a scowl. “Vesagara. You lie.”

“I’m really not,” Scott assured him and fastened the cuff around Terev’s right wrist where it twisted and locked in place, two small indicator lights showing connection. SAM assured Scott that the beacon was now live. He also assured Scott that Terev would have to cut off his arm to get it off without the access code.

Terev responded to the cuff locking on his arm by twisting and flailing against the field, snarling and calling Scott names. “Skkut!Skkut! I will kill you for this!”

Scott watched Terev struggle fruitlessly, wondering how long he’d keep it up. A sudden change in air pressure distracted him and Terev fell silent. The change in air pressure was followed by a series of loud banging noises that echoed down the pipes and there was a rumble as something passed through the pipes and a far off whooshing noise followed by more bangs and a rumble that sounded like thunder. There was an echo of multiple voices swearing and orders being given that carried through the ventilation system from far away. “What was that?” Scott asked aloud.

_It appears to be Mr. Vidal’s.... distraction.... I believe_

“Distraction? What did he do SAM?”Scott spoke aloud, bringing up his omnitool scanner and running it over the pipes around them. They were reading low pressure but a large volume of liquid was moving through several of them. Far away, Scott could hear what sounded like water falling that hadn’t been there before.

_The plumbing is flooding due to a reversal of outflows...._

Scott laughed aloud. “Did he use a cherry bomb in the bathroom?” He asked SAM, ignoring Terev’s perplexed question of who he was talking to.

_No.The displacement of liquid and solid waste that has been caused would require much more than a small explosive device in a toilet,_ SAM assured Scott.

Oh god.... he’s flooding Outcast headquarters.... Scott was really glad it wasn’t him that Reyes was plotting against—this was going to be a huge mess. Continuing to laugh to himself, Scott bound Terev tightly with his biotics and began climbing up the shaft, pulling Terev along like an angry balloon on a string. He needed to get out into the slums before someone started looking too closely at the ductwork or noted Terev was missing.

Terev stopped struggling by the time they reached the top of the shaft, eyes wide as he stared down the thirty meter drop that Scott had him hung suspended over. “You going to behave yourself?” Scott asked him.The sound of something liquid running was constant now around them but it was dry where they were.

“Yes,” Terev admitted, watching Scott closely and with distrust. “Who were you talking with?”

“My AI,” Scott answered as he set Terev down on his own two feet and released the biotic field.

“AI?”

“Artificial intelligence. SAM is his name,” Scott offered. “Through here and turn right at the intersection. Don’t stop or I’ll just move you myself again.”

Terev gave an exaggerated nod and moved stiffly into the duct. “Where does this SAM come from,” was the quiet question.

“SAM lives within me,” Scott answered simply. He really wasn’t going to explain much to Terev and they needed to move it.

Terev kept going, following directions from Scott until they reached what appeared to be an abandoned maintenance room where the duct emptied without a panel to hide it. Terev stood waiting for Scott, docile and awaiting orders. Most of the fight seemed to have abandoned him and he drooped visibly.

Pulling up the schematics, Scott checked them. This maintenance room was listed as unused as there was a larger one up the corridor to the right. At this time of the night, no one should be there and they would need to walk 150 meters to the left and go over the railing using the ladder there to descend to walk along an outflow pipe that was several meters in diameter that was fastened into the wall of the port. Another series of ladders and pipes would take them to the upper levels of the slums where they’d climb down the cargo containers to the lower level and then make their way to the garbage chute in the far southwest corner.

It was a long way down.... they’d have to be careful.

Terev seemed disinclined to moving without Scott’s permission and waited quietly. Closing his omnitool and the plans fading away, Scott stood and went to the door, cracking it slightly and listening carefully, filtering out the sounds of water and listening for footsteps or any sign of someone out in the corridor. He could feel SAM analyzing and after a minute, neither of them had suspicions for someone out in the hallway and pushed the door open a bit further and looked through the crack.

No one.

He opened the door fully, the walkway was deserted as it was one of the far corners of the port, far away from the busy marketplace and Outcast headquarters. “Come on,” he told Terev as he stepped out, motioning him along towards the far end and then following the angaran who turned his head at every sound, appearing spooked but at least still moving.

They made the railing without incident. Looking for the ladder, it was by the corner where the railing met the wall. It was old, rusted and in poor condition but in one piece. Terev looked at it mistrustfully. “You don’t expect me to use that?” He asked.

“Use it or I’ll just haul you down like I did earlier,” Scott told him. Reyes would have scouted this.... wouldn’t have told him to use it if he hadn’t checked it was safe—or at least that was what Scott was telling himself. 

Terev evidently decided it would be better to take the ladder on his own rather than be pulled in mid air. The ladder shook slightly under him as he descended. Scott waited until there was a bit of space before following. The rungs vibrated with each movement as Terev was kicking each rung slightly. The rust flaked off under Scott’s hands and his gloves were soon stained red with it, dust flakes landing on his chest and legs. He was almost midway down when one of the rungs snapped unexpectedly under his feet and he lost his footing, the whine of iron under stress giving way loud and echoing as it bounced off the deck plating above him as his body slammed into the ladder making it vibrate angrily as he bounced on the metal bars knocking his breath out in a rush. 

Hanging by his arms, he felt the rung give slightly and bend but not break, his breathing speeding up as adrenaline crashed through him and he tried to replace what he’d lost. No jump jets to break his fall..... Trying not to panic, he felt around with his feet and found one of the rungs and threaded a foot around it, his other foot still hanging free for a moment longer before finding purchase on another rung.

Scott clung to the ladder for a moment. That had been close. Closing his eyes, he tried to slow his breathing and felt SAM assisting. Where the cross bars had caught him stung—the light suit he was wearing hardly protective at all and he knew he was going to have bruises. He could hear Terev reaching the next vertical walkway and he needed to join him before he ran away.

Another deep breath and he opened his eyes and kept going, being a bit more careful before he put his full weight on the rungs. When he was only less than a meter from the large pipe that made the walkway, he pushed off the ladder and landed in a crouch.Terev didn’t say anything as Scott pushed him to keep walking.

Three more ladders and walkways and they reached the top of the stacked containers. Scott went first now and they made their way down the far side but had to use the grappling hook and rappel down several sections. Terev was compliant and didn’t complain other than once—Scott had just let his biotics light up and then Terev was scrambling to follow his orders. Reaching ground level, Scott tried not to notice how his hands stopped the fine tremor they’d picked up when the rung had broken.

He didn’t have a problem with heights before and he wouldn’t pick one up.

He would not—he refused to.

There were a few people out and about in the slums but none of them made eye contact and Scott recognized none of them. A salarian stepped out to push several people away who were headed towards them, intercepting and distracting them so they didn’t get too close. It seemed Reyes had others helping out.

The southwest corner was empty of occupants and the last bit of alley to the trash chute was abandoned. The chute was set into the outside wall, smelling like old trash. Terev made a face but Scott gestured at it. “I’m not doing that,” Terev tried to protest but Scott just grabbed him and shoved him in head first and he didn’t resist but did make noise as he went town the slide.

Scott counted a few seconds like he’d been told to and then jumped in feet first.

It was a short ride and he found himself landing in a trash heap. Terev had rolled further down and was swearing up a storm, trying to remove debris from his face. “Was that really necessary?!?”

Scott saw a few wild adhi at the periphery but they scrambled away in fright. “Yes,” he answered Terev. “It was necessary.”

“Skkut....” Terev grumbled, alternating between brushing decaying trash off himself and glaring at Scott. Scott tuned out his swearing and made his own way down the trash heap, making sure not to fall in it.

The sound of an approaching ship was loud and Scott watched an angara scout ship make it’s way towards them. Terev shut up once he saw it and stilled, looking like he was debating making a run for it and his hand covering up the cuff. “Don’t think you’ll be able to hide,” Scott told him.

Terev gave him an angry look and walked towards where the ship was setting down. “You don’t understand anything, vesagara.”

The airlock door opened and several visibly armed angara in green Resistance armor stepped out. Terev went to his knees, holding his hands out in front of him in supplication. The two angara in the lead grabbed each arm and forced them behind Terev’s back but he made no sound at the rough treatment. Restraints were fastened around both wrists and they pulled Terev to his feet and towards the open airlock.

One angara, however, strode towards Scott. “Pathfinder,” was the greeting.

“One Vehn Terev, as promised,” Scott replied.

“The Resistance thanks you,” the angara said with a small nod—not one of the exaggerated ones but similar to what a human would do. This angara had spent time around humans.

“Tell Evfra I was glad to help,” Scott said.

“I will. If you ever need our help on Kadara you have only to ask for it,” the male told him.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

***

The climb back up was less nerve wracking now that he didn’t have to keep track of Terev and could just concentrate on the climb itself. The sway of the ladder as he’d ascended as fast as possible was ignored so he could get back to the Tempest. The maintenance room was untouched when he reached it and climbed back into the ventilation system. Backtracking his steps, he made sure to replace each vent cover so it wouldn’t be obvious he’d been there. When he reached the transition point and had to go from one vent to another, he could see that there was a lot of activity in the market area but no Reyes this time.

Disappointed, he put it aside and climbed back into the next vent. Squeezing through the choke points, he made it back to the docks. It was still raining buckets but the lightning had calmed down but there were still regular peals of thunder. SAM accessed the Tempest’s security feeds and he quickly jogged back to the emergency access hatch and climbed up between the engine exhaust ports while SAM unlocked it from the inside.

Opening the hatch in engineering, Cora and Liam were there and hauled him up and out of the hole. “You made it,” Liam said. “Get Terev out where he needed to go?”

“Yeah,” Scott admitted, feeling his muscles relax now that he was back safe aboard the Tempest. “Made it to the drop point and back. How’s it gone on your end?”

“We saved the security feeds for you,” Cora said, smirk shark-like. “Figured you could use some amusement.”

“Oh god.... please tell me he didn’t start talking about spirit animals,” Scott groaned.

***

2819 CE May 26th

Kadara Marketplace, Kadara Port, Kadara, Govorkam System, Heleus Cluster

Reyes Vidal, Smuggler and Information Broker, Angaran Resistance, codename: Shena, sometimes called the Charlatan

Status: providing cover

Reyes made sure he was out in time to avoid the first part of the deluge so he wasn’t completely soaked when he made it to the rendezvous point. He was only waiting twenty minutes when he heard a soft tap, like someone was checking for a weak point in the metal. Grinning, Reyes pulled the panel loose and watched as Scott practically tumbled out at his feet.Giving the man a hand up, he handed over the transponder and went on his way, wishing Scott luck.

He’d admit to a bit more of a spring in his step as he joined Vestus who was providing cover by talking to the Outcast guard who was supposed to be watching this area. “Vestus,” Reyes said, moving underneath his friend’s arm that wrapped possessively around his shoulder. “You promised me a night out,” he pouted. 

The human male who’d been chatting with Vestus gave him an incredulous look, eyes flicking to Vestus. “So what they say about you is true Vidal? Willing to spread for anyone as long as they treat you right?”

“Gotta live a little,” Reyes said with a vicious grin and not backing down.The prick could be a little less judgmental—it wasn’t like he had a reputation other than Vestus and Kenax with Zia being an unfortunate, if cautionary, tale.Feeling Vestus pinch him, he was slightly nicer as he deflected the man’s attention. “My crew is like family to me.”

That got him a disgusted look. “Maybe that kinky shit works for you,” the man started to argue.

Vestus put a stop to it though. “Reyes—let’s get a drink at Kralla’s and then we can go join Kenax. He’s missed you the last few nights.”

“I’m missed him too,” Reyes agreed, tone reasonable as he let Vestus steer him away in the direction of Kralla’s.

Once out of ear shot, Vestus asked, “Handoff go okay?”

“Fine,” Reyes told him, burrowing a bit further under Vestus’s arm so he wasn’t getting wet in the rain as they moved between awnings that were tied between market stalls. “We still on schedule?”

“Yes,” Vestus said as they made the stairs.

Moments later they were in Kralla’s. Umi gave them a baleful glare as they claimed one of the free booths. It wasn’t crowded due to the late hour and Umi eventually made her way over to them, asking what they’d like. Reyes ordered his usual whiskey and Vestus his favorite wine, transferring the credits before Umi could ask which surprised her, making the perpetual scowl she wore around them fade into a confused neutral look.

When she came back to serve their drinks, the neutral look had faded back into the usual scowl and she sniffed in offense when Reyes murmured a thanks, making Vestus laugh.

“How long until they come get us do you think?Ten minutes? Twenty?” Reyes joked as he took a sip.

“Enjoy your drink. It’ll be at least thirty,” Vestus told him with a smirk.

Reyes leaned back in his seat, shifting to find the most comfortable way to lounge on the hard bench seat. They’d been seen visibly together and going to Kralla’s, going so far as to tell one of the Outcasts where they were going. The current bet was 100 credits that Kelly sent someone to bring Reyes to her now that he’d been seen not in the company of the Pathfinder—tonight.She wasn’t one for patience. Scott’s brief audience with her had only unsettled her more—she’d want to know anything that Reyes had said to him. The question was how long would it take for her to summon him like a troubled schoolboy to the principle’s office.

He actually had time to finish most of his drink and forty two minutes later, Kaetus himself entered Kralla’s Song. Seeing Vestus and Reyes in their booth, Kaetus headed directly to them. “Vestus.... surely you can do better?” Kaetus asked, shoving Reyes feet off where he’d propped them up on the opposite bench as he slid in next to Vestus.

Vestus gave Kaetus an annoyed look. “Kaetus,” Vestus greeted, mandibles and crest flattening in annoyance as his eyes narrowed. “I’m enjoying a night off. If you want to talk business find us tomorrow.”

“No,” Kaetus said, a mean glint in his eye as he tried to intimidate Reyes. “You two have been causing me enough trouble and my boss wants to talk to you tonight.”

Reyes sighed. “We haven’t done anything.”

Kaetus leaned forward over the table, his claws making delicate clinking noises as they taped on the tabletop. “You were seen sharing a drink with the Pathfinder. That’s not nothing... and my boss wants to speak to you. Now.”One claw punched through the top layer of the table top with a sharp snap of wood and plastic splintering. Kaetus’ s eyes were cold, his tone chillier than Voeld.

This wasn’t going to be a social visit with the Queen.

Reyes took a deep breath, blowing it out through his nose. “Do we have time to finish our drinks?”

“Two minutes,” Kaetus said, removing his claws from the new dents he’d scratched in the laminate over old wood. “I’ll wait outside. Don’t make me wait longer than that.”Kaetus got up and shoved the table hard into Reyes, making him grunt as it hit his abdomen and expel his breath in a sharp cough, holding his chest protectively as he moved the table away so he could take in another breath.

Vestus snapped up, snarling. “That was unnecessary,” he said, nose to nose with Kaetus.

Kaetus smiled chillingly. “The job offer is still open Vestus. You should get rid of your trash first.”

“Vestus,” Reyes called, trying to make the weak wheeze it was sound stronger but was fully unsuccessful given how much Vestus was shaking in rage. Vestus looked back at Reyes and whatever he saw gave him a modicum of control that clenched around him and he pulled back minutely from Kaetus.

“You really like the weak little human,” Kaetus said in falsely sunny voice, facial expression mocking as he practically spat in Vestus’ face as he kept talking. “You always did have poor taste—that lost cause orphan Kenax, turning down that offer to be a SPECTRE for that brat you call a mate. You could have been so much more than a third rate smuggler’s pet.But here you are.... a human’s pet.”

Vestus was actively glowing biotic blue, but his eyes were just as cold. Kaetus hadn’t backed down at all. Reyes scrambled, ignoring the pain in his ribs and stomach to grab Vestus’s arm, the tingle as the biotic field surrounded him protectively barely registering as Vestus enveloped him in it automatically instead of repelling him. “Vestus—no.It’s not worth it.”

“Listen to your master,” Kaetus crooned to him. “Back down like the little foot soldier you are.”

Feeling the thick protective plates of Vestus’ forearm flex, Reyes repeated his request. “Vestus. Don’t.”

Vestus cocked his head towards Reyes, listening to him but his gaze didn’t leave where it was locked on Kaetus. Snarling one last time, Vestus pulled his head back, the biotic field that he had summoned gradually fading away with a electric spread over Reyes’ skin like a caress, protective not erotic. “I chose my family,” Vestus said to Kaetus, tone even and conversational, in complete control. “I didn’t forget who I was in the process.”

The verbal hit landed and Kaetus’s fist smashed lightning quick into the side of Vestus’ head, knocking him into Reyes and they both landed back on the bench in a tangle of limbs.The side of Reyes’ head smacked into the table and he saw stars, momentarily stunned by the hit. Vestus reactivated his biotic charge and hovered protectively over Reyes. “Reyes?Reyes?”

Groggily, Reyes tried to focus on Vestus. “Stop it,” he slurred out before his voice strengthened. “No fighting. We promised Kenax.”

Vestus let out a burst of inappropriate laughter before he looked off to the side and snarled again as he saw the turian who had set him off in the first place, his speech taking on a sibilant hiss, “Kaetusssss.”

Reyes could see that Kaetus actually looked slightly nervous and now had a pistol in his hand but it was pointed at the floor instead of at them—rookie mistake. Don’t take your aim off your target or you’re dead—Kenax and Vestus had both beaten Reyes over the head with that lesson. “Vestus.... you shouldn’t have said that.”

“I’m not a self important prick with impotence issuessss who can’t get laid.” Yeah, Vestus was still glowing biotic blue but he remained perched protectively over Reyes instead of jumping Kaetus—which was the only reason he was still alive.While Reyes appreciated the display of loyalty this was not what they’d planned.

Kaetus hissed back at the impotence remark. “You have three minutes.I will see you outside. My queen will not wait or be as kind.”Kaetus turned on his heel and stormed out of the bar that was completely silent in his wake.

“Is he afraid of you?” Reyes asked quietly, watching as the biotic field hadn’t dimmed at all this time and Vestus hadn’t moved.

“He’s an asshole and he knows it,” Vestus said softly, his hand turning Reyes’ chin gently so he could take a look at his face. Reyes could feel the swelling already kicking in and knew he’d probably broken his cheekbone but his teeth felt okay from what he could tell. “You need to see Nakamoto.”

“No time. Let’s go see what Kelly wants and then we can go bang on the clinic’s door,” Reyes offered instead, wincing as Vestus’ careful prodding touched a particularly sore part of his head. They still had a plan to keep.

The biotic field winked out instantly and Vestus tentatively pulled Reyes to his feet. Reyes refused to sway even as his head swam slightly as he stood, broken glass crunching under his boots. “Umi.... can you put the mess on my tab?” He asked the asari who was standing in the middle of her bar, an absolutely furious look on her face.

“No,” she said. “That fucker can pay. He made the mess not you.”Umi marched agitatedly over to the bar and reached over it, pulling a lock box out from below the bar and opening it. She pulled out a packet and stalked back to Reyes. “Let me see that,” she ordered him. The rest of the bar patrons beat a hasty retreat and soon the room was empty except for them.

Wincing, he didn’t object as she pulled his chin to get better light on his face, fingers clinical yet careful as she explored the wound. Up close, he could see that her eyes were suspiciously watery for the tough bartender who he lived in fear of being cut off early before last call. “I’m sorry for making a mess.”

“No. Don’t,” she said, ripping the packet of medigel open and gently slathering it around his eye and cheek. The medigel caused it’s therapeutic cool tingling sensation to let Reyes know it was activating and he could feel the pull as it stitched the broken skin back together over his cheek, sealing it so healing could proceed at an accelerated pace. Vestus hovered protectively but didn’t stop her which told Reyes a lot. Vestus was just as weirded out by Umi helping him as he was, so he held still and let her work.

Finishing, Umi took a close look at Reyes face, her hand gentle as she pulled on his face to make sure. Her voice was barely audible when she spoke. “If you ever need help Charlatan... you will ask and I will help.”

Startled, Reyes jerked slightly. She looked dead serious as she met his eyes. “Okay,” he simply said.

“You better get out of here. Kaetus isn’t welcome in here anymore,” Umi said with finality. She could probably even get away with enforcing it—such was her reputation.

Vestus pulled Reyes away and he was walking normally by the time they exited Kralla’s, even if he did have the beginnings of what was going to be a spectacular headache. Kaetus was waiting impatiently outside and marched away from them, gait agitated as he led them straight towards Outcast HQ. Reyes didn’t bother to hurry—Kaetus could go at their pace or not. He didn’t give a damn at the moment and they still had almost ten minutes before the first stage was set to activate.

The walk seemed longer than usual but soon they were being escorted by Kaetus past the stationed guards at the door and ushered into the throne room. Kelly was sitting on her throne, a bored look on her face but she straightened when she saw how annoyed Kaetus was. Kaetus made a point of shoving Reyes to make him trip to his knees before assuming his usual gargoyle stance behind his queen, saying nothing.

Vestus just calmly helped Reyes back to his feet. Kelly seemed to read the mood accurately for once and allowed them to both get back on their feet, her gaze questioning as she looked at Reyes’ injured face. “Rough day Vidal?” Was her quiet inquiry.

Trying to figure out the best way to approach things, Reyes gauged what the best response would be. “It was fine until about twenty minutes ago,” he told her.

“Oh?”She was waiting for more of an explanation, willing to wait him out and her voice almost gentle. He could almost believe it if he hadn’t seen her previously out of control.

“Your friend indicated you wanted to see me about trying to hit on the Pathfinder earlier... “ he drawled, trying to achieve his usual insouciance. “Can’t blame me for trying. He’s got an ass you could bounce stuff off of.”

That got a startled laugh out of Kelly, her eyes amused. “I did. I take it he turned you down?What would your turians think of that?”

“I like to watch,” Vestus said, matching Reyes tone. “Reyes needs variety and I’m happy to let him have it.”

Reyes let embarrassment show on his face at Vestus’ suggestion, feeling his face flame up.He really wasn’t an exhibitionist and Vestus knew it. Clearing his throat, he shrugged. “He’s not wrong.”

Kaetus interjected, seemingly not satisfied with the answer. “You’ve never shared a day in your life Vestus.”

Vestus shot an icy look at Kaetus, letting him know that he still hadn’t forgotten what he’d said earlier. “I’d never share with you—there’s a difference.”

Reyes patted Vestus’ arm awkwardly. “Vestus... let’s just let that go for the moment. You two can fight over my supposed honor later.”

Vestus visibly puffed up at Reyes comment, crest and mandibles flaring but his gaze still had murder in it when he fixed it on Kaetus. Yeah... Kaetus might want avoid any dark alleys for a while. “I’ll drop it if he does.”

Kaetus snorted but Kelly’s upraised hand prevented him from saying anything further. “Whatever,” she declared with finality. “This afternoon you bought the Pathfinder Scott Ryder a drink at Kralla’s and were seen speaking with him. What did you talk about?”

Reyes tried to look innocent. “The usual things one says when you’re hitting on someone?”

Kelly gave him a look like he was a real simpleton if he thought she’d buy that bullshit. “Try again.”

“Rumor has it that he has the ability to heal planets... I wanted to know if it was true,” Reyes hedged.

“And?” Was the sharp prod for more.

He shrugged again. “He seemed more interested in flirting than giving me information.He’s more into cock than breasts.”

“And you would know this because?”Her gaze told Reyes she was hooked.

Reyes gave a purposeful, slightly nervous look at Vestus and licked his lips, tasting blood that he hadn’t noticed before that must have dripped down his face. “He was hard.Seems he has a thing for being hit on in bars by exiles.”

Sloane snorted. Before she could say anything more there was a loud popping noise and the air pressure in the room changed before there was a ripple-like shudder that made the floor rise and fall before settling. Everyone’s head snapped up, looking for what had caused the disturbance as they all struggled to stay upright. From down the hallway off the throne room a high pitched whistle bit through the air followed by several pops and another small explosion and something large and ceramic shattering followed by the sound of rushing water.

Excited shouting could be heard and Kelly stood, attention fixed at the source of the noise. “Kaetus?” Was the barked order and the turian leapt from the platform and marched down the access hallway, yelling for attendants.

“Stay here!” she ordered them before following Kaetus.

Reyes and Vestus looked at each other with mirrored confusion, aware the guards in the room hadn’t left and were watching.

Another small explosion was heard and the sound of running water was louder, this time accompanied by the sound of someone screaming in pain. Reyes winced visibly, which just made his face hurt again. Vestus crowded him slightly. “Kenax is going to kill me for letting you get hit like that,” Vestus said just loud enough to be overheard but seem like he was trying to keep it private.

“I was in the way. Kenax will believe me when I explain,” Reyes insisted just as soft. He could see one of the guards leaning towards them, straining to overhear their conversation, out of the corner of his eye.

Vestus wasn’t faking as he took another look at Reyes’ face. “That’s going to take a few days to fade. Kenax is going to notice.”

“I think it makes me look more roguish,” Reyes tried to joke but knew it fell completely flat. “Maybe we just don’t tell him.”Vestus’ look spoke paragraphs on what he thought of that idea. “Right,” Reyes said lightly, tabling the subject.

Kelly stalked back into the room, glaring at everyone including Vestus and Reyes. “I need everyone on mop duty. NOW!”

The guards hopped to, all of them converging on the hallway. One brave soul grabbed Reyes and pulled him along as another did the same with Vestus. Reyes didn’t resist and allowed himself to be pulled along with the crowd. The moment they passed the doorway their boots became wet, a small puddle of water covering the floor that deepened as they progressed to mid calf height halfway down the hall. Water seemed to be coming from the kitchen and bathrooms, the sound of splashing water heard loudly from both rooms. The stench of sewage came strongly from the bathroom. It seemed the reversal of pressure on the waste and water mains had worked like a charm. Theo would be happy to know his programing change had worked as expected.

Reyes let everyone pass him, standing in the hallway with and exaggerated look of confusion. “Did anyone try shutting off the water?” He asked in a normal conversational tone. When nobody paid any attention, he raised his voice and repeated the question. “Did anyone try shutting off the water?”

Kelly, who’d been giving orders, stopped giving them and turned to look at Reyes before repeating what he’d said at three times the volume getting everyone’s attention. “Did anyone try turning off the water?”

Silence for several heartbeats followed by the first hesitant “no” which then became a chorus of them before the silence fell again.“Find the water shut off,” Kelly ordered and her people scrambled to follow them. Reyes didn’t move as she was staring at him and then slowly approached. He hadn’t noticed it before but she was quite small for her height, always giving the impression to him that she was larger and more aggressive. When she was almost chest to chest with him, she asked him, “What made you think of that?”

He shrugged. “My Tío use to remind me to turn off the water any time we had issues somewhere with pipes. He tried to save money by doing some of the plumbing work himself and I got to help until I was smart enough to be otherwise occupied.”

“A useful skill,” she said smoothly, one eyebrow arched but her gaze was less threatening than earlier.He could almost see why Kaetus found her attractive. The sound of water splashing lessened and then slowly seemed to fade away, a call from one of the rooms saying that they’d found the water shut off. “Vidal.... if you had to guess... who would have done this?”

That was an unfair question as he knew the answer but couldn’t give it. “No idea. Who’ve you pissed off lately? Probably them.”He could hear Vestus swearing that Reyes had the self preservation instinct of a lemming from the background.

“I see.... the only new player in town is the Pathfinder... this seems to not be his style from what I understand.”

Reyes found himself helplessly shrugging, not looking away from her so he didn’t appear guilty. “I’m not sure exactly what his style is to tell you yes or no.We didn’t exactly exchange life stories.”

“I’ll have to ask then,” Kelly declared. “I want an escort ready. We need to go have a chat with our newest arrivals.”

Well shit. This was going to be entertaining. Hopefully the engineer was able to do a half ways passable impression of his boss. Either way—the distraction was working. Hopefully Scott was able to slip in and out with Terev before anyone noticed.

***

Being dragged along, Reyes didn’t really resist and Vestus hovered close by. The Outcast guards who’d been silently assigned to each of them didn’t physically touch Reyes or Vestus but they did close off any easy escape route. Reyes didn’t make any attempt but he was hoping Scott’s backup would work better than his original plan was.

The weather hadn’t really improved at all and rain was steadily falling which drenched them quickly, but it was less of a torrent and more just a steady drizzle. Reyes pulled his jacket up over his head so he wasn’t completely soaked—the rain was less acidic tonight than it sometimes was—nobody was complaining about burning from being wet. Hustled along through the wet weather, Reyes was chilled by the time they’d made it through Port security and were arrayed around the Tempest. Kelly stood at the base of the ramp and had one of her people go and knock forcefully on the airlock door. Reyes managed to maneuver himself to be underneath the Tempest and out of the rain, letting his coat slip back to it’s normal place.

The Tempest crew kept her waiting a good thirty seconds before everyone’s omnitool connected with the comm systems, Scott’s voice coming through loud and clear. “Hello, can we help you?”

Kelly had them bang on the airlock door again before speaking into her own omnitool in reply which Reyes overheard. “Come out and I won’t shoot your ship full of holes. We need to talk.”

The rain kept falling and everyone was silent, waiting to see what would happen. Kelly drew her gun a minute later and took several shots at the airlock door, the bullets ricocheting dangerously off the shielding but nobody said anything other than several flinched and a few people ducked—including Reyes and Vestus. “Wait a minute—hold your horses! I’m coming out.”

A few seconds later, the airlock door opened and—if Reyes didn’t know better—Scott Ryder stepped out in full white and blue Initiative armor with helmet on, hands held up to show he wasn’t holding a gun. Behind him, the rest of the Pathfinder team was armed and aiming their guns down the ramp at the Outcasts. Kelly scowled but lowered her gun. “Took you long enough.”

“I’m sorry—I wasn’t expecting an armed siege outside my ship,” the Pathfinder snipped. “What do you want?”

“What do I want?” Sloane laughed, slightly manic sounding. “I want to know what you did to my home!”

“What?” Was the confused sounding response, arms flailing slightly. The guns behind the Pathfinder were mostly focused directly on Sloane Kelly who didn’t acknowledge them.

“You flooded my place!” Kelly accused them, gun coming back up to aim center mass at the Pathfinder.“I don’t know how or why you did it but I want retribution.You come here without an invitation and start stirring up trouble!”

“We came here at the behest of Evfra de Tershaav! We just wanted to talk to you about letting Vehn Terev face angaran justice!” Reyes was going to give the engineer a passing grade so far. Nobody had been shot. Yet.

“Well you can’t have him!” Sloane snarled back. “If that’s all you came for then you can leave!”

“And we’ll be on our way tomorrow then—we just need to wait for supplies to be delivered in the morning and we’ll be out of your hair,” the Pathfinder tried to appease her—that wasn’t going to work well Reyes thought.Scott wasn’t back yet so they couldn’t just take off so they had to stall for time.

Kelly’s eyes glittered and she seemed to pause to think. “All you want is Terev? You’re sure you’re not here for any other reason?”

“Well.... it’s not like we weren’t hoping to check out the Remnant structures but we can tell when we’re not wanted,” was the pithy retort. Oh.... that was poking the bear. The Pathfinder now had his hands on his hips and was talking with his hands—which Scott didn’t do for the most part from Reyes observations.

“Why would you do that?” Kelly was focused now, her gun held cocked but no longer pointed at the Pathfinder.

“Because it heals planets?” The Pathfinder sounded confused now, not sure why Kelly had changed her tone so quickly.

Anger again and the gun was pointed back at his chest. “You think that there’s something wrong with Kadara?That it’s not good enough?”

There was frantic hand waving as the Pathfinder tried to calm her down again—Reyes hoped that Cora was having this recorded for Scott’s viewing later. The engineer’s body language was completely different from Scott’s.“Kadara’s fine—it’s lovely really. It’s just that it could be improved upon slightly... the sulfur isn’t really a great smell and we could improve it.... possibly.Maybe make it smell like an alpine meadow?”

“Possibly?” Was Kelly’s incredulous reply. “Possibly? And what makes you think we’d want your help?”

“Everyone wants my help—it’s kind of in demand,” was the off-the-cuff reply as the Pathfinder’s arms relaxed to his side, posture hesitant.

Surprisingly... this didn’t seem to further anger Kelly and she let her gun relax slightly again. “And the cost? We’re not the Initiative’s slaves and we won’t owe them or you anything.”

“Cost?To you? Just let us do our job.... we don’t charge for our services....” The Pathfinder sounded confused. If Reyes wasn’t surrounded by armed gang members he would have covered his face and laughed. Kelly was subtly negotiating to have the Pathfinder fix Kadara’s sulfuric acid problem.... while making it sound like the Pathfinder was about to get shot. He’d give it to her—the engineer playing Pathfinder hadn’t figured it out yet.

Kelly appeared to give it a long thought before replying but Reyes already=\

; knew she was going to let them have the opportunity to explore the alien structures and possibly fix the planet—it was to Kelly’s advantage to let them do so. “Fine. But if you or any of your crew step so much as a toe out of line you’re off Kadara and never to return.Got it?”

“Yeah sure.... I suppose,” the Pathfinder agreed, sounding confused. “I can do that.”

Kelly sniffed. “I don’t want to see or hear from you the rest of the night. I expect you to leave as soon as the acid problem is fixed too.”

The Pathfinder gave a rather jaunty, if sloppy salute, that would have made any career soldier cringe. “Whatever you say.We’ll be here and gone before you know it.”

“Get back in your ship,” Kelly sniffed and turned on her heel, walking away. The Pathfinder slowly backed up and the airlock door closed after him. Reyes let out the breath he’d been holding but wasn’t allowed to get away as his minder grabbed him by the upper arm and hauled him along in Kelly’s wake back to their lair. He could hear Vestus grumbling at his own minder a few steps behind him.

When they returned, Kelly ordered everyone to start cleanup and she included Reyes and Vestus in with that order. It seemed he was being gang pressed. Reyes made a show of grumbling but didn’t resist when a bucket and mop was pushed into his hands and he was told to work with the kitchen crew.

The kitchen was an absolute mess. The reversal of water pressure and waste water systems had caused the faucets to explode and act like a fountain which had drenched the ceiling and everything within range of the spray while the drain had backed up and flooded the floor.From the sounds of the mild cursing around him this was a better assignment than the bathrooms. Reyes started by mopping in a corner and eventually his minder got distracted by his own work, leaving Reyes alone. Soon, the small corner he’d been left in was spotless but Reyes just continued to clean the same area over and over. Vestus was being used to help haul in hoses and a water pump to get the excess water out of the lower levels—several of which had almost a meter of water standing in them.

Eventually the water would drain out. Theo’s mechanical switch had caused a pressure build up that had caused the faucets to explode and waste to back up. Once the pressure was relieved, the switch reopened after a set period of time had elapsed—approximately two hours.An amazing amount of water and waste had flooded the Outcast’s home in that time though.

It was after dawn when Reyes was finally released from his mop duties. Yawning, he slipped out the side door and made his way towards Tartarus—Vestus had slipped away earlier than him and would have signaled Keema to deliver the message. The message was the final piece in the distraction—the Roekaar were going to officially claim responsibility for the jail break. The slight twinge of regret Reyes had regarding them taking the blame was solely that it gave them too much credit.

Making the slums, he nodded greetings to Colton and a few others. He was tired and his ribs and face hurt. It’d been a long night. He felt safer in the slums where his people were than up above but he still wanted to just spend a few hours on his couch and maybe some cold packs for his ribs and face. And sleep.... glorious sleep. Hours of sleep. Hopefully uninterrupted. His omnitool had indicated that his inbox was full of messages—several from Kenax and one from Keema that he probably should read before getting some sleep. Alzik had also sent one where the subject line was ‘breeding project’ which Reyes was a bit worried what it was that Alzik felt compelled to notify him about that one.

Tartarus was subdued, the music turned down low due to early hour and the dance floor was empty. Kian was behind the bar, cleaning and making breakfast for the few customers that had taken seats at the bar—the usual crowd. Nakamoto was there as well as Vestus. When Reyes entered, Vestus prodded Nakamoto to get his attention.

“Vestus.... can’t it wait,” Reyes protested. He just wanted this couch.

Nakamoto frowned, face pinched in concentration as he took a look at Reyes face. “You’re lucky someone put medigel on this,” he muttered as he pressed on a sore point that made Reyes flinch and pull away, giving the doctor a pissed off look.

“Ow..... be gentle,” Reyes complained as Vestus put him on one of the barstools. Nakamoto had produced a small pack from somewhere and pulled on gloves as well as what appeared to be a dermal regenerator—or at least it looked like the one that Reyes had gotten from Vladimir. Slumping into his chair, Reyes let Nakamoto peel off some of the medigel and felt the sting of the dermal regenerator begin working that felt like tiny, needle filled mouths chewing on his wound. He’d had it done before but he hadn’t liked it then and it wasn’t more pleasant now.

When Nakamoto was done with the dermal regenerator he produced a pen light and practically blinded Reyes, pulling back at his eyelids to check his pupils. “Oh come on!” Reyes protested as Vestus held him still so he couldn’t escape. “I just want some sleep.”

The rest of Nakamoto’s care was done under duress. As soon as possible, Reyes ran away to his office and collapsed face first onto his couch, burying his nose in the firm cushions. It still smelled faintly like citrus to him and he couldn’t help the fact that his face was being rubbed into it—the non-injured side. “Fuck,” he muttered into it.Nakamoto had missed nothing, having wrapped Reyes’ cracked ribs after stripping him of his shirt in the middle of the bar. The bruising had been impressive along the side of his ribs and abdomen where the table edge and he had collided. Vestus had looked both furious and guilty when he saw it, stomping off to call Kenax in private.Reyes was never going to leave home without armor again—he was sure that his self-appointed bodyguards wouldn’t let him.

His messages could wait—except for one. There was a confirmation from Scott that he’d made it back to the Tempest without incident. It was only three lines but the last one was what he focused on:

_Thanks for providing cover—it was much appreciated but please watch out for yourself._

Scott had likely seen him in the crowd on the Tempest’s security vids. It made him smile to know he’d been noticed. He debated sending a reply but decided to wait. He’d reply after he’d gotten some sleep.Rolling over, he made himself comfortable and closed his eyes, the faint scent of citrus and something uniquely Scott chasing him as he fell asleep.

***

_Excerpt from the journal of S Ryder 2819 CE May 26th_

_Luckily Gil didn’t decide to assign Sloane Kelly a sprit animal in public—he tells me she’s something creepy crawly but he hasn’t decided what it is yet. The man is incapable of not talking with his hands—anyone who knows me at all would know that it wasn’t me on the ramp talking to Kelly._

_Also, luckily, Sloane Kelly doesn’t know me all that well._

_I’m writing this while enjoying my strawberries—I needed a reward after all this.They’re bloody fantastic in case you’re wondering. Just perfectly ripe, amazing texture and just the right amount of sweetness. I may have to hunt the Charlatan down and marry them if they keep me in strawberries for the rest of my life. I don’t even care if they’re female—we can be platonic strawberry soulmates._

_Tonight went remarkably well. Terev is on his way to Aya as we speak and Sloane Kelly doesn’t know it was us. I have to hand it to Reyes—I’m not sure how he flooded her headquarters but it’s a good way to distract from a jailbreak. Reyes didn’t get out completely unscathed—he was with the Outcasts when they confronted Gil. His face was bruised and he was holding himself like he’d been hit. I’m not sure what happened since I saw him only a few hours ago but it looked like he picked a fight with someone and lost. Hopefully he gets away clean. I sent him a message to check on him—he hasn’t replied yet so I’m not really sleeping. I know he’s not one of my team but he was working on my behalf. I won’t rest until I know that he’s out safe. It’s probably too dangerous for me to go out and inquire on his behalf though so I’m stuck waiting for a message or sign that he’s safe._

_It’s a tad bit frustrating but not the first time I’ve had to sit watch._

_Hopefully he’s made it back to Tartarus and is getting some medical attention._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Comments and kudos are love.


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